| One of the great things about Mead making is the | | | | press all the juices out of them. Add all these |
| whole tradition of it. Mead has been made for | | | | juices into the boiling mead. Continue to boil the |
| centuries and quite possibly millennium. You can | | | | batch down to the mark you made on the pan. |
| easily find and follow these recipes with just a | | | | This is the four-quart level. Once this is done cool |
| little variation for modern times and tools. | | | | the liquid and strain it into a fermentation bucket |
| I have chosen a recipe that comes from a book | | | | for six weeks. After this the fermentation should |
| called "From the Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby | | | | be almost complete and you can transfer it to a |
| Knight Opened". It is a collection of recipes for | | | | carboy or bottle it where you keep it for nine |
| making a variety of meads and metheglins. This | | | | months before drinking. |
| recipe is one of the easiest to make. If you want | | | | Now here are some suggestions I have for |
| to check out the book and see more of the | | | | varying from the exact recipe, which is an update |
| recipes the complete book is freely available on | | | | to modern times without losing any of the ancient |
| the Gutenberg project website.Here is the recipe | | | | taste. |
| as Sir Digby explains it: | | | | First off, Digby doesn't say anything about yeast! |
| TO MAKE EXCELLENT MEAD | | | | If you are a mead maker you must be |
| "To every quart of Honey, take four quarts of | | | | wondering how are we going to ferment without |
| water. Put your water in a clean Kettle over the | | | | yeast. Well, in those days they just took |
| fire, and with a stick take the just measure, how | | | | advantage of naturally occuring yeast bacteria |
| high the water cometh, making a notch, where | | | | that were in the air and the utensils but I don't |
| the superficies toucheth the stick. As soon as the | | | | recommend you do this. We live in a much |
| water is warm, put in your Honey, and let it boil, | | | | cleaner world and we want to exercise more |
| skimming it always, till it be very clean; Then put | | | | control over our Mead so I suggest you pitch a |
| to every Gallon of water, one pound of the best | | | | yeast into your batch once it has cooled. Almost |
| Blew-raisins of the Sun, first clean picked from | | | | any yeast will work including Lalvin D-47 or even |
| the stalks, and clean washed. Let them remain in | | | | Fleischmanns bread yeast. (Just follow the pitching |
| the boiling Liquor, till they be throughly swollen and | | | | instructions that come with the yeast.) |
| soft; Then take them out, and put them into a | | | | Secondly, he uses blue raisins, which are a bit |
| Hair-bag, and strain all the juice and pulp and | | | | difficult to come by so I recommend you switch |
| substance from them in an Apothecaries Press; | | | | to some more run of the mill, and readily available |
| which put back into your liquor, and let it boil, till it | | | | raisins. The raisins do have an effect on the taste |
| be consumed just to the notch you took at first, | | | | but more importantly they act as a nutrient; so |
| for the measure of your water alone. Then let | | | | other types of raisins can be used quite |
| your Liquor run through a Hair-strainer into an | | | | successfully. |
| empty Wooden-fat, which must stand endwise, | | | | Finally, about the whole boiling thing. You can |
| with the head of the upper-end out; and there let | | | | successfully do this whole recipe without any of |
| it remain till the next day, that the liquor be quite | | | | the boiling or heating of anything. Personally I think |
| cold. Then Tun it up into a good Barrel, not filled | | | | your mead will be just as good. The reason why |
| quite full, but within three or four fingers breadth; | | | | Digby boils is because he has to. He got his water |
| (where Sack hath been, is the best) and let the | | | | from a well and his honey was no doubt heavily |
| bung remain open for six weeks with a double | | | | contaminated with all kinds of stuff. His boiling of |
| bolter-cloth lying upon it, to keep out any foulness | | | | materials would sanitize and clean everything that |
| from falling in. Then stop it up close, and drink not | | | | would compete with the yeast that is desirable to |
| of it till after nine months." | | | | grow. Your sanitizing needs are greatly reduced if |
| Now here is my translation and explanation of | | | | you are pitching a real yeast in the brew and you |
| how to make this mead recipe. I will stick close to | | | | are going to be using extraordinarily clean honey |
| his quantities, which will give us about 1 gallon of | | | | and water by his standards. |
| Mead. You can easily translate this if you want to | | | | If you read the Digby book you will see that he |
| make a 5-gallon batch. | | | | claims this mead to be a good cure for |
| Put four quarts of water in a pot and heat it. | | | | consumption and other ailments. While I won't |
| Mark the side of the pot at the water level. Add 1 | | | | make the same claim, and I don't even know |
| quart of honey to the water and bring it very | | | | what consumption is I will claim that you will end |
| gently to a boil. Skim off anything that rises to | | | | up with quite a delicious mead you can be proud |
| the surface. Put 1 pound of white raisins in a nylon | | | | of. And it is Mead you can brag to your friends |
| straining bag (or a doubled cheesecloth bag) and | | | | about because it came from a seventeenth |
| drop into the water. When they are swollen and | | | | century recipe. |
| soft remove them from the boiling water and | | | | |