Mead Recipe · Beginner

Cyser Recipe: How to Make Apple Mead (1 Gallon)

A simple 1-gallon cyser recipe: preservative-free apple juice plus about 2 lb of honey, a wine yeast and staggered nutrients. Starting gravity, yeast choice, timeline, and how to backsweeten and age it.

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Apple cyser fermenter beside apple juice, fresh apples and honey

Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

Cyser is mead made with apple juice in place of water. Because the juice already carries sugar, a modest amount of honey pushes it well past hard-cider strength, and the result sits between cider and mead: unmistakably apple, with the fuller body and floral aroma that honey brings. It is one of the most forgiving meads to make and one of the most crowd-pleasing to drink.

Cyser at a glance

1.090–1.100 starting gravity with ~2 lb honey per gallon
12–13% ABV if fermented dry
3–6 months ageing for the best flavour

Apple juice on its own usually starts around 1.045–1.050. Every pound of honey per gallon adds about 35 gravity points, so the honey is what sets the strength:

Honey per US gallon of juiceApprox. starting gravityApprox. ABV (dry)Style
1 lb (450 g)~1.075~9–10%Light, cider-like
2 lb (900 g)~1.090–1.100~12–13%Classic cyser
3 lb (1.35 kg)~1.115–1.125~14% and sweetStrong, dessert-style

Always take a hydrometer reading after mixing, because juice sugar varies by apple and brand. The mead ABV calculator turns your starting and final gravity into the exact strength.

Ingredients for a 1-gallon cyser

Apple juice or fresh cider 1 US gallon (3.8 L), 100% juice with no preservatives. Fresh-pressed sweet cider gives the most apple character; clear store-bought juice works well too.
Honey About 2 lb (900 g). A mild honey such as clover or orange blossom lets the apple lead; a darker honey adds a caramel note.
Yeast One packet of wine yeast. Lalvin 71B softens apple acidity; EC-1118 ferments fully dry and suits a sparkling cyser.
Yeast nutrient Honey is low in nitrogen. Juice adds a little, but staggered nutrient additions still help the ferment finish cleanly.

Watch for

  • Check the label Potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate in the juice will stop the yeast from fermenting.
  • Leave some headspace in the fermenter. Cyser can foam in the first few days.
Honey, water, yeast and nutrients prepared for a complete mead recipe

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How to make cyser, step by step

  1. 1
    Sanitize Clean and sanitize the fermenter, airlock, spoon and anything else the juice will touch.
  2. 2
    Dissolve the honey Gently warm about 1 litre of the juice and stir in the honey until it dissolves. Do not boil it; heat drives off the aroma. Let it cool to room temperature.
  3. 3
    Combine and measure Pour the honey mix and the rest of the juice into the fermenter, leaving headspace. Take a hydrometer reading and write it down; you need it to work out ABV later.
  4. 4
    Pitch yeast and nutrient Rehydrate the yeast as the packet directs and stir it in with the first nutrient addition. Fit the airlock.
  5. 5
    Feed and ferment Add the remaining nutrient in stages over the first few days, swirling to release CO₂. Keep the cyser at 18–22°C (64–72°F) out of direct light. Bubbling slows over 3–4 weeks.
  6. 6
    Rack and age When the gravity holds steady for several days (often 0.995–1.005), siphon it off the sediment into a clean vessel. Age at least a month; three to six months is better.

Choosing a yeast for cyser

Lalvin 71B The default for cyser. It consumes part of the malic acid in apples, which rounds off the tartness, and it tops out around 14% ABV.
Lalvin EC-1118 Neutral and very strong (about 18%). It ferments everything, so plan to backsweeten, or bottle-condition for a sparkling cyser.
Cider yeasts Give a crisper, more cider-like cyser with less honey character. Good if you prefer a dry, sessionable result.

The Lalvin 71B and EC-1118 pages cover each strain’s temperature range and tolerance, and the mead yeast guide compares the common choices side by side.

Sweetening, flavouring and bottling

Cyser is excellent semi-sweet, which means stabilizing before you add more honey; otherwise the yeast restarts in the bottle. Follow how to stabilize mead and then how to backsweeten mead.

Spiced cyser Add a cinnamon stick, a few cloves or a vanilla bean in secondary for a week or two. Taste often; spices build fast.
More apple Rack onto a pound of chopped apples in secondary, or add a little apple juice concentrate when you backsweeten.
Sparkling cyser Ferment dry, then bottle-condition with priming sugar in pressure-rated bottles.

The mead priming sugar calculator gives the priming amount for your batch size and carbonation level.

For more fruit meads, see fruit mead recipes. If you want apple without the honey, how to make hard cider covers the plain version, and apple juice vs apple cider explains which juices ferment.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is cyser?
Cyser is a mead fermented from honey and apple juice or cider instead of honey and water. It is a type of melomel (fruit mead) and tastes like a cross between hard cider and mead: clearly apple, with the body and floral aroma that honey adds.
How much honey do I need for a gallon of cyser?
About 2 lb (900 g) of honey per US gallon of apple juice gives a starting gravity around 1.090–1.100 and roughly 12–13% ABV if it ferments dry. Use 1 to 1.5 lb for a lighter cyser of about 8–10%, or up to 3 lb for a strong, sweeter one.
What is the best yeast for cyser?
Lalvin 71B is the classic choice because it metabolises part of the malic acid in apples, which softens the sharpness. EC-1118 works if you want a bone-dry or sparkling cyser, and cider yeasts give a crisper, more cider-like result.
Can I use store-bought apple juice?
Yes, as long as it is 100% juice with no preservatives. Check the label for potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate, which stop yeast from fermenting. Pasteurized juice is fine; you add your own yeast.
How long does cyser take to make?
Primary fermentation usually takes 3–4 weeks. Cyser is drinkable after about a month of conditioning but improves a lot with 3–6 months of age, when the harsh young alcohol softens and the apple and honey come together.
What is the difference between cyser and hard cider?
Hard cider is fermented apple juice on its own, usually 5–7% ABV. Cyser adds honey to the juice, which raises the starting gravity and the finished strength to around 9–14% and gives a rounder, more wine-like drink.
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