This is one I have shared before but it may have got lost in the rebuild. It is so simple to make and you can make it without much equipment and with a multitude of variations. This could be a first Mead for the novice as it is almost fool proof. It is a bit unorthodox but it has never failed me or the friends I have shared it with.
3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleismanns bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon
Process:
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Yes, CLEAN means no germs. Bacteria is the enemy of good mead. First make sure there is no dirt or other ingredients caked on the inside. If there is, clean it out with dishwater soap and water and a bottle brush. Then rinse well. Then fill carboy with 1 tablespoon of unscented bleach and clean water. Let it set at least 20 minutes to disinfect and then rinse out well with plenty of water so that the bleach doesn’t impart a flavor our mead. This should be easy and only take a couple rinseings as long as you don’t exceed 1 Tablespoon per gallon.
Dissolve the required honey in 1 ½ quarts of warm water, making sure it is mixed well and pour in the carboy. Yes, you can use a funnel but make sure it is clean and disinfected. For this you can crush up 1 Campden tablet and mix with a cup of warm water to use to disinfect any needed items like the rubber bung and the funnel and any spoons you use for stirring the honey. Or you can use a bleach mixture like you did for the carboy with 1 Tablespoon per gallon. Remember to rinse off bleach mixture from items with clean tap water before using.
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)
Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)
Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process that provides needed oxygen in the mixture or as we in mead making call the Must. Oxygen at this point is important but once fermentation gets under way, oxygen will be our enemy.
When at room temperature in your kitchen. Put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)( the yeast can fight for their own territory)
Install water airlock. Don't forget to put in a little water in it. duh! Put in dark place. Yeast is a fungi which is a single cell organism that grows and operates more efficiently in the dark. It also prefers cooler temperatures typical of a basement but for this mead, anywhere between 65F and 80 will be fine. The warmer the temperature the faster will be the fermentation with this yeast. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.
Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch
After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. If the temperature is in the 70's it finish even faster You don't have to do a thing but watch and smell (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and syphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waitied that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were sucessful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make a different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make a good ancient mead.
Enjoy, Joe
P.S. Please see important authors note to this post on page 5 of this thread.
1 gallon batch
3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleismanns bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon
Process:
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Yes, CLEAN means no germs. Bacteria is the enemy of good mead. First make sure there is no dirt or other ingredients caked on the inside. If there is, clean it out with dishwater soap and water and a bottle brush. Then rinse well. Then fill carboy with 1 tablespoon of unscented bleach and clean water. Let it set at least 20 minutes to disinfect and then rinse out well with plenty of water so that the bleach doesn’t impart a flavor our mead. This should be easy and only take a couple rinseings as long as you don’t exceed 1 Tablespoon per gallon.
Dissolve the required honey in 1 ½ quarts of warm water, making sure it is mixed well and pour in the carboy. Yes, you can use a funnel but make sure it is clean and disinfected. For this you can crush up 1 Campden tablet and mix with a cup of warm water to use to disinfect any needed items like the rubber bung and the funnel and any spoons you use for stirring the honey. Or you can use a bleach mixture like you did for the carboy with 1 Tablespoon per gallon. Remember to rinse off bleach mixture from items with clean tap water before using.
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)
Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)
Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process that provides needed oxygen in the mixture or as we in mead making call the Must. Oxygen at this point is important but once fermentation gets under way, oxygen will be our enemy.
When at room temperature in your kitchen. Put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)( the yeast can fight for their own territory)
Install water airlock. Don't forget to put in a little water in it. duh! Put in dark place. Yeast is a fungi which is a single cell organism that grows and operates more efficiently in the dark. It also prefers cooler temperatures typical of a basement but for this mead, anywhere between 65F and 80 will be fine. The warmer the temperature the faster will be the fermentation with this yeast. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.
Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch
After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. If the temperature is in the 70's it finish even faster You don't have to do a thing but watch and smell (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and syphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waitied that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were sucessful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make a different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make a good ancient mead.
Enjoy, Joe
P.S. Please see important authors note to this post on page 5 of this thread.
