One thing I'm into is homebrewing beer and mead. In fact, I just bottled my first mead today, and after it ages at least a year, it'll be really good. :grin: The next thing I'll do is a beer, then more mead as it's the nectar of the gods, and the world's oldest fermented beverage.
I love honey. mmmmmmmmmmm
do you filter it or just leave the yeast on the bottom? do you pasterize it?
*Raises glass of beer*
Cool :grin: ,i really hope it turns out as good mead(i do love a good glass of mead :smile: ,especially Russian mead).
my unckle used to make interesting brews. he says you can make a brew out of anything. he made a lettuce brew. i don't know how it turned out. it sounds dreadful. he made a brew that exploded and hit the ceiling. he had gone away on holiday so when he arrived back he was rather surprised. i think i remember it was based on strawberries.
my gran preserved beans and they exploded. it was back in the days when you preserved everything. my gran never stopped trying to preserve things.
i would like to make a brew, but i think it would just be for the risk taking behaviour involved.
becca
How do you make mead? That's good stuff.
Another [Way] To Make Meath
(The Closet of... Sir Kenelme Digby... Opened, 1669 &c. )
6 wine quarts water
1/2 ounce whole nutmegs
1 lemon peel
1 quart honey
pulp of 2 or 3 lemons
lemon juice
Time to completion: less than 1 month.
To every quart of honey allow six Wine-quarts of water; half an Ounce of Nutmegs, and the Peel of a Limon, and the meat of two or three, as you make the quantity. Boil these together, till the scum rise no more; It must stand till it be quite cold, and when you Tun it, you squeese into it the juyce of some Limons, and this will make it ripen quickly. It will be ready in less then a month.
************************************************************
A Barrel of Very Good Mead
from:
The True Amazons: or, the Monarchy of Bees by Joseph Warder of Croyden, Physician (1765)
"One hundred and twenty pounds will make a Barrel of very good Mead: But if you make it of clear Honey, then your best way is to allow four pounds to every gallon of Water. Let your Quantity be much or little, (which you ought to govern yourself by either considering the Bigness of your Cask, or the Quantity of Honey you have to up into Mead) mix it in your Copper, and then boil it, and scum it well; ... when your Mead is almost cold, tun it up, clay it down, and let it stand till it is fine, and old enough to drink; which sometimes will be sooner than other, according to the Time of the Year and the weather that comes upoin it after making. This Liquor is one of the choicest of Wines, as well as the most wholesome of all Vinous Liquors in the World, and outght to be drank and made use of in Possets, &c. as Canary; and thus used, it is impossible to know whether the Posset was made of your Mead or Canary"
*************************************************************
Oh goody! I will most definitely attempt this concoction, if i can get my hands on some nutmegs.
and when you Tun it
I fear, however, that i am uninitiated to the meaning of this verb, as i have never brewed a thing in my life. (I actually don't usually do anything, ever, but this will make a great Activity.) How do i make the fermentation go? Is there a webpage which would enlighten me as to the relevant methodology?
Wait, do i need a cask? I give up.
"to Tun" here means putting it into a cask or barrel.
These recipes assume that there will be enough wild yeasts in the air, and on the other ingredients, to start a culture.
Stella
Mead is delicious, although most commercial brands are mixed with grape wine, diluting the flavour. I keep meaning to make my own, but I'm really lazy...
Oh I didn't know that, Nought. What a rotten swizz :roll:
Stella
Well, its drinkable, but the flavour's weakened. And yeah, such a rip-off.
The only commercial brand I'm aware of that doesnt dilute it is Moniack, my "brand of choice" (everyone should try their spiced mead at least once).