Equipment Needed for Brewing Mead

By Lord Ateno of Annun Ridge

1. Brewing
2. Cleaning
3. Fermentation
4. Cleaning
5. Bottling
6. Cleaning

Each step requires its own specific equipment:

Brewing

A minimum 3 gallon stainless steel or enameled pot with a cover
Large stirring spoon or paddle at least 1 foot long
Funnel with filter screen

Fermentation

A glass carbuoy (1, 3 or 5 gallon size)
Rubber stopper (to fit carboy hole)
S-curve airlock

Bottling

Racking cane (Hard plastic tube with a curve in it)
3-4 feet of bottling hose
Spring loaded bottling nib
Enough recyclable beer bottles to hold 5 gallons (2 1/2 cases of 12 oz'ers)
Enough bottle caps to cover all your beer bottles
A bottle capper

Cleaning

At least 8 oz of a sanitzer (B-Brite is my favorite)
Bottle brush
Carbuoy brush

Hints:

• Your spoon or paddle should be made of metal or plastic. Wood will transfer bacteria and other nasties to your next brew.
• I recommend a glass carbuoy because plastic in the long term will absorb outside oxygen; also, plastic is hard to clean because scratches get in the inside walls and keep bacteria in the recesses.
• Make sure your racking cane has a small rubber end on it. This allows you to place the end on the bottom of the carbuoy and not pick up as much old yeast.
• Try and find Grolsh bottles to bottle in to. They are 16 oz green or brown bottles that have their own reclosable top. This also saves the cost of buying bottle caps and a capper.
• Also be sure to get non-screw top bottles if you decide to use them, Mead is can stay in the bottles for years with out a problem. Screw tops have problems over the long term.

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