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Many of you have heard the word "mead" and know what it is. For those of you who might not have heard the word, or who have heard but don't know what it is, mead is honey-wine. What is honey-wine (mead)? Mead is wine made from the fermentation of honey rather than fruit juice. while there are other forms (names) for beverages that combine the fermentation of honey and either grape or other juices, I stick with making mead by itself.
There are also other alcoholic beverages that I brew as well. I have now made dandelion wine for 2 years (and will continue to do so!), and am looking into making mulberry wine (we have several mulberry trees in our yard). I have made beer in the past, and will do so again, but I no longer have the ability to drink as much beer as I did when I started brewing. I now have my equipment, but need the time (see the home page about work/school).
I have had lots of good mead (hey, it helps to know good brewers), but I have also had bad mead (it was nasty tasting, but not unhealthy to drink). I have even had some of my own mead turn to vinegar (good for salads and cooking, but not to drink). Brewing mead (and other home-brewed beverages) takes patience, sanitation, good record-keeping, AND practice.
The main ingredient of mead is, of course, honey. Other than the local supermarket, I know of one other source of honey. It is The Bee Folks. I first met them at a science-fiction / fantasy convention, then they got into the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and now they have been at Pennsic for the past 2 years.
If you want to try to make your own mead, below is a simple recipe from a class I took at the Pennsic War. I tried it at home, and it works just great! I did have one batch go bad, but then, with the temperatures varying from 65 to 95 or higher during the days and over the span of a month, ANY non-temperature regulated brew would probably go bad. (That'll teach me to leave things to chance!)
Equipment
- Two (2) 1-gallon or 4-liter GLASS jug with tops,
marked at the 1-gallon level.
- Rubber stopper that fits the jug opening, with a hole drilled for a waterlock.
- Waterlock.
- Funnel.
- Siphoning equipment (food grade).
- Corkable wine boottles. I recommend dark colored
glass, not clear.
- Corker and corks (available at a brewing ssupply store or online).
Ingredients
2 – 2.5 pounds of honey. (I have even used 3 pounds)
1 pound of raisins (dark, not light).
The juice of 1 medium lemon (no pips or pulp).
Water to bring fluids up to 1 gallon mark.
1 packet of wine yeast.
Directions
First and foremost: Wash and sterilize your jug, stopper, funnel, and waterlock. A good washing with soap and HOT water for these
items is good but to really sterilize the jug, run it through the heat-dry
cycle of your dishwasher. Otherwise, pick up a sterilizing agent at your local
brewing supply store.
1) Pour the honey into the jug (use the funnel or you will have either a tired
arm, a mess, or both).
2) Stuff the raisins into the jug.
3) Squeeze the medium lemon into a cup and then pour the juice (WITHOUT the
seeds or pulp) into the jug.
4) Add water (about 76 degrees F) to the 1 gallon mark.
5) Put the yeast into the jug and give it a small swirl.
6) Put the stopper in the jug, and put the waterlock
in the stopper.
7) Wait a long time. Keep the jug at about 76-80 degrees F and let it ferment.
The fermentation time can take up to 2 months (or longer), so be patient.
8) When the liquid clears up, and you see no more bubbles in the waterlock, clean and sterilize your siphon equipment and
your other jug. When that's done, siphon the liquid into the second jug and
move the stopper/waterlock combination to this jug.
9) Let this sit for about a month to a month and 1/2, keeping the temperature between 76-80. (Too high a temperature can ruin a batch).
10) Siphon the mead into bottles and cork them.
11) Let the bottles age for about a month or so, then enjoy! The longer you let
it age, the more it will mellow, but don’t wait too long!
Dandelion Wine
A simple recipe for Dandelion Wine:
2 gallons of dandelion blossoms, 2 gallons of water, 5 pounds of sugar,
1 packet of wine yeast. If you do not
have a large enough carboy (glass), you can halve the water, blossoms, and
sugar to make it in a 1 gallon jug like the mead above.
Gather about 2 gallons of yellow dandelion blossoms* when they are open. When gathering, be sure that you do not include any piece of stem, as the stem is very very very bitter. It is ok to include the green bit that is on the back of the blossom, but no stem.
1) Steep the blossoms in 2 gallons of hot tap water (it will get cold) for 24 hours
2) Strain out the blossoms (squeeze out all the water you can) and all the little bits that the blossoms leave behind.
3) Bring the liquid to a boil (for sterilization purposes) and boil it for 10-15 minutes.
4) As the liquid cools, add 5 pounds of sugar and stir in until dissolved (this is 2 1/2 pounds per gallon).
5) When the liquid is about 75-80 degrees F, pour it into your fermenting bottle/carboy and add the yeast.
6) Let the fermentation come to a complete end (I start in April and bottle in late August). Bottle and cork, then let age until Christmas/New Year's, when it will taste like sipping spring-time from a bottle.
Be sure
your blossoms have not had anything sprayed on them! These would include: Pesticides, Herbicides
(weed-killers), Fertilizer, or any general lawn chemicals.
I
have gotten great comments at several SCA events (including Pennsic)
about the Dandelion Wine. The 2007 batch
gave me 35 bottles, and it is delicious! (I used more sugar, so it is less
dry). Next up at some time: Mulberry
wine! J