Pyment (Grape & Honey Mead)

You will need

• Honey1.2 kg
• Pure white grape juice (carton, no preservative)2 L
• Mead or wine yeast1 sachet
• Staggered nutrientsee method
• Waterto 4.5 L

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. A pyment is a mead made with grapes — honey and grape together — one of the oldest and most balanced of the honey wines, sitting halfway between a mead and a white wine.

2. 2

   Do NOT boil the honey; warm it just to dissolve into the water. Add the white grape juice (check it has no preservative), which brings the acid and body honey lacks — that is the whole idea of the blend.

3. 3

   Top to 4.5 L (reading ~1.095); pitch the yeast and STAGGERED nutrient (the grape gives a little nitrogen, but honey is still poor, so feed it in stages).

4. 4

   Ferment out steadily and cool; the grape makes it finish rounder and sooner than a plain mead.

5. 5

   Rack as it clears and bulk-age at least six months.

6. 6

   A refined, wine-like honey drink — the friendliest of the strong meads.