- Dedicated mead kits are scarce: our catalogue has three (Craft A Brew, Home Brew Ohio, Brewsy) plus a general 1-gallon jug kit. This list fills out with the yeast, nutrient, honey and book that make a kit work.
- Every mead kit here leaves you to buy the honey. Plan on a hydrometer to hit the recipe's starting gravity.
- Honey is low in nitrogen: pair any kit with a mead-friendly yeast (M05, D-47) and a staggered nutrient such as Fermaid O.
- Mead is legally wine federally, for adults 21+, under the same household limits.
The best mead making kit gets a first gallon of honey wine fermenting cleanly. Mead is honey, water and yeast, which sounds simple, but honey gives yeast very little nitrogen, so the parts that turn a kit into good mead are the yeast and the nutrient plan.
Honest note on the field: the catalogue we track has only three dedicated mead kits (Craft A Brew, Home Brew Ohio and Brewsy) and one general 1-gallon jug starter kit from North Mountain Supply. A second Craft A Brew mead listing exists with no details, so we skip it. To give you a complete, multi-brand answer, the list adds a mead yeast, a wine yeast often used in mead, an organic nutrient, a jar of honey and the classic mead book, nine picks from nine brands.
Our picks
Craft A Brew Mead Making Kit, 1 gal
Craft A Brew
- Batch size
- 1 gal
- Type
- Equipment + ingredient kit
- Still need
- Honey
Craft A Brew's reusable mead kit yields 1 gallon and comes with fermenter, yeast and the maker's guide to making mead; you bring the honey. The maker says the honey wine is ready in about 4 weeks.
Best for: A first traditional mead
Skip if: You want honey included
- Mead-specific kit and guide
- Reusable equipment
- 1 gallon
- You still need honey and bottles
- 4-week timeline is the maker's claim
Home Brew Ohio 1 gal Mead Starter Kit
Home Brew Ohio
- Batch size
- 1 gal
- Type
- Equipment kit
- Includes
- Primary bucket, instructions
- Still need
- Honey
Home Brew Ohio's 1-gallon mead starter kit includes a primary fermentation bucket and a mead instruction booklet. A bucket is easier to stir and degas than a narrow jug during the nutrient additions.
Best for: Brewers who want to stir and feed easily
Skip if: You want a full parts list on the listing
- Primary bucket
- Mead booklet
- 1 gallon
- You still need honey
- Contents beyond bucket and booklet not itemized
North Mountain Supply 1 gal Fermenting Jug Starter Kit
North Mountain Supply
- Batch size
- 1 gal
- Type
- Glass jug kit
- Includes
- Jug, #6.5 stopper, airlock, lid, 3 yeasts, 3.5 oz nutrient
North Mountain Supply's 1-gallon jug kit isn't mead-specific, but it lists what a mead needs: a glass jug with handle, #6.5 stopper, 6-bubble airlock, lid, three Red Star yeasts (Premier Classique, Côte des Blancs, Premier Cuvée) and 3.5 oz of yeast nutrient.
Best for: Mead, cider or wine from one starter kit
Skip if: You'd rather avoid glass
- Three yeasts, including Côte des Blancs
- Nutrient included
- Airlock and stopper
- You still need honey and a siphon
- Glass jug
Brewsy Mead Starter Kit (4 bottles)
Brewsy
- Batch size
- 4 bottles
- Type
- Juice-and-honey kit
- Still need
- Juice and honey
Brewsy's mead starter kit makes four bottles; the maker claims fermentation in about 9 days and lets you adjust sweetness. You still need juice and honey.
Best for: A tiny first experiment
Skip if: You want a traditional, longer-aged mead
- Four-bottle batch
- About 9 days per maker
- Sweetness control
- You still need juice and honey
- Not a traditional mead process
Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast
Mangrove Jack's
- Type
- Dry mead yeast
- Temp
- 59–86°F
- Attenuation
- High (apparent)
Mangrove Jack's M05 is a dedicated mead strain listed at 59–86°F with high apparent attenuation, high flocculation and medium alcohol tolerance. High flocculation helps a mead clear.
Best for: Swapping in a mead-specific yeast
Skip if: You're aiming for a very strong sack mead
- Mead strain
- 59–86°F listed
- High flocculation
- Tolerance listed only as medium
- Dose not on this listing
Lalvin ICV D-47 Wine Yeast, 5 g (3-pack)
Lalvin
- Type
- Dry wine yeast
Lalvin ICV D-47 is a white-wine strain whose listing says it may also be used in mead in conjunction with yeast supplements, and that its complex carbohydrates add mouthfeel. Three 5 g packs.
Best for: Traditional meads with a fuller body
Skip if: You won't add nutrients (the listing pairs it with supplements)
- Mead use per listing
- Mouthfeel per maker
- Three packs
- Temperature not on this listing
- Needs a nutrient plan
Lallemand Fermaid O Yeast Nutrient, 3.5 oz
Lallemand (LalBrew)
- Type
- Organic nitrogen nutrient (no DAP)
- Size
- 3.5 oz
Fermaid O is Lallemand's organic nitrogen nutrient with no DAP, the type used in staggered mead nutrient schedules. The listing says it improves late fermentation and reduces sulfur off-odors, and says to suspend it in water first so the must doesn't foam over.
Best for: Stepped nutrient additions in any mead
Skip if: Your kit already includes a nutrient plan you'll follow
- Organic nitrogen, no DAP
- Fewer sulfur odors per maker
- 3.5 oz jar
- Dose not on this listing
- Foams if added dry
YS Eco Bee Farms Raw Honey, 3 lb
Y.S. Eco Bee Farms
- Type
- Raw, unfiltered honey
- Size
- 3 lb (48 oz)
YS Eco Bee Farms sells a 3 lb (48 oz) jar of US Grade A raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized honey, a convenient size for a 1-gallon mead. Follow your kit's recipe and hydrometer target for the exact amount.
Best for: Buying the honey your kit leaves out
Skip if: You have a local beekeeper
- 3 lb jar
- Raw, unfiltered
- Grade A
- Varietal not listed
- Raw honey can carry wax bits; strain or skim
The Compleat Meadmaker (Ken Schramm)
Brewers Publications
- Type
- Book
- Includes
- Softcover
- Publisher
- Brewers Publications
Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker (Brewers Publications) is the classic home mead guide, from a first batch to fruit and herb variations. It's the best way to understand why your kit's steps are in that order.
Best for: Anyone planning a second and third mead
Skip if: You want only the kit's instruction sheet
- Classic reference
- Fruit and herb meads
- Softcover
- This edition dates from 2003; check newer nutrient protocols too
Mead making kits compared: what's included
Mead kits and add-ons
| Pick | Type | Batch | Includes | You still need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft A Brew Mead Kit | Mead kit | 1 gal | Fermenter, yeast, guide | Honey, bottles |
| Home Brew Ohio Mead Starter | Mead kit | 1 gal | Primary bucket, booklet | Honey, bottles |
| North Mountain Supply jug kit | General 1 gal kit | 1 gal | Glass jug, stopper, airlock, 3 Red Star yeasts, 3.5 oz nutrient | Honey, siphon, bottles |
| Brewsy Mead Starter | Juice-and-honey kit | 4 bottles | Yeast and supplies | Juice, honey |
| Mangrove Jack's M05 | Mead yeast | Per sachet | Yeast | Kit, honey |
| Lalvin D-47 | Wine yeast | 3 × 5 g | Yeast | Kit, honey, nutrient |
| Fermaid O | Nutrient | 3.5 oz | Organic nitrogen | Scale for small doses |
| YS Eco Bee Farms honey | Honey | 3 lb | Raw honey | Kit |
Source: Maker listings, November 2026
Warm limit of mead-friendly yeasts
°F, upper end of the listed or published range
Other mead-friendly strains with published data, including EC-1118 and Uvaferm CEG, are compared in the best wine yeast list.
How to make a 1-gallon mead from a kit step by step
- Sanitize everything
Bucket or jug, lid, airlock, spoon and funnel, at the sanitizer's label dilution.
- Mix honey and water
Warm (not boiling) water helps honey dissolve. Stir it into the bucket or jug and top up to the kit's volume.
- Read the starting gravity
Use a hydrometer or refractometer to hit the kit recipe's original gravity; adjust with honey or water. Log it for the ABV calculator.
- Pitch a mead-friendly yeast
Use the kit's yeast or swap in M05 or D-47. If you rehydrate a Lalvin strain, Go-Ferm goes in the water.
- Feed in steps
Add nutrient in stages as fermentation gets going rather than all at once, mixing it into a little water first and degassing before each addition.
- Keep it in range
Hold the must inside the yeast's listed range (M05: 59–86°F) and log the temperature with each gravity reading.
- Wait, rack and bottle
Once gravity is stable over 2–3 days, rack off sediment. Stronger meads usually need longer to clear than a kit's stated timeline. Stabilize before you backsweeten.
Legal limits and safety
Mead counts as wine under federal rules: personal or family use, up to 100 gallons a year in a one-adult household and 200 with two or more adults, never for sale. State law varies.
Federal homebrew rules at a glance
Quoted from the U.S. Code, the CFR and TTB. Not legal advice: state and local law can be stricter.
- Beer for personal or family use
- 200 gal per calendar year with 2+ adults in the household; 100 gal with one adult 26 U.S.C. 5053(e) (Cornell LII)
- Wine (incl. cider and mead)
- Same 200 / 100 gal per household; may not under any circumstances be sold or offered for sale 27 CFR 24.75 (Cornell LII)
- Who counts as an adult
- 18+ under the rule, but where local law sets a higher purchase age that age applies: in practice 21 everywhere in the US 27 CFR 25.205 (Cornell LII)
- Selling homebrew
- Not allowed: "Adults may not produce beer for sale or offer their beer for sale" TTB: Beer FAQs
- Competitions and club events
- Removal is allowed for personal or family use, including organized affairs, exhibitions or competitions (check your state) TTB: Beer FAQs
- Distilling spirits at home
- Illegal without a federal permit, even for personal use; unregistered stills can be seized TTB: Penalties for illegal distilling
- State law
- Homebrewing is legal in all 50 states (Alabama and Mississippi were last, in 2013), but limits on transport and sharing vary AHA: Homebrewing statutes by state
Meads can be strong. Measure gravity, work out ABV and serve with that in mind; homebrew is often stronger than store-bought drinks.
Mistakes to avoid
- Skipping nutrient. Honey is low in nitrogen; underfed meads stall or smell of sulfur.
- Adding nutrient powder straight into a fermenting must. It can foam over; suspend it in water and degas first.
- Boiling the honey. Warm water helps it dissolve; boiling isn't needed for a kit mead.
- No hydrometer reading. Without an OG you can't tell when it's done or how strong it is.
- Backsweetening without stabilizing. Live yeast plus honey in sealed bottles can over-carbonate.
- Bottling a mead that is still cloudy or still dropping in gravity. Wait for stable readings and let it clear first.
Who should choose which mead kit?
Pick by situation
| You… | Choose | Add |
|---|---|---|
| Want a dedicated first-mead kit | Craft A Brew Mead Kit | Honey, Fermaid O |
| Want easy stirring and feeding | Home Brew Ohio Mead Starter | Honey, M05, Fermaid O |
| Want one kit for mead, cider and wine | North Mountain Supply jug kit | Honey, a siphon |
| Want the smallest possible batch | Brewsy Mead Starter | Juice and honey |
| Are buying for a mead maker 21+ | The Compleat Meadmaker + a kit | Honey |
Browse kits and honey in wine, cider, mead and kombucha, nutrients in yeast and nutrients, or start from beyond beer; gift ideas are in gifts for brewers (21+). Plan feeding with the best yeast nutrients, and if you'd rather measure gravity from a few drops of thick must, see the refractometer picks.
The Craft A Brew Mead Making Kit is the most complete dedicated 1-gallon mead kit in our catalogue; add honey and an organic nutrient such as Fermaid O. Choose Home Brew Ohio if you want a bucket that's easy to stir, or the North Mountain Supply jug kit if you want three yeasts and a nutrient in one box. Swap in M05 or D-47 for a mead-specific yeast, and keep The Compleat Meadmaker nearby for batch two.
Before you buy, read how to make mead and how to stabilize and backsweeten wine and cider.
Dedicated mead kits are few: our catalogue has three, plus one general jug kit. We compared their listed contents and what they leave out, then added the yeast, nutrient, honey and reference book a first mead needs, so the list covers nine brands without padding it with look-alike kits. Yeast data comes from listings and the Lallemand EC-1118 sheet; legal limits from 27 CFR 24.75. We did not make mead with these kits. No scores or prices.