Crispy Sparkling Session Mead
Fruity honey, a touch of sparkle, and zero patience required.
ABV
5.5% ABV
Time to bottle
~3 weeks
Original gravity
1.042
Final gravity
1.000
Built around an aromatic varietal honey at just over 5%, this hydromel drinks like a dry sparkling wine crossed with a craft seltzer. The honey character comes entirely from choosing an expressive varietal; the recipe itself stays out of the way.
What you'll need
- 1 lb (450 g) aromatic varietal honey (orange blossom, tupelo, or meadowfoam)
- Spring water to 1 gallon
- 1 packet Lalvin QA23 or US-05 yeast
- Fermaid-O, staggered over the first 3 days
- Priming sugar at bottling
- Batch size
- 1 gallon (3.8 L)
- Yeast
- Lalvin QA23 or US-05
Taste profile
What a finished batch should taste like.
Aroma
Flavor
How to make it
- 1
Dissolve the honey into water to 1 gallon; OG around 1.042.
- 2
Pitch yeast cool, 58–64°F (14–18°C), to keep the delicate honey aromatics from blowing off.
- 3
Stagger nutrient additions over days 0–3.
- 4
Ferment dry in about a week; confirm with stable readings at 1.000 or below.
- 5
Cold crash 2–3 days, then bottle with priming sugar at week 3.
- 6
Two weeks in the bottle and it is carbonated and ready.
Brewer's notes
- The honey is the entire flavor budget: a boring honey makes seltzer, an expressive one makes magic.
- QA23 is a thiol-boosting aroma machine and worth seeking out for this style.
- Serve it wine-glass cold, not fridge-numb, or you will mute the aroma you brewed for.
After bottling: Drink fresh; this style peaks in the first 3 months.
Brewing this one? Let MeadMate keep it on track.
Log gravity readings, get reminded when it's time to rack, and compare your taste notes against this profile.
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