This is a basic hydromel I made with honey from my hives, kveik yeast, and nutrients.

This is also an experiment to see about the use of really old farmhouse yeasts for mead.

Recipe

• 1585g honey from personal hives
• Bootleg Biology OSLO (Batch 100, 2019)
• OYL Hothead Kveik
• 12.5g Go-Ferm
• 8g Fermaid-O
  • 2g of Fermaid-O after 24 hours
  • 2g of Fermaid-O after 48 hours
  • 2g of Fermaid-O after 72 hours
  • 2g of Fermaid-O at 1/3 sugar break

Steps

The honey from my hives was fully crystalized, so I re-melted it in a double-boiler in order to make it easier to add.

Combine honey and 3 gallons of water in a sanitized fermenter. Shake the must heavily in order to fully aerate it.

Mixed the Go-Ferm with 114F water in a sanitized container, then added the yeast. After mixing the must, I tempered the yeast slurry with it (adding a small amount and letting it rest).

This mead will ferment without temperature control in my garage in order to take advantage of the heat loving characteristics of the Oslo Kveik yeast.

Also, due to the nutrition requirements of Kveik yeast, which tend to be higher than other yeasts, I have increased the nutrient additions by about 20% After 24 hours of fermentation add initial dose of Fermaid-O

After 24 hours there was very little yeast activity, I decided that the yeast from 2019 was likely dead and pitched a new package of Kveik yeast. I was unable to get the same strain, so I pitched Hothead Kveik from Omega Yeast Labs.

Additionally, due to an unfortunate weather shift I will be placing the fermenter on a warming mat.

After 48 hours of fermentation add second dose of Fermaid-O After 72 hours add the third dose of Fermaid-O At the 1/3 sugar break period, or 5 days (whichever is first) add the last dose of Fermaid-fermentatiojn

This was kegged after 2.5 weeks of fermentation. I served it from a jockey box at An Tir West War.

The final beverage was light, floral, fruity, and had clear honey notes. It was nice and clean and drank super well.