Post by volante{Kyr} on Apr 8, 2007 20:17:18 GMT -5
Equipment:
1 gallon pot
1 gallon milk jug, well cleaned [Sit overnight filled with a solution of Clorox and water and rinse well, please.]
1 square of paper towel
1 rubber band
Ingredients:
1 packet of all purpose wine yeast
2 lbs. clover or orange blossom honey
2 or 3 whole cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of dry ginger root (sliced)
2-4 tablespoons of the outer orange peel (depending on the honey used)
Fill the pot 3/4 full of the best water available. Toss in the lightly broken up spices and bring the water to a low simmer for 10-15 minutes with the cover on the pot. Let your nose tell you when it is strong enough for your taste. Pour in the honey and stir thoroughly or you may scorch the honey producing caramel. Once the honey is well dissolved, watch the pot carefully and hold the mixture to a low simmer. A white scum will begin to form on the top after a few minutes, skim this off and throw it away. Continue to do this until no real amount is forming on the top of the mixture anymore. Skim off as much of the spices as you can now. Turn off the fire, cover the pot and go to bed, or something.
In the morning, put the yeast in the pot, replace the lid, and forget it until evening.
Transfer the liquid or "must" into your sterile milk jug (see explanation under Apparatus). Strain out any remaining spices at this point. Add enough water to bring the level of the must up to one inch from the throat of the jug.
Fold a square of paper towel into quarters and cover the mouth of the jug with it, holding it in place with the rubber band. Change it if a vigorous ferment dampens it. (You may use a fermentation lock or bubbler instead if you have one, but the above works just as well.)
Let fermentation proceed for 72 hours in a shady place. Afterward, loosely cap the jug and place it in the refrigerator.
After one week, siphon the mead off the yeast dregs, and into another clean jug.
Tighten the cap and replace in the refrigerator for at least another week before drinking. Two is better.
This instruction provides a lightly carbonated, mildly alcoholic metheglin suitable for revels where large quantities of drink are needed.
Caution! The mead hangover has been described as a "punishment too sublime to entrust to the frail frame of a mortal." This is no exaggeration. My recipes I will share, the cure is available for an exorbitant price.
1 gallon pot
1 gallon milk jug, well cleaned [Sit overnight filled with a solution of Clorox and water and rinse well, please.]
1 square of paper towel
1 rubber band
Ingredients:
1 packet of all purpose wine yeast
2 lbs. clover or orange blossom honey
2 or 3 whole cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of dry ginger root (sliced)
2-4 tablespoons of the outer orange peel (depending on the honey used)
Fill the pot 3/4 full of the best water available. Toss in the lightly broken up spices and bring the water to a low simmer for 10-15 minutes with the cover on the pot. Let your nose tell you when it is strong enough for your taste. Pour in the honey and stir thoroughly or you may scorch the honey producing caramel. Once the honey is well dissolved, watch the pot carefully and hold the mixture to a low simmer. A white scum will begin to form on the top after a few minutes, skim this off and throw it away. Continue to do this until no real amount is forming on the top of the mixture anymore. Skim off as much of the spices as you can now. Turn off the fire, cover the pot and go to bed, or something.
In the morning, put the yeast in the pot, replace the lid, and forget it until evening.
Transfer the liquid or "must" into your sterile milk jug (see explanation under Apparatus). Strain out any remaining spices at this point. Add enough water to bring the level of the must up to one inch from the throat of the jug.
Fold a square of paper towel into quarters and cover the mouth of the jug with it, holding it in place with the rubber band. Change it if a vigorous ferment dampens it. (You may use a fermentation lock or bubbler instead if you have one, but the above works just as well.)
Let fermentation proceed for 72 hours in a shady place. Afterward, loosely cap the jug and place it in the refrigerator.
After one week, siphon the mead off the yeast dregs, and into another clean jug.
Tighten the cap and replace in the refrigerator for at least another week before drinking. Two is better.
This instruction provides a lightly carbonated, mildly alcoholic metheglin suitable for revels where large quantities of drink are needed.
Caution! The mead hangover has been described as a "punishment too sublime to entrust to the frail frame of a mortal." This is no exaggeration. My recipes I will share, the cure is available for an exorbitant price.