Dry Mead Recipe

The short answer: a dry mead is a mead that ferments all the way down to a final gravity (FG) of about 1.000 or below, so almost no honey sugar is left. You get there with a moderate amount of honey, a yeast with enough alcohol tolerance to finish the job, and enough yeast nutrient to keep it healthy. The result is crisp, light in body and much closer to a dry white wine than to the honeyed sweetness most people expect.

This page covers only the dry profile. If you are making your very first batch and want the general method, start with how to make mead; the recipe below uses the same steps, aimed at a dry finish. You must be of legal drinking age to make and drink mead.

Dry vs Semi-Sweet vs Sweet Mead

Sweetness is set by how much sugar is left after fermentation, which you read on the hydrometer as the final gravity. A common rule of thumb, not an official standard, looks like this:

The Beer Judge Certification Program, in its Introduction to Mead Guidelines (2015), uses a similar scale and puts dry meads at 0.990 to 1.010. The recipe on this page aims lower than the ceiling, at 1.000 or below, so the mead tastes clearly dry.

Dry mead vs sweet mead in practice

The honey goes in the same way; what changes is how much sugar the yeast is allowed to leave behind. A sweet mead is made either by starting with more honey than the yeast can ferment or by fermenting dry, stabilizing and adding honey back at the end. A dry mead simply lets the yeast finish. That also means a dry mead is easy to sweeten later, and hard to make drier, which is worth remembering when you pick your first style.

How Much Honey for a Dry Mead

Dry mead is not made with less fermentable sugar, it is made with sugar the yeast can fully use. The honey amount mainly sets the alcohol: a starting gravity of 1.090 to 1.100 that ferments to 1.000 gives about 12 to 13% ABV with the standard formula, (OG minus FG) times 131.25. The BJCP puts a standard mead at 1.080 to 1.120, or 7.5 to 14%, so this recipe sits comfortably in the middle.

If you use much more honey than that, the yeast may reach its alcohol limit with sugar still left, and the mead finishes sweeter than you planned. Use less honey and you get a lighter, drier mead that is ready sooner. Honey varies in water content, so treat the pound figure as a starting point: our mead calculator gives the honey for a target gravity, and the hydrometer reading has the last word.

Choosing the honey

Honey is the only flavor in a traditional mead, and a dry finish makes it more noticeable, because there is no sweetness to cover it. Wildflower and clover are mild and forgiving; a single-flower honey such as orange blossom carries more aroma. Buy pure honey, since blends with added syrups change both flavor and gravity.

Yeast That Finishes Dry

For a dry mead the yeast has to keep working until the sugar is gone, so alcohol tolerance matters. Lalvin EC-1118 is the usual choice: Lallemand rates it at up to 18% alcohol and 50 to 86 °F (10 to 30 °C), far above the 12 to 13% this recipe makes. Lalvin D47 is another popular option for dry meads; check Lallemand's data sheet for its limits before you pick it.

A lower-tolerance strain such as 71B, which Lallemand rates at 14%, can also finish a recipe of this strength, but with less margin. If you want a mead that stops early and keeps some sweetness without any other step, that is the better direction. Our guide to the best wine yeasts compares them side by side.

A ferment that stalls halfway is the usual problem with a dry target. If your gravity stops falling well above 1.000, see stuck fermentation before you add anything.

Staggered Nutrients

Honey is mostly sugar and gives yeast very little else to live on, which is why a traditional mead with only honey and water ferments slowly or stalls without added nutrient. The Fermax label directs 1 teaspoon per gallon before fermentation begins, and the American Homebrewers Association's mead tutorial also points to staggered nutrient additions for healthier ferments.

Staggering means giving the nutrient in portions during the first days of fermentation instead of all at the start, so the yeast has food while it is multiplying and again as the alcohol rises. Follow the dose on your nutrient's label for the total, split it into portions, and add each one after a gentle stir to release trapped gas. We do not give a fixed schedule here, because products differ in strength and the label is the authority.

Dry Mead Step by Step

1. Sanitize and mix

Clean and then sanitize everything that touches the must. Warm the honey container in a bowl of warm water, add the honey to half a jug of water and mix until it is uniform; undissolved honey gives a false reading.

2. Measure the original gravity

Top up with water, take a hydrometer reading and write it down. If you have never used one, our guide on how to use a hydrometer takes a few minutes. A reading of 1.090 to 1.100 is the target for this recipe.

3. Pitch and feed

Wait until the must is at 65 to 75 °F (18 to 24 °C), per the AHA, rehydrate the yeast as the packet says, shake the jug for oxygen and pitch. Add the first portion of nutrient.

4. Ferment and rack

Keep the jug at 60 to 70 °F with an airlock fitted. Primary fermentation usually slows within 2 to 3 weeks. Rack the mead off the sediment with a siphon and refit the airlock.

5. Confirm it is finished

Take a reading, wait a week or two and take another. If both are the same and at or below 1.000, fermentation is done and it is safe to bottle.

Aging a Dry Mead

Dry meads show their flaws more than sweet ones, because sweetness no longer hides rough edges. The American Homebrewers Association expects weeks to months of aging after primary fermentation, and a young dry mead often tastes sharp or hot before it settles. Keep it in a full, airlocked jug or in bottles, away from light and heat, and taste a small sample every month or two.

Use the aging time to let it clear. If it stays hazy, our guide to how to clear wine applies to mead as well. When it tastes smooth and has stayed clear, bottle it. Dry mead is usually served chilled, like a white wine.

If It Turns Out Too Dry

A dry mead is the easiest style to correct. If it tastes thin or too sharp, you can sweeten it after fermentation by stabilizing the mead and stirring in honey or a honey syrup to taste. The method is the same as for wine, so see how to backsweeten wine for the stabilizing step and how to taste your way to a good balance.

Do this a little at a time and taste between additions; you can always add more honey, but you cannot take it out. Backsweetening with honey also adds honey aroma back, which can balance a very dry mead. For comparing mead with grape wine more broadly, see mead vs wine.