How to Make Mead

[Rick]

Mead is an alcoholic beverage used by the Saxons right through to the middle ages. Here's an updated recipe for it.

4-5lb. (about 2kg) honey
2 oz. (60g) hops
The rind from 3-4 lemons
A small cloth bag

Sew the hops and the lemon rind into the bag. Add the honey to a gallon of water and boil it for an hour and a half; carefully remove the scum from the top. Add the bag and its contents. Allow to cool. When cold place in a stoneware flask and closely stopper it. Allow to stand for 8-9 month before drinking.

[crashdive123]

Sounds interesting. Ever tried it?

[BraggSurvivor]

I make it and we drink it every Christmas with family. I like it 50/50 with dandilion wine or soda.

I do not remove the sludge layer, adds some bitterness.

[Rick]

I started to make dandelion wine once upon a time. When I figured out it took about 10,000 dandelion heads to make 1 pound I gave up.:D

[BraggSurvivor]

Think grandkids and candy Rick. And little baskets. ;)

[Alpine_Sapper]

Sounds interesting. Ever tried it?

Not homemade. I've had the stuff they sell at the Renaissance Fair before. Good stuff.

Bragg - Do you use the same recipe?

[BraggSurvivor]

Pretty much, just different quantities. This batch I added a touch of Allspice.

Kickin it up a notch. ;)

[trax]

Allow to stand for 8-9 month before drinking.

8 to 9 months??? Oh my God, what do I do in the meantime????

[BraggSurvivor]

I start sampling at 2 months. Not much difference in taste, just clarity and color.

[canid]

i love making mead.

here's one of my old favorite spicing spiced meads [for a 3-5 gal batch]:
in one large kettle
10lb or so pure mesquite honey,
3-4.5 gal water.
in one steeping bag:
the rind of an orange,
two tbs. corriander seeds,
two dried pods cardimom,
1/4lb minced ginger.
put aside in fridge:
1 cake champagne yeast.
1 slice bread [relatively fresh, without even the beginnings of mold] for toasting.

heat water in kettle to rolling boil, reduce heat to a low boil and add honey.
boil 30 min.
reduce heat to a simmer and add steeping bag of spices
simmer 30 min, covered.
remove steeping bag with a sterile implement [slotted spoon]
let cool to near room temp [below 90f]
transfer to a sterile fermentation carboy/crock/kettle.
with clean hands, toast bread, cool and spread yeast.
float toast in the ferenter.

ferment at 70f or so for 7 days.
rack and age 3 months or more.
siphon into sterilized bottles and cap/cork. if you like carbonation, use champagne or other heavy bottles primed with 2tbs to 1/4 cup sugar.

[GVan]

Modern wiccans, "witches", love mead and I've seen better than a dozen recipes in modern bookd.

[canid]

a great many people love mead, it's an easy drink to love ;)

that recipe i posted above after a few months aging was as popular as the $200 sake served at a friend's wedding.

[Tony uk]

Ive tried this shop bought but never made my own, Very Interesting, Thanks :D

[Excalibur]

I love those recipes anyone have any mor or know how to make (forgive the spelling) sasparilla

[crashdive123]

Here you go. http://www.members.tripod.com/Howtuz/soda.html

[Excalibur]

wow thanks you just saved me a fortune at the supermarket

[CoM]

Hello:

I am a newbie and posted this same question in the general Chat section.

I have cases of unprocessed, fermented honey (yuck). Can this also be used to make mead or something else?

Thanks for any suggestion

[Rick]

You only need to post once. It will show up as a new posting so folks will see it. I took care of the other post.

As for the honey, I've never heard of honey going bad. I thought that stuff lasted for (literally) thousands of years. What kind of honey is it?

[Ole WV Coot]

Eight months??? How about three days tops? I am 1/2 Swedish but my other half rules. You guys drink strange stuff.

[Sam Reeves]

Eight months??? How about three days tops? I am 1/2 Swedish but my other half rules. You guys drink strange stuff.I'm German, English and probably a little Irish. What ever yer other half is it can't compete with a long proud drinking heritage such as that. :D

[Pict]

My dad said I was half Scotch, the rest was water. Mac

[CoM]

I guess it is a cross between tallow and clover.

[CoM]

I guess it is a cross between tallow & clover as both are abundant in our area.

[klkak]

Part Irish, part Native, Part of a long line of alcoholics.

[Ole WV Coot]

The 1/2 Swedish is on Mom's side. Dad's is Scotch-Irish and 100% Eastern KY Redneck. We drink the clear white stuff. We put honey on biscuits.:D

[klkak]

Ummmmmm, honey on biscuits, aaaaaaaaaaaa,

[zaebra]

honey doesn't spoil. in fact, honey is the one food edible by man that will never spoil. spoiling means "rendered inedible by bacteria", or thereabouts. honey is a natural antibacterial substance (they used it to dress wounds in ancient egypt and rediscovered it only recently), so it can't spoil.

we've been making mead at home for years, but we leave out the hops. just honey, water, and yeast, and allow to ferment. it's drinkable at about 3 months, although it's pretty sharp. the longer you let it rest (we've had enough willpower to wait two full years), the smoother and sweeter it seems to get.

watch out, though, the alcohol content can get pretty steep. it is definitely my favorite drink, though. good stuff!

[LeaveThisLifeGuy]

so... what exactly does it taste like? just fermented honey?

[bulrush]

What do you mean the honey was "fermented"? Pure honey can crystallize, I eat it every day and it tends to get thick and start forming crystals at about 3 months after being open. But then I pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds and the crystals melt.

[grundle]

What do you mean the honey was "fermented"? Pure honey can crystallize, I eat it every day and it tends to get thick and start forming crystals at about 3 months after being open. But then I pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds and the crystals melt.

You don't just set the honey out and wait for it to ferment. For all alcoholic beverages that rely on yeasts to ferment you go through a steeping process. For the yeast to begin fermenting it needs a sugar to act as a catalyst or a fuel. Most beers will use malt, which is a thick syrup much like the consistency of honey.

So then you boil the water, honey, (and hops if you so desire it) for about an hour. Then you cool to 70 degrees, add your yeast and mixture to the fermentation container and then let the yeast do its work.

[canid]

god @#%!@#% $ i just spent 15 min on a writeup and lost it due to accidentally refreshing the page. let me try again:

in themselves, meads will tend to have a sort of spicy quality and a mild, somewhat dry sweetness. they will have no acidity unless there is a contamination [or the intentional addition] of a sour bacteria. they have no bitter character such as the tannins in wine, etc unless it is introduced by any added spices.

depending on the yeast culture used [and the source of water used] they will tend to have a mild to pronounced sulphur nost which i find pleasant in a mead if it is not overbearing.

spices are often [even usually] added to accent the natural flavor of the mead.

it should be noted that honey [and subsequently; mead] will spoil easily once diluted in water and the same sanitary proceedures must be ovserved in proccessing as with any other fermented beverage.

spontaenaeous fermentation could in fact be used, but it is not safe and has a high failure rate and therefore waste.

i have used everything from champagne and ale yeast cultures to my own culture derrived from fleischer's bread yeast.

that's all i got for the moment as i got tired of typing the first time around as it was.

cheers.

[canid]

it should also be noted that when you hard boil your diluted honey, you break down some sugars which are essential for getting a decent residual sugar level and therefore a sweet meat. this is usually achieved by priming, either after distilation and racking or at bottling, and is often done with pasteurized honey or another source of sugars. this can also be done to prime your mead for carbonation. i love carbonated, sweet and high final gravity meads.

[LeaveThisLifeGuy]

wow, you guys know your meads!

[CoM]

My original question was about fermented honey. Because of the high water content the honey has fermented. I have a few cases of quart size jars of it and was asking if I can use it for anything.

Can you make mead with honey that is already fermented? Or anything else? I did find a few recipes using it such as fermented honey crackers and a honey lemon drink.

Can this already fermented honey be used for medicinal purposes?

[RaymondPeter]

Funny that I just found this post... Just the other night my fiancee and I were talking about making homemade wines and I brought up that I wanted to try and make mead some day... Thanks guys for the recipes, and info!

[grundle]

My original question was about fermented honey. Because of the high water content the honey has fermented. I have a few cases of quart size jars of it and was asking if I can use it for anything.

Can you make mead with honey that is already fermented? Or anything else? I did find a few recipes using it such as fermented honey crackers and a honey lemon drink.

Can this already fermented honey be used for medicinal purposes?

If you already have a fermented honey water mix, as you just explained, then technically you have a mead. In the olden' days fermentation was much simpler. They did not understand that they needed yeasts for the fermentation process, but they did know that if you combined it with water and boiled it, then left it out for a time then it would ferment. What was happening was that wild yeast would eventually float to their open vats of mead stock and the fermentation process would begin.

It is of course more scientific now. I am curious as to how your honey was fermented in the first place? If I were you I would try a small quantity to see if it is palatable. Mixing the already fermented honey with something else won't really do anything for you. You always want the entire mix to ferment together. That is very important for both the alcohol content AND the flavor.

[sthrnstrong]

Really enjoy this receipe. Everyone that has tried my Mead has really enjoyed it and nothing but compliments.


4lbs of honey
1 packet of dry active yeast
1quart of water

Directions: Put honey and 1qt of water in pot, heat do not boil. Add yeast and stir well, pour into a 1 gallon jug and fill with more H2O. Place ballon on top of jug and place in a dark closet for about 30-45 days until balloon deflats. Strain and enjoy.

[canid]

the trouble with spontanaeous fermentation, as i stated above, is that is is not safe from contamination by potentially pathogenic organisms, and is therefore not safe for consumptions, to the degree acceptable by most people who have the simple means to produce intentionally cultured fermented beverages. other fungi and bacteria will grow in that diluted honey as well as any yeast and some are toxic.

many mycotoxins are not reliably destroyed by pasteurization or even sterilization temperatures, so while the organism[s] may be killed off by heat treatment, the any toxins already produced may not, and it would therefore not nessecrily be safe to reuse no matter what the treatment. this is the same reason you can't just cook, or recook rancid meat.

[canid]

jebus cripes sthrnstrong, that's a lot of honey for such a small batch.

[sthrnstrong]

Well, you are making a gallons worth of mead. The reciepe comes from a old man on the mountain (btw i live in Tennessee). I have made it before and it comes out fine. If you try it youll love it. Remember that receipe is for 1 gallon of mead.

[Alpine_Sapper]

Just out of curiosity, before I go and screw up a perfectly good recipe, when you guys are saying "4 lbs", are you measuring your ounces by weight or by volume?

[sthrnstrong]

When you get your honey Im talking about 4 16oz jars of honey. It sounds like alot but here in Tennessee we only believe in making homemades by the gallon.

[sthrnstrong]

After you try your first batch of mead you can also experiment with it by adding different flavors. I found out that I enjoy adding a little bit of cinnamon to the batch. Its fun to experiment with.

[Dennis K.]

I've made mead in the past - in 5 gallon batches.

Here's a recipe and procedure that has yielded good results for me:

7-9 lbs honey
7 lbs tart apples - sliced up, core and all - I like granny Smiths for this

Boil Honey in 2-3 gallons water - skim the foam.
Add additional H20 to bring it up to 5 gallons. Bring it to a full boil.
Add apples, turn heat down to low, and steep for at least an hour.
If you have a wort chiller, (available at most homebrew supply shops), rack the boiled mead through a strainer, and into a sterile glass fermenter (basically a 5 gallon glass bottle)
As soon as the wort is cool enough to not kill the yeast, pitch in one package of yeast - I find Champagne yeasts are perfect, as they can withstand the higher alcohol content. The liquid yeast cultures available from homebrew shops are excellent.
You will need a plastic hose large enough to fit over the mouth of the fermenter - this hose will direct the blowoff into a container, rather than make a huge mess. The blowoff can be quite spectacular.
After the initial blowoff, rack the wort into a second fermenting vessel. This will get the wort off the 2 inches or so of sediment, which can impart a bitterness to the brew. (This sediment is rich in active yeast cultures and can be used for your next batch!)
Cap the secondary fermenter with an airlock (also available at any homebrew supply shop).
When the bubbles in the airlock subside to 1 bubble every 1 minute or less, siphon the brew into bottles and cap - I like the ceramic-top Grolsch style bottles for this.
Keep the bottles in a cool dark place for about 6 months.
Be careful when you open them - they may be heavily carbonated.
Enjoy in moderation.

There was an old Saxon and Viking tradition that newly married couples should drink mead every night for the entire first moon cycle of their marriage. By doing so, they would bear many children. Hence the modern term "honeymoon." :)

[bulrush]

Actually brewing alcohol and distilling it to 70%+ purity can be very helpful in a medical situation. Alcohol is great for disinfecting wounds and such. I have had great success treating abscesses using only alcohol and/or hydrogen peroxide applied 3x daily.

[Rick]

Great post, Dennis K. Why not brew up something about your self in the Introduction section?