Ingredients

3 lbs of Raw, Unfiltered Honey

1 Gallon bottle/jug of Spring Water

1 Box of Raisins

Juice of 1 Navel Orange

1/4 packet of Fleischmann's Active Dry Bread Yeast (or EC-1118, or another strain of champagne or mead yeast)

Equipment

1 Gallon Glass Jug (AKA the Carboy)

Food-safe sanitizer like Star-San diluted in a spray bottle

Airlock of your choosing

Information & tips

Not everyone has a carboy or knows how to get one. You can order one from online brewing supply stores or amazon. But another recommendation is to look for one of facebook marketplace or even maybe thrift one. You CAN find them secondhand, you just have to search. Just be mindful of how old the glass you are buying is since some much older glass is no longer considered safe to consume from. You don't want anything that could leech lead into your food. This isn't like drinking a single drink out of an antique lead crystal glass, you will be leaving the brew in this jug for MONTHS, 24/7! Glass should definitely be fine if bought new within the last 20 to 30 years or so. A lot of people sell second-hand because they try brewing for a short time, but then quit doing it and need to downsize. If you are in a pinch, you can ferment in the plastic spring water jug, but it is not... ideal for long-term fermentation.

For the airlock, those can also be purchased online easily. They come in different styles with rubber corks or plastic jug caps that have a hole for the airlock. If you get an airlock, usually they require a liquid to be put inside so that air can bubble through. You can use water, but to prevent any contamination you should use a pure, clear shot of liquor. I like to use some cheap Svedka plain Vodka. The airlocks I have have a "max fill" line, so I just follow that guideline. If you're doing this on the cheap or in secret, get a condom or a balloon and poke a hole in the tip with a needle. Then stretch it over your jug or bottle. The balloon/condom will fill with CO2 continuously as fermentation goes on and any excess can escape out of the tiny pinhole so the baloon/condom doesn't pop. When you can, you should get the actual airlocks. But if you are in a pinch, balloon/condom works great!

And most-importantly, the sanitizer. Sanitize on the glass jug and airlocks if you have them. The star-san lasts multiple brews, like you buy it once and it only takes a little bit diluted in water to get the job done. It kills competitor yeast strains that exist naturally in the air or on surfaces. If you can't get ahold of sanitizer, wash the jug with dawn soap and BOILING HOT water. Just do the absolute best you can. IF you use the spring water plastic jug because you can't get ahold of a carboy, the plastic is already clean and full of the spring water. So just get your ingredients together quickly and jam that airlok on quick to keep outside basteria minimal.

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Instructions:

Sanitize your equipment, assuming you have a glass carboy and proper plastic/rubber airlocks. Spray with Star-san or wash with dish soap and boiling hot water.

Pour in all ingredients except Yeast.

Cover the jug with your hand and turn it upside down and shake it to aerate it and mix all ingredients

As an extra step, you can put a little sugar or honey, some lukewarm water, and the yeast into a small seperate bowl, and wait 10 minutes for the yeast to activa and start bubbling.

Finally, pour the yeast in and swirl it a bit, then put on your airlock!

Leave the jug in a place where you can check on it, and make sure it isn't too cold or hot. If you're doing it in secret, hide it in your closet or something. Otherwise, just put it on a counter or shelf in the kitchen where you can see it every day and check on it. Be mindful, in the initial fermentation if your yeast is reeeeeaaally happy it may cause the liquid to bubble up through the airlock and leak everywhere. Make sure you can clean it up, and make sure you're in the steady fermentation before you put it somewhere you can't see it, or where you'd be concerned about a mess.

Let this ferment for like 6 months or until the liquid becomes completely clear and the sediment all drops to the bottom and the airlock is still and not bubbling.