M A K I N G

W H A T I S M E A D ?Mead is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey, water and yeast.

It is the oldest alcoholic drink known. It was brewed by monks, and was popular with the Anglo-Saxons and featured in their court feasts.

Mead is flavoured by the nature of the source from which the bees obtained their nectar. • Brush Box honey will produce a table mead light in flavour and colour • Stringy-bark honey will produce a dessert mead stronger in flavour and darker in colour

The aroma and flavour should persist in the mead. This is why I favour a darker honey with a distinct flavour. All natural honeys can be used for making mead.

• MELOMEL - Mead with added fruit / fruit juices. Where possible, use surplus fruits-in-season : any berries, any stonefruit etc. Learn to experiment, but be careful with acidic, it can dominate. We have used - jaboticaba - mango - green apples - grapefruit - limes - apricot nectar - black mulberry - apple juice (with pulp) - comb honey - grapes .

• METHEGLIN Mead with added spices, a favourite in medieval times. Spices suitable for 10 L metheglin are - bruised ginger (200g) + cinnamon (2 quills) + nutmeg (2 cones, smashed) + cloves (40). Adjust with experimentation to desired taste. Insert spices in a muslin bag, to be added in with the must, and to be removed at the first racking.

Mead is a dry wine. It should be served chilled like a white wine. Also a dry mead can be decanted and some honey added to make it a little sweeter.

Chill for an hour or so in decanter. Metheglin is best served warmed.

G E N E R A L T I P S & H I N T SHONEY IN BREWING

Honey may be used in wines and beers, but use a light honey. In wines, use no more than 200g of honey, which would replace 150g sugar to impart a delicate taste. In beers and stout, 1kg honey can replace 1kg sugar.

YEAST NUTRIENT

In brewing mead, honey lacks the necessary acidity and tannin to feed the yeasts well. Yeast nutrient can be procured from a brewing shop. Or add crushed sultanas (120g) and citric acid, or crushed sultanas (120g) and lemon juice (1 cup).If the alcohol contents of the finished brew exceeds 15-20%, the yeast may be killed and fermentation would then cease, spoiling the brew. So when preparing the ‘must’ ensure that the final reading on the hydrometer does not exceed 15% alcohol.

BREWING HINTS

In brewing, yeast feed on sugars producing carbon dioxide (which bubbles off) and alcohol (which remains in the brew). Flavours and aromas are provided by the ingredients - fruit, sugars, water and optional spices and herbs.So the aim of the brewer is to use the best ingredients and introduce a yeast which will give an acceptable wine. There exist many yeasts in the environment, and these must be excluded while the introduced yeast goes to work.Most important is cleanliness. All utensils and ingredients must be sterilised with metabisulphate to kill ‘wild’ yeasts. Then the ‘must’ must be protected from the air as much as possible. Use siphons to transfer must fromone container to another.

EQUIPMENT

• Fermenter fitted with airlock (glass and plastic fermenters are available in sizes 5L and 25L)• Hydrometer• Strainers, stirrers, bottle brush, siphons, funnels• Bottling machine, corking machine• Steriliser, cleaning liquid

H O W D O Y O U M A K E M E A D ?

ATHOL’S ORIGINAL RECIPE FOR 20 LITRESPlease note: extra ingredients and procedure for melomel are indicated in bold italic.

I N G R E D I E N T S F O R 2 0 L I T R E S

4 kg fresh honey Rain water - taint free Quality white wine yeast Sugar, sultanas, pectonaise, metabisulphite, 2 lemons Optional (for melomel): 3L fruit juice or 3kg pulped fruit

P R E P A R A T I O N

The day before putting the mead down, start the yeast in warm water with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon crushed sultanas. Stand in a bottle with a cotton wool plug overnight.

Just before making the must, clean all equipment in water in which metabisulphite has been dissolved. Rinse well in clear water - no metabisulphite can get into the must.

T H E M U S T

Mix honey in warm water and pour into fermentor. Fill to the required level with water. Add 1 cup of crushed organic sultanas.

To make melomel, fruit juice or pulp is added at this stage. Use fruit in season. Wash fruit with metabisulphite and rinse before pulping. If using fruit juice, it must be 100% pure.

Mix in lemon juice. When the must is about 25°C add the started yeast. Seal and put air lock in place. Alcohol content of the finished brew can be estimated by measuring the sugar content with a hydrometer.

R A C K I N G

The brew will ferment vigorously for 4-7 days as the yeast feeds on the sugars converting them to alcohol (which stays in the brew) and carbon dioxide (which bubbles off). A sediment forms of dead yeast. After 7 days strain off the liquid and discard the sediment/pulp.

Replace lost volume with honey and water mix. Rack again after 4 weeks, taking great care not to disturb the sediment.

Discard sediment. When replacing lost liquid add pectinaise and clearing agent. After another 4 weeks the brew will be clear. Times will vary according to the temperature - longer in winter.

Do not rack again but let it stand to work its way out - up to 4 months.

B O T T L I N G

Bottle when brew is clear and has ceased bubbling. Wash bottles well in metabisulphite and rinse well in clear water. Add ½ teaspoon white sugar and 50ml water to each bottle. Crown seals, corks or screw-top lids are all suitable. Avoid contact with air by using tubes for siphoning, do not disturb sediment. Have patience for 6 months before sampling. Peak maturity is at 2 years. Mead should be decantered, honey is added as desired during the decantering. Mead should be chilled for 2 hours before serving.

ATHOL’S MEAD FROM UNCAPPINGSThis mead is different in its behaviour in the fermenter, and in its taste after 2 years in the bottle.

I believe that this results from the belief that bees put an enzyme on the honey before capping the cell. Is this enzyme added to preserve the honey for long storage?

So select combs that are new and pale. Carefully uncap into a stainless steel basin. To ensure enough honey (2mm of depth) is included with the uncappings, I dig a little deeper with the uncapping knife.

Cover uncappings immediately to exclude wild yeasts. 3kg of honey and wax would be sufficient for a 10 L fermenter.

Proceed to prepare the must and the fermentation process, as outlined in the main recipe.

BE EXTRA PATIENT WITH THIS RECIPE. IT IMPROVES WITH AGE.

TIP Add a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle before bottling. The result will be a sparkling mead after 2 years.

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M E A D V A R I A N T S Acerglyn - A mead made with honey and maple syrup.

Balche - A native Mexican version of mead.

Bochet - A mead where the honey is caramelized or burned separately before adding the water.

Yields toffee and chocolate flavours.

Braggot (bracket or brackett) - Originally brewed with honey and hops, later with honey and malt (maybe hops added.

Welsh origin.

Black mead - A name sometimes given to the blend of honey and black currants.

Capsicumel - A mead flavored with chili peppers.

Chouchenn - A kind of mead made in Brittany.

Cyser - A blend of honey and apple juice fermented together - basically, it’s cider made with honey.

Czwørniak (TSG) - A Polish mead, made using three units of water for each unit of honey.

Dandaghare - A mead from Nepal, combines honey with Himalayan herbs & spices. Brewed since 1972 in the city of Pokhara.

Dwøjniak (TSG) - A Polish mead, made using equal amounts of water and honey.

A great mead - intended to be aged several years.

Hydromel - Literally ‘water-honey’ in Greek. It is also the French name for mead. (Compare with the Catalan hidromel,

Galician aiguamel, Portuguese hidromel, Italian idromele, and Spanish hidromiel and aguamiel). It is also used as a name

for a light mead.

Lemon Mead - A tarty drop, made with hops and whole lemons.

Medica - Slovenian and Croatian variety of Mead.

Medovina - Czech, Croatian (Gverc), Serbian, Bulgarian, Bosnian and Slovak for mead. Commercially available in the Czech

Republic, Slovakia and presumably other Central and Eastern-European countries. Various spices added.

Medovukha - Eastern Slavic variant (honey-based fermented drink).

Myod - Traditional Russian mead, historically available in three major varieties. It is an aged mead. 1. A mixture of honey and

water and/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; drinking mead. 2. A kind of honey wine

made from diluted honey by traditional fermentation; and boiled mead. 3. A drink closer to beer, brewed from boiled wort of

diluted honey and herbs, very similar to modern medovukha.

Melomel - Melomel is made from honey and any fruit. Depending on the fruit base used, certain melomels may also be

known by more specific names (see cyser, pyment, morat for examples).

Metheglin - Metheglin is traditional mead with herbs and/or spices added. Some of the most common metheglins are

ginger, tea, orange peel, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, cloves or vanilla. Its name indicates that many metheglins were

originally employed as folk medicines. The Welsh word for mead is medd, and the word “metheglin” derives from meddyglyn,

a compound of meddyg (healing) + llyn (liquor).

Midus - Lithuanian for mead, made of natural bee honey and berry juice. Infused with carnation blossoms, acorns, poplar

buds, juniper berries and other herbs, often made as a mead distillate or mead nectar, some of the varieties having as much

as 75% alcohol.

Morat - Morat blends honey and mulberries.

Mulsum - Mulsum is not a true mead, but is unfermented honey blended with a high-alcohol wine.

Omphacomel - A medieval mead recipe that blends honey with verjuice; could therefore be considered a variety of pyment.

Oxymel - Another historical mead recipe, blending honey with wine vinegar.

Pitarrilla - Mayan drink made from a fermented mixture of wild honey, balché-tree bark and fresh water.

Pyment - Pyment blends honey and red or white grapes. Pyment made with white grape juice is sometimes called

‘white mead.’

Pøltorak - A Polish mead, made using two units of honey for each unit of water.

Red Mead - Made with hops, orris root, burnt sugar and cardamon.

Rhodomel - Rhodomel is made from honey, rose hips, rose petals or rose attar, and water.

Sack mead - This refers to mead that is made with more honey than is typically used. The finished product contains a higher-

than-average ethanol concentration (meads at or above 14% ABV are generally considered to be of sack strength) and often

retains a high specific gravity and elevated levels of sweetness, although dry sack meads (which have no residual sweetness)

can be produced. According to one theory, the name derives from the fortified dessert wine, sherry (which is sometimes

sweetened after fermentation) that, in England, once bore the nickname ‘sack’). Another theory is that the term is a phonetic

reduction of ‘sake’ - the name of a Japanese beverage that was introduced to the West by Spanish and Portuguese traders.

Short mead - Also called ‘quick mead.’ A type of mead recipe that is meant to age quickly, for immediate consumption.

Because of the techniques used in its creation, short mead shares some qualities found in cider (or even light ale): primarily

that it is effervescent, and often has a cidery taste. It can also be champagne-like.

Show mead - A term which has come to mean ‘plain’ mead: that which has honey and water as a base, with no fruits, spices

or extra flavourings. Since honey alone often does not provide enough nourishment for the yeast to carry on its lifecycle, a

mead that is devoid of fruit etc will sometimes require a special yeast nutrient and other enzymes to produce an acceptable

finished product. In most competitions, including all those that subscribe to the BJCP style guidelines, as well as the

International Mead Fest, the term ‘traditional mead’ refers to this variety (because mead is historically a variable product, these

guidelines are a recent expedient, designed to provide a common language for competition judging; style guidelines per se

do not apply to commercial or historical examples of this or any other type of mead.)

Sima - a quick-fermented low-alcoholic Finnish variety, seasoned with lemon and associated with the festival of Vappu.

Tatar Mead (Bal) - Made with warmed honey, water and yeast and fermented in an oak cask for a unique flavour.

Tej - Tej is an Ethiopian mead, fermented with wild yeasts (and bacteria), and with the addition of gesho. Recipes vary from

family to family, with some recipes leaning towards ‘braggot’ with the inclusion of grains.

Trøjniak (TSG) - A Polish mead, made using two units of water for each unit of honey.

White mead (traditional) - A mead that is coloured white with herbs, fruit or sometimes egg whites.

M E AD ... THE D RINK TH AT’S M AD E O F LEG E ND, M Y TH O LO G Y AND LITE R ATURE. O H, AND H O NE Y !