Concord Grape Pyment
Half wine, half mead. Grape juice replaces the water, and the honey rounds out the grape's foxy edge.
Concord Grape Pyment is a semi-sweet pyment made with wildflower honey and Lalvin RC212 yeast, fermented from an original gravity of 1.112 to 1.010 for about 13.4% ABV. It is drinkable in 6–9 months.
- Original gravity
- 1.112
- Final gravity
- 1.010
- ABV
- 13.4%
- Drinkable in
- 6–9 months
Ingredients
Amounts are for a 1-gallon batch.
| 1.5 lb | Wildflower honey |
| 1 gal | Concord grape juice100% juice. Check the label for sorbate or benzoate, which will stop fermentation. |
| 2.5 g | Lalvin RC212 yeastA red wine yeast that keeps the color. |
| 3 g | Fermaid-OStaggered over four additions. |
| 0.5 tsp | Pectic enzymeHelps the fruit release juice and keeps the mead from hazing. |
Method
Measure the juiceTake a gravity reading of the juice alone. It is usually 1.055–1.065.
Add honeyDissolve the honey into a quart of warmed juice, combine, and check that gravity lands near 1.110.
Pitch and feedPitch at 64–68 °F. Add nutrients at 24, 48, and 72 hours and at the 1/3 sugar break, degassing gently each time.
Rack and ageRack off the lees after fermentation, then again after a month. Age 4 months or more.
Brewer's note. Wine grapes or wine-kit juice make a more serious pyment. Use the same method and adjust honey to hit your gravity.
Recipe by White Shed Meadery, Chehalis, Washington. ABV is estimated from gravity: (OG − FG) × 131.25. Scale every ingredient in proportion for larger batches.