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Craft A Brew - Mead Making Kit – Reusable Make Your Own Mead Kit – Yields 1 Gallon of Mead

The Craft A Brew Mead Making Kit provides the foundational glassware, siphoning tools, and additives necessary to ferment a single one-gallon batch of honey wine. While functional as an entry point, the package requires supplementary purchases for honey, ongoing sanitization, and external temperature regulation.

Craft A Brew - Mead Making Kit – Reusable Make Your Own Mead Kit – Yields 1 Gallon of Mead
Price

$49.95

Amazon rating

4.6

4.6
Ratings

2,413

Best for Patient beginners wanting a dedicated mead starter

This package supplies the baseline hardware and yeast nutrients for fermenting honey must into traditional mead. Mead requires protracted aging, meaning this single vessel will be tied up for months before bottling. Temperature stability in your storage area is essential to prevent hot, solvent-like alcohol notes.

What we like

  • Includes specialized nutrients essential for mead yeast
  • Reusable equipment for future one-gallon batches
  • Straightforward instructions for non-boil fermentation

What to weigh up

  • Ties up your only fermenter for months
  • Honey must be sourced separately
Check today's price on Amazon

Price and rating were captured on 28/09/2026 and change often. We earn a commission on qualifying purchases.

Our scorecard

Weighted against our category rules
6.4out of 10
Overall
  • Hardware build7.2

    Standard glass carboy provides solid chemical resistance but fragile handling.

  • Process control5.0

    Lacks temperature monitoring strips, cooling mechanisms, or active fermentation control.

  • Sanitation provisioning5.8

    Single included sanitizer packet requires immediate restocking for subsequent brew days.

  • Racking utility6.8

    Basic racking cane functions adequately despite lacking conical sediment isolation.

  • Value baseline7.4

    Fair hardware price, offset by the necessity of sourcing separate honey.

The full review

Design and build quality

The core of the kit centers around an industry-standard one-gallon glass carboy, accompanied by a drilled rubber stopper, a three-piece plastic airlock, a basic transfer siphon, and a funnel. At four pounds dry, the glass vessel feels substantial and resists scratching better than basic PET plastic, preventing bacterial harborage points inside the vessel. However, modern brewing practice favors stainless conical fermenters because their tapered geometry isolates trub and spent yeast from finished liquid. This flat-bottom carboy forces the user to rely entirely on the included manual racking cane and sediment tip during bottling. The vinyl transfer tubing and plastic cane are functional for light-duty operations, though the tubing tends to retain curl from packaging, complicating sanitary transfers. The kit measures roughly nine inches square by sixteen inches tall, requiring minimal closet or counter footprint during the active fermentation period.

Real-world brewing performance

Mead fermentation requires consistent environmental conditions, yet this kit includes no tools for temperature tracking or thermal mass management. In fermentation, ambient temperature stability dictates yeast ester profiles and prevents off-flavors, making a standard ambient room insufficient without separate monitoring gear. The provided Lalvin yeast and nutrient packet reliably initiate activity within 24 to 48 hours when properly rehydrated, provided the user supplies three to three-and-a-half pounds of raw honey. The single included sanitizer packet covers the initial prep stage, but proper homebrewing protocol dictates keeping surplus no-rinse sanitizer on hand for hydrometer tests, airlock refills, and the eventual bottling sequence four weeks later. Racking off the sediment using the manual cane requires steady hand positioning to avoid stirring the settled yeast bed back into suspension, an inherent challenge of flat-bottom glass vessels.

Value for money assessment

At an entry price of $49.95, the kit assembles the components cheaper than sourcing individual parts from retail homebrew supply shops. However, the true cost of production is higher than the box price indicates. Honey is entirely absent from the package; securing three pounds of unpasteurized local or grocery-grade honey introduces an additional $15 to $30 expense before brewing begins. Furthermore, the kit provides zero bottling containers, caps, or corking hardware, meaning you must collect swing-top bottles separately. The included sanitizer volume is minimal, so purchasing a multi-ounce bottle of Star San or equivalent acid-based cleaner is practically mandatory. For novices seeking a single low-risk experiment, the initial entry fee remains reasonable, but serious execution requires an immediate secondary outlay for auxiliary chemicals and packaging hardware.

Who should look elsewhere

Brewers who prioritize strict process control will outgrow this kit immediately. The absence of temperature regulation gear, such as an adhesive liquid-crystal thermometer or heating wrap, makes this setup vulnerable to fluctuating room temperatures that stress mead yeast. Similarly, anyone seeking to bypass the messy mechanics of manual siphon priming and trub separation should skip straight to a miniature conical unit, preferably stainless steel with a dump valve. High-volume hobbyists will find the single-gallon yield inefficient relative to the four-week wait time, as racking losses generally leave less than ten 12-ounce bottles of finished product. Finally, buyers looking for an all-inclusive box must look elsewhere: without honey and packaging bottles included, this is an equipment starter set rather than a fully self-contained culinary kit.

Specifications

As listed by the manufacturer
Product LineMead Kit
Size1 Gallon
All in One✓
Product Dimensions9.02 x 9.02 x 16 inches
Item Weight4 pounds
ManufacturerCraft A Brew
Item model numberBK-MEAD
300+ boughtin past month

What the maker claims

  • BREW YOUR OWN - Be more than a mead drinker; be a mead maker! This Craft a Brew kit will turn mead lovers into mead brewers and give you all the independence, experience, and fun that comes with brewing your own mead.
  • HONEY WINE – Mead is the original fermented beverage, predating wine or beer. Making mead is as simple as combining honey, water & yeast. Drink it out of a goblet or a horn to channel the Vikings and ancient Romans who considered it to be the “nectar of the gods.”
  • HOME BREWING STARTER SETS – Designed to help first-timers and hobbyists alike get the most of their craft brew experience, this mead starter kit teaches you about the art of brewing with our Craft a Brew Guide to Making Your Own Mead.
  • WHAT’S INCLUDED – You bring the honey, and we bring the rest! Our kits come with everything you need to craft your own honey wine in just 4 weeks. Our Mead brew kit comes with all of the supplies you need to homebrew mead at home: 1 gallon Glass Carboy, Airlock, Rubber Stopper, Racking Cane & Tip, Transfer Tubing & Tip, Funnel, Yeast, Yeast Nutrients, Sanitizer, and Mead Making Guide.
  • MADE IN THE USA – Each mead kit is assembled by hand in Orlando, FL instilled with the core values of providing high-quality ingredients, elegant and effective design, and an environmentally sustainable mindset. Enjoy mead the right way with your own kit.

How it compares

Same category
ProductPriceRatingRatings countOur score
Craft A Brew - Mead Making Kit – Reusable Make Your Own Mead (this one)$49.954.62,413 ratings6.4
Mr. Beer - Craft Beer Making Kit (2 Gallon) Complete DIY Hom$59.954.44,811 ratings6.6
2-Pack 1 Gallon Glass Jar with Lid | Wide Mouth Twin Bubble $24.024.44,341 ratings7.8
Craft A Brew - American Pale Ale - Beer Making Kit - Make Yo$54.954.63,769 ratings6.4
Craft A Brew - Oktoberfest Ale - Beer Making Kit - Make Your$54.954.63,769 ratings6.3

Common questions

Does this starter kit come with honey included?
No. The kit supplies yeast, nutrients, sanitizer, and hardware, but honey must be sourced independently. Most one-gallon traditional mead recipes require between 2.5 and 3.5 pounds of honey, depending on the targeted final sweetness and starting specific gravity of your must.
How should fermentation temperature be controlled with this carboy?
Because the kit provides no active cooling, insulation, or temperature monitoring strips, you must locate the carboy in a stable space maintaining 65 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Fermentation temperature dictates yeast health, so you should acquire an adhesive thermometer strip to monitor internal variations.
Can the hardware be reused for successive batches?
Yes. The glass carboy, airlock, rubber bung, funnel, and racking cane are reusable indefinitely if maintained properly. You will, however, need to purchase fresh wine yeast, nutrient packets, and additional sanitizer supplies for every subsequent one-gallon fermentation cycle you plan to run.
Are the included cleaning and sanitation supplies sufficient?
The package includes only a single packet of sanitizer for setup. Standard practice dictates buying twice the cleaning supplies you think you need. You will need separate unscented cleaners for organic residue removal, along with dedicated bottles of no-rinse sanitizer for secondary racking and bottling operations.

How we judge home brewing

  1. Rule 01

    Temperature control during fermentation outranks every ingredient.

  2. Rule 02

    Stainless conical fermenters simplify the messy steps.

  3. Rule 03

    Buy twice the cleaning supplies you think you need.

Ready to buy?

Prices move daily. Check the current listing before you decide — the figures above were captured on 28/09/2026.

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