Meade Making 101 (Continued)

So after 7 weeks, your meade should have stopped fermenting and cleared up nicely. In this picture, you can see where the fruit is still floating on the top and the sediment (the lees) have settled to the bottom. Mine is still a bit dark, as I mentioned that I used unfiltered honey. If you used the typical, storebought filtered honey, your meade will be perfectly clear at this point.

When your ready, put a hose into the clear part of your meade and siphon off the golden nectar. You can put a small cloth at the end of your hose for a filter, but I've never had to do that. I'm just careful to not siphon up any of the sediment and stop when I'm close to the bottom. It helps to move your meade jug to the "siphoning spot" several days before you siphon. That way, any sediment stirred up during moving will have a chance to settle at the bottom.

Once you're done, cork your gallon jug and stick it in the refrigerator! As I said, this is a very sweet, complex dessert wine, so it's best to drink in very small amounts as if you would a cordial. It can be served chilled or warmed (for those frigid Floriday nights), and you will find that it has a wonderful honey/orange flavor with hints of spice.

Your meade should look like this (in the pictures above, mine still has a way to go before it's perfectly clear). What's up with my husband's pinky finger????

And that's it! A lot of people like meade for the fact that you don't have to add sulfites. Honey is an amazing preserving agent all on its own, which makes this experiment so darn easy and forgiving. We bottle ours in small bottles (since it is so sweet) and plan to give them as gifts this year for Christmas.