Guides
Reference guides for mead-specific ingredients, techniques, and protocols. All ingredient data is sourced from the same database the calculator uses.
Your first mead — a beginner's guide
Everything you need to start your first batch — equipment, ingredients, water, honey, yeast, and brew day from start to finish.
Stages of Fermentation
From honey water to finished mead — what's actually happening at each stage, and what you should (and shouldn't) be doing.
Equipment & Tools
Everything you need from first batch to well-provisioned maker — organised in three tiers so you know what to buy now and what can wait.
Honey Varieties
F:G ratios, fructose risk, crystallisation speed, and meadmaking notes for every variety in the database.
16 varieties
Fruit Additions
Sugar content, pectin levels, pH impact, recommended timing, and handling notes for common melomel fruits.
33 fruits
Spices & additional ingredients
Dosing guides, contact times, and safety alerts for spices, herbs, hops, oak, and other additional ingredients.
35 additional ingredients
Yeast Strains
ABV tolerance, nitrogen demand, temperature range, and strain-specific guidance for mead fermentation.
17 strains
Nutrients & TOSCA 2.0
What YAN is and why mead needs it, Fermaid O, Fermaid K, DAP, and GoFerm PE, and the TOSCA 2.0 staggered addition protocol — how it works and how to apply it.
Aeration & Degassing
Oxygen is your yeast's best friend for the first few days — and its worst enemy after that. Learn the two-job approach that keeps fermentation healthy and flavours clean.
Sanitisation
Why sanitisation matters, which sanitisers work best for mead, and how to use them effectively.
How to use a hydrometer
Reading specific gravity accurately, taking temperature corrections, and understanding what the numbers mean for your mead.
pH Management
Why pH matters, the target range for mead, how ingredients shift it, and how to buffer with potassium bicarbonate.
Stabilisation
Stopping fermentation and protecting your mead — chemical additives, cold crashing, and pasteurisation explained.
Back-sweetening
TODO
Fining Agents: Clearing Haze from Mead
Why mead goes hazy and how to fix it — covering Chitosan/Kieselsol, Bentonite, Isinglass, Sparkolloid, pectic enzyme, and cold crashing.
Bochet — caramelised honey mead
The art and science of scorching honey. Caramelisation levels, fire safety, OG calculation, and flavour development.
Making a Braggot
Braggot blends honey and malt to create a hybrid between mead and beer. Learn how to balance fermentables, choose your grain bill, and adapt your TOSCA nutrient schedule for a malt-forward must.
Hybrid
Making a Pyment
Pyment is mead made with grape juice or whole grapes. Learn how to balance honey and grape fermentables, adjust your TOSCA nutrient schedule for grape YAN, and explore Hippocras — the spiced pyment tradition.
Grape Mead
Finishing & Bottling
Closures, carbonation, and getting mead into glass. Crown caps, flip-tops, regular cork, and cork & cage — how to choose, how to bottle, and how to store what you make.
Intermediate
Carbonated Meads
Still or sparkling? What method is available depends on how you finished your mead. Learn bottle conditioning, force carbonation, and how to avoid bottle bombs.
Glossary
Plain-English definitions of meadmaking and fermentation terms — from ABV to YAN.