Mead is an ages old fermented drink created from honey and water and is similar to a wine. Back in the day, it's likely that wild yeasts were used. Even today, this is sometimes done. In fact, I spoke with someone who had simply mixed water and honey into a jug and let it sit without even closing or capping the jug. They had made two batches and one was said to turn out quite decently, however the other one didn't come out quite so well, a bit musty and off tasting.
One of the main problems with wild yeasts is their unpredictibility. These wild yeasts can be different from place to place. For instance a San Francisco sourdough bread takes the wild yeasts in the San Francisco region, however the same sourdough starter from Michigan will be vastly different. Perhaps wheat bread isn't the best comparison to use on a gluten free blog, but it still remains that the yeast that takes hold is different. Even seasons may cause differences in the yeasts. Lindeman's Lambics from Belgium states that the wild yeast they use is only available certain times a year in a certain region of Brussels. Also, in the case of honey, the honey itself can have a variety of dormant yeasts. For this reason, many who have not yet taken the time to test and retest their wild yeasts will use an isolated strain of yeast that has been grown and is sold in packets or vials.
Breadmakers, yes, even us gluten free ones, will make bread using a dry yeast that creates leavening by ways of carbon dioxide when it consumes the sugars and starches of the initial mix. This also creates a particular flavor from the yeast itself. The same thing happens with beer and wine. There are many varieties of both beer yeasts and wine yeasts, each having their own differences in the way they taste, and how the resulting liquid tastes.
The starting sweet material (in this case honey) also makes a difference in the finished product. Honey is a sweet fluid that originates from the nectar of flowers that undergoes a natural process by a fairly common insect known as the bee. Honey has different flavors depending on the source. Honey from clover flowers has a light sweet flavor and texture, while honey from buckwheat flowers is dark and molasseslike with a heavy malty taste. There are as many different types of honeys as there are flowers, though there are usually certain commonly known varieties such as Clover, Orange blossom, Buckwheat. There are plenty more. Nonspecific commercial honeys are usually blended and pasturized to a fairly neutral flavor profile.
Water. Yes, even the simple H2O combination is different from place to place. Mineral and chemical content, Ph balance, the list can go on and on.
There's so much that can be discussed in regards to all of this that I couldn't begin to cover it. One of the most well known resources is Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker.
Now, after all this information you'd think I'd do something amazing right? Well, to be honest I used some pretty simple things to try creating a single gallon of mead.
* 1 gallon of tap water
* 1 packet of champagne yeast. I used a Lavin EC-1118 costing me .79 cents and I didn't even use the full packet. (Note that a single tiny packet is used for 5 gallon batches and I only was making one gallon)
* Possibly optional: some yeast nutrients and yeast energizer. Honey doesn't have the nitrogen requirements for yeast, but some meads are made without these. What may happen without the nitrogen is just an incomplete ferment, meaning that some honey and sweetness may be left over or possibly some sulfur smells from the yeast.
* A sterilized funnel
* A sterilized cider (or water) jug. (I don't suggest a milk jug, they're impossible to clean the milk smell out of.)
* A rubber stopper and airlock costing me $3, but many other things can be used. One example would be foil or plastic wrap with a tiny hole poked in, secured by a rubber band.
(I sterilized everything with a mix of water and bleach, as described on the bleach bottle, giving it a good rinse after. Bleach clings so it needs a good rinse which does mean that it can be reinfected by contact, where some other sanitizers just needs to be poured out and not rinsed.)
