Russian Myod Recipe

[Mazer828]

Found this intriguing description online, but can't seem to find any other resources for how this process works, or recipes to make this style of mead. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

"Myod: Traditional Russian mead, historically available in three major varieties:aged mead ("мёд ставленный"): a mixture of honey and water or berry juices, subject to a very slow (12–50 years) anaerobic fermentation in airtight vessels in a process similar to the traditional*balsamic vinegar, creating a rich, complex and high-priced product."

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[Mazer828]

Just bumping this up again, hoping someone has some guidance here? Thanks!

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[Masbustelo]

How old are you? Because if it takes 50 years to ferment, that could present issues.

 

[Mazer828]

But seriously. If the description is accurate (and it seems to be quoted exactly the same on half a dozen websites I've found) it could be worth trying, and could be good in as little as twelve years. What cost is it to fill a carboy and put it in a cool dark place to do it's thing. Forget about it until you retire and your grandkids are over to visit helping you clean out that old basement closet and...voila!

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[Masbustelo]

Search the word myod on this site and there was a discussian on this subject a few years ago. I looked around a little bit and it seems production of this Russian beverage ceased about 700 years ago and the recipes were lost or destroyed in the 1600's.

 

[Mazer828]

Been searching the site. Can't find any discussion of Russian myod. Is it on the patron side? I'm thinking of becoming a patron member soon anyway...

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[Mazer828]

I made another extensive search of the Internet, including gotmead.com, for anything to do with this Russian great mead. Can't find a thing except the exact same quote repeated on about half a dozen sites about this "anaerobic fermentation process similar to balsamic vinegar". Is this just some Internet rubbish? Or is there actually some truth to this? And where can I go to learn more? If there is a discussion on this site, I'd love it if someone could link me to it, because I can't seem to find it.

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[theDREWery]

Any alcoholic fermentation would be anaerobic, and balsamic vinegar uses an aging system referred to as a solera. The phrasing is technical enough to sound convincing, but vague enough to not really be explanatory.

The most difficult part of historic mead recipes comes down to the fact that humans have been diluting honey and fermenting it longer than we've had agriculture and pottery (requirements for beer and wine, respectively). And ever since the invention of the barrel, we've been putting every kind of alcohol into them for flavor, as well as ease of storage.

Any historic recipe can be summed up unfortunately easily: honey varietal common in area, diluted with water or local fruit juice, add spices as desired. Most recipes are nonspecific for the same reason as bread recipes, everyone has an idea of what consistency and flavor you want, and those are the same as what we do now. For a better understanding of what it may have tasted like, try looking for food references for the time frame you're looking to emulate. If you look at The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened almost every mead recipe calls for ginger (because everyone had it at the time) and peppercorns (because it was the fancy thing in the area). In Finland, most classic meads were heavy on juniper. Culinary history will likely give you greater insight than seeking out historic recipes.

Good Luck!

 

[Mazer828]

I appreciate the feedback. Sounds to me as though this description is some vestige of a phrase once used way back in history to describe something probably very similar to a polish mead, based on whatever their grandfather told them of what he knew of the process from "the old country." Probably just got copied and copied and will live on in internet posterity forever.

Anyway, I've decided based on this that I might as well jump off into the polish meads, since there is so much more info available on how these are made still today. At least that way I won't have to wait 50 years to try it!