This is not my fault; our friend Kate suggested it by sending me this video, which shows someone making mead with Peeps. You know, Peeps, the marshmallow candy that Americans see in stores for a few weeks before Easter every year? Yeah, this recipe gets fermentable sugar from that. Anyway, this one is Kate's fault.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 108 individual purple Peeps candy (2 lbs., 12&nbsp. oz.; bunny and duck shaped).
  • 7 lb., 9 oz. Kirkland wildflower honey.
  • untreated tap water to approx. 3 gallons.
  • 1½ tsp. Fermaid O.
  • 2 packets Lalvin K1V-1116 wine yeast, rehydrated in tap water.
  • 1 tsp. Fermaid O, added on 3 Mar 2025
  • 1 tsp. Fermaid O, added on 4 Mar 2025
  • 1½ tsp. Fermaid O, added on 7 Mar 2025
  • 1 tsp. Fermaid O, added on 8 Mar 2025

Procedure

Mixed honey and syrup into water with Fermaid O and Fermaid K, then added water to just over a gallon. Agitated intermittently and repeatedly for over an hour while other batches were being prepared, then measured the gravity. Pitched yeast at 76℉.

Brew date: 28 February 2025.
Original gravity: not measured (no point: hard to know how to calculate the amount of sugar contributed by the candy, especially given that an unknown number were pushed out.-
Bottling date: 8 February 2026
Final gravity: 1.040.
Estimated ABV: Not calculated: later sugar additions are hard to figure.

Yield:

  • 15 x 12 oz. beer bottles
  • 6 x 375mL wine bottle

Total: 256 fl. oz., or just over two gallons.

Observations

  • 2025-03-01: Peeps had floated to the top, made a solid gummy mass, and pushed the airlock out while getting pushed out themselves. Lucky me, Xenia cleaned up the mess before I was even awake; I owe her some baked goods. Next time, much bigger carboy or bucket; this makes it hard to estimate the final ABV.
  • 2025-03-03: Nutrient addition.
  • 2025-03-04: Nutrient addition.
  • 2025-03-07: Nutrient addition.
  • 2025-03-08: Nutrient addition.
  • 2026-02-08: Bottled, yielding just over two gallons over odd-smelling mead.