>
> Could you share your recipes and methods for making the mead Todd?
> Lois
>


Hi Lois,

Although I used to brew a fair amount of beer, this would be my first
attempt at mead.  There are many variations on mead, and a zillion recipes.
Basically, though, there are two forms - straight mead, which is just
fermented honey & water, and melomels, which are a fermented combination of
honey and fruit (just about any kind), and sometimes spices, such as
cinnamon or ginger.

Pure mead is difficult to brew properly, because honey is not an ideal food
for yeast.  It can take a long time to ferment, and also takes a long time
to mature - I have read recommendations of 6 months to a year or more before
consumption. Melomels (fruit and honey) are easier and take less time to
mature, and allow the intrepid to really explore different recipes.

The easiest recipe is simply 5 gals. apple cider and 7-10 lbs of honey.
Pasteurize, add champagne yeast, and a 5 gallon carboy, and you'll wind up
with a beverage around 15-18% alcohol that tastes pretty damned good (almost
brandy-like), and makes for pleasant Saturday afternoon naps.  A local crew
here in town (which includes a commercial beekeeper) were legendary for
their ability to make and consume this stuff.  I had the opportunity to
drink a fair amount of it at a town dance once.  I don't remember a lot of
details, but I remember having a hell of a good time...

Another simple method (which I'm going to use) is: 10 lbs honey, 5 lbs of
crushed fruit, and water to fill 5 gals.  Again, pasteurize the mix.  I plan
to use some wild grapes from our property - they're perfect;  sweet and tart
at the same time, with plenty of tannins to balance the honey.  Any fruit
will work, even black currants, which are supposed to be excellent in wine
or mead.  Favorites are grape, apple, and raspberry.  Try to avoid fruit
that's overly sweet, however, since the honey will need some acid balance.
This basic recipe should yield a slightly lower alcohol content - around
10-15%.

A recipe which I'll try later is one which is renowned - Barkshack
Gingermead.  It's reputed to be one of the finest beverages you'll ever try.
Recipes for this abound - you can find them on the internet, or Charlie
Papazian's "The New Complete Joy Of Home Brewing" (a very good book on
homebrewing).

DO NOT boil any mixture containing fruit.  It will "set" the pectin (like
jelly), which will make the mead forever cloudy.  The two options to
sterilize fruit-based mead are either pasteurization or sulfites (Campden
tablets).  Apparently, copper tubing contributes important nutrients for
fermentation, especially honey based.  A small piece of tubing on a string,
hung into the wort (the pre-mead/wine or beer) will help the yeast along.
You can also buy yeast nutrient, which is spent yeast hulls.  This is
especially important for mead making.

* An interesting footnote here - according to Papazian, the term "Honeymoon"
is from an ancient tradition.  It was believed that consumption of mead for
one moon (one month) after a wedding would produce a son, making the couple
and the meadmaker happy.


Todd.