Making a Pyment

A pyment is a mead made with grape juice or crushed grape must alongside honey. The grape provides fermentable sugars, natural acidity, tannin (when using skins), colour, and a substantial dose of YAN — all of which interact with the honey to produce a drink that sits between mead and wine rather than firmly in either camp.

Pyment is among the oldest recorded mead styles. References appear in ancient Greek texts — the word itself derives from the Latin pigmentum, meaning a spiced or coloured drink — and the style persisted through medieval Europe as a luxury beverage that combined the prestige of wine grapes with the sweetness of honey. The spiced variant, Hippocras, was particularly fashionable in the medieval period and remains a natural extension of the style.

In modern meadmaking, pyment is commonly defined as a varietal honey wine: honey providing at least 30–50% of the fermentable sugars, with grape juice or must making up the remainder. Below that threshold the drink becomes closer to a honey-sweetened wine; above 80% honey and the grape character becomes a background note rather than a defining feature.

The choice between pressed grape juice and crushed whole grapes (must) is the first major decision in a pyment and shapes everything downstream: colour, tannin, complexity, and process complexity.

Pressed juice — whether freshly pressed, pasteurised, or from a juice supplier — gives you a clean, predictable fermentable with consistent sugar content. There are no skins to manage, no pressing to do, and no pectin from skin contact. Juice is the right choice for a first pyment, for pale or delicate styles, and whenever you want the honey character to lead. As a rough guide, juice represents approximately 65% of the starting grape weight after pressing — so 1 kg of grapes yields around 650 mL of juice.

Crushed must (skins, pulp, and juice together) adds tannin, pigment, and complexity from the grape solids. Skin contact extracts anthocyanins (colour), phenolic tannins, and additional flavour compounds that give red pyments their body and structure. The yield from crushed must before fermentation is approximately 70% of the starting grape weight — you recover more liquid initially because you are fermenting on the skins, but pressing the pomace after fermentation involves more work and equipment. Use crushed must for tannic, full-bodied red pyments where skin-contact complexity is part of the goal.

If using whole grapes — either approach — add pectic enzyme (pectolase) before fermentation. Grape skins contain pectin that causes persistent haze in the finished mead; pectic enzyme breaks this down before it becomes a problem. Add at 24–48 hours before pitching yeast, or at the start of fermentation at the latest.

Grape variety determines the aromatic profile, acidity, and tannin of the finished pyment more than any other single variable after honey selection. Think of the grape as providing the frame and the honey as filling it in.

White grapes produce pale, delicate pyments with floral or stone-fruit aromatics and lower tannin. Muscat varieties are the classic choice — their intense floral and lychee aroma pairs especially well with light honeys such as acacia or orange blossom, producing a fragrant, aromatic result. Riesling brings citrus and green apple with high acidity — good if you want a crisp, refreshing pyment but worth checking pH carefully. Chardonnay is more neutral, with stone-fruit character that blends smoothly with clover or wildflower honey.

Red and black grapes produce tannic, full-bodied pyments with darker colour and greater structure. Cabernet Sauvignon brings blackcurrant and cedar with firm tannins — pair with a robust honey like wildflower or buckwheat. Merlot is softer and plummier, a more approachable red pyment. Syrah (Shiraz) adds dark berry and peppery spice that bridges well into Hippocras territory when spices are added post-fermentation.

Grape juice from concentrate is a practical option if fresh juice or must is unavailable. Use unsweetened, unpreserved concentrate — preservatives (particularly sulphur dioxide or potassium sorbate) can inhibit or kill the yeast. Reconstruct to the manufacturer's recommended dilution before calculating gravity contribution.

Honey selection for a pyment should complement — not compete with — the grape character you have chosen. The general principle: lighter honeys let the grape lead; stronger honeys create a richer, more assertive mead character.

For white-grape pyments where the grape aromatics are the star — particularly Muscat — acacia is the ideal honey. It is mild, high in fructose, and ferments almost completely dry, leaving a clean, delicate sweetness that does not override the grape. Clover is a reliable alternative with a lightly floral note that pairs well with both Muscat and Chardonnay.

For red-grape pyments — Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah — a more assertive honey presence is an asset rather than a liability. Wildflower honey from late-season forage brings complexity that stands up to tannic grapes. For the darkest, most structured red pyments, buckwheat honey adds depth that echoes the dark fruit and earthiness of the grape, producing a genuinely multi-layered result.

Avoid highly acidic honey varieties (eucalyptus, forest, heather) unless you are actively managing pH. Grape juice is already acidic — a typical white grape juice arrives at pH 3.0–3.4, and red must at pH 3.2–3.6 — so additional acid from honey can push the must below the safe fermentation threshold. See the pH guide.

Grape juice is one of the richest natural YAN sources in meadmaking. A typical grape juice contains approximately 180 ppm of assimilable nitrogen — mid-range as a working assumption, though values vary significantly by variety: Muscat and Riesling tend to run higher (200–250 ppm), while Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio often run lower (120–160 ppm). This pre-existing YAN means the must already has a substantial nitrogen supply before any commercial nutrients are added.

The calculator adjusts TOSCA additions automatically based on the grape juice volume you enter, subtracting the estimated grape YAN from the total requirement and scaling the SNA schedule accordingly. In most pyments with a significant grape share, Fermaid O additions will be reduced by 40–60% relative to a honey-only batch of the same volume and OG. In high-grape batches — 60% or more of fermentable contribution from grape — supplemental nutrient additions may be minimal or unnecessary.

If you are calculating by hand or using an unusual grape variety at high proportions, a YAN test kit (such as the Vinmetrica or Accuvin kits) is advisable. The 180 ppm assumption is a reasonable starting point but can under- or over-estimate significantly for non-standard varieties. Oversupplying YAN in a pyment risks hydrogen sulphide off-flavours, which are particularly persistent in grape fermentations.

The timing logic of TOSCA 2.0 applies regardless: GoFerm PE at rehydration, then staggered additions across the first 96 hours. What changes is the dose per addition, not the schedule structure. See the TOSCA 2.0 guide.

Grape juice gravity varies by variety, ripeness, and season. For calculation purposes the calculator assumes an SG of approximately 1.075 for typical unsweetened grape juice — equivalent to around 18° Brix. This is a reasonable mid-range figure for commercial grape juice; fresh-pressed juice from ripe grapes may run 1.080–1.090.

In the calculator, enter grape juice directly as a volume in litres. The gravity contribution from that volume is added to the honey gravity to give the total OG. If you are using whole grapes rather than juice, weigh the grapes and apply the 65% (pressed juice) or 70% (crushed must) yield factor to estimate the juice equivalent volume before entering it in the calculator.

A practical note on whole-grape batches: if fermenting on the skins, add the honey directly to the grape must after crushing. The combined gravity of the juice plus honey sets your OG target. After primary fermentation (typically 5–7 days on skins), press the pomace, rack to a secondary vessel, and continue fermentation to completion. Take a gravity reading after pressing — the pomace can absorb some liquid, so the post-press volume and gravity may differ slightly from the pre-fermentation estimate.

Wine yeasts are the natural choice for pyment — they handle high grape acid, are bred for grape fermentations, and produce the ester and acid profiles that complement both honey and grape aromatics. The right strain depends on the grape variety, the honey, and the style you are aiming for.

71B is the most popular choice for pyment and for good reason. It metabolises up to 20–30% of malic acid during fermentation, softening sharp acidity — particularly valuable with high-acid white grapes like Riesling. It also produces isoamyl acetate (a fruity, pear-drop ester) at moderate levels, which bridges honey and grape aromatics beautifully. 71B is a good general-purpose pyment yeast for most styles.

EC-1118 (Champagne yeast) is highly attenuative and produces a drier, more wine-like result with a minimal ester profile. It is the right choice when you want the grape variety to speak cleanly without yeast-derived character, or for high-gravity batches where fermentation to dryness is the priority. EC-1118 does not soften malic acid and does not contribute the honey-forward aromatic complexity that 71B does — use it deliberately, not by default.

D47 suits cool-fermented pyments where preserving honey aromatics is the goal. Keep fermentation below 15°C — above this temperature D47 produces excessive fusel alcohols that overwhelm the delicate honey and grape character. D47 suits white-grape, honey-forward pyments fermented in a cool cellar; it is not a good choice for red grape styles or ambient warm fermentations.

Hippocras is a spiced pyment — one of the most celebrated drinks of the medieval period, named after the physician Hippocrates and his straining sleeve (a cloth filter used to clarify spiced wines). It represents the natural extension of pyment into metheglin territory: the grape and honey base of a pyment, finished with a cold spice infusion.

Historical Hippocras recipes are diverse, but the classic spice combination is cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, with black pepper as a warming note. Cardamom, nutmeg, and long pepper appear in some medieval sources. The spices were typically infused in the finished wine, not boiled — which is still the correct approach for a modern Hippocras.

Add spices post-fermentation as a cold infusion. Fermentation drives off delicate volatile aromatics; spices added before or during active fermentation lose most of their character. After the pyment has cleared and been stabilised, add the spice blend in a sanitised muslin bag or tea strainer and taste every 24 hours. Most cold infusions reach their target character in 24–72 hours; cinnamon and cloves extract quickly and can become dominant if left too long.

A starting point for a 5-litre batch: 1 cinnamon stick, 3–5 cm fresh ginger (sliced), 4–6 cloves, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns. Taste at 24 hours and remove whichever element has reached the right intensity first — cloves and cinnamon typically dominate early; ginger and pepper develop more slowly. Adjust proportions based on your grape variety — a robust Cabernet Hippocras can handle heavier spicing than a delicate Muscat version.

For detailed guidance on spice addition rates, contact times, and blending approaches, see the metheglin guide.

This recipe produces a pale, aromatic pyment using Muscat grape juice and acacia honey with 71B. It is a straightforward first pyment — clean process, predictable results, and a finished drink that showcases both fermentable sources.

Expected OG: approximately 1.080–1.085. Combine the grape juice and water first. Stir in the honey until fully dissolved. Check pH — Muscat juice can be 3.0–3.3, and with honey added the must may be close to the safe lower limit. Adjust to 3.5–3.7 with potassium bicarbonate if needed (¼–½ tsp dissolved in a small amount of water, added incrementally while stirring).

Expected FG: approximately 1.004–1.010 with 71B, giving an estimated ABV of around 9–10%. 71B will soften the Muscat acidity during fermentation, resulting in a rounder, less sharp finish than the starting juice would suggest.

Nutrient note: the 2 g total Fermaid O represents a significant reduction from the standard TOSCA dose for a 5-litre batch at this OG. At 2 L of grape juice, the must already contains an estimated 180–250 ppm YAN from the grape — close to or exceeding the full requirement for a batch at this gravity. The calculator derives the adjusted figure automatically; the 2 g here is illustrative. If the grape juice YAN is unknown, use a YAN test kit before pitching.

Allow 3–5 weeks in primary at 15–18°C. Rack once gravity has stabilised, then condition for 6–8 weeks. The finished pyment should be pale gold, fragrant with Muscat floral aromatics, and noticeably drier and more wine-like than a honey-only mead of the same OG.