Halfdan's Viking Mead Recipe
12-13 lbs pure raw honey
4-5 gallons purified spring water (not distilled)
3 tsp. yeast nutrient (or 5 tablets)
1 tsp. acid blend (combination malic/citric acid)
5-7 oz. sliced fresh ginger root (1 finger's length)
1/4 tsp. fresh rosemary (opt. as desired)
5-6 whole cloves (opt. as desired)
1-2 vanilla beans (opt. as desired)
cinnamon/nutmeg (opt. as desired)
lime/orange peels (opt. as desired)
crushed fruit (opt. as desired)
1 tsp. Irish Moss (to clarify mead)
1/2 tsp. clear gelatin (to clarify mead)
1 pkg. yeast
Heat spring water 10-15 minutes until boiling. Stir in honey, yeast nutrients, acid blend, and spices. Boil for another 10-15 minutes (overcooking removes too much honey flavor so be careful), skimming off foam as needed (2 to 3 times after adding honey). After 15 minutes, add Irish Moss or clear gelatin to clarify. After last skimming, turn off heat, add crushed fruit, and let steep 15-30 minutes while allowing mead to cool and clarify. After mead begins to clear, strain off fruit with hand skimmer and pour mead through strainer funnel into 5 gallon glass carboy jug.
Let cool to room temperature about 24 hours. Then, warm up one cup of mead in microwave to 85-95F, stir in 1 packet "Red Star" Champagne, Montrechet, or Epernet yeast (or Ale yeast in order to make mead ale), and let sit for 5-15 minutes to allow yeast to begin to work. Add this mead/yeast mixture to carboy jug and swirl around to aerate, thereby adding oxygen to mead/yeast mixture.
Place run-off tube in stopper of bottle, with other end of tube in large bowl or bottle to capture "blow-off" froth. Let mead sit undisturbed seven days in cool, dark area. After initial violent fermenting slows down and mead begins to settle, rack off good mead into clean sterilized jug. leaving all sediment in bottom of first jug. Attach airlock to this secondary carboy. After 4-6 months, mead will clear. During this time, if more sediment forms on bottom, good mead can be racked off again to another clean sterilized jug.
When bottling, in order to add carbonation, add either 1/4 tsp. white table sugar per 12 oz. bottle, or stir in 1/2 to 1 lb raw honey per five gallons mead (by first dissolving honey with a small amount of mead or pure water in microwave).
Recipe comes from http://www.blue-n-gold.com/halfdan/meadrecp.htm
Spiced Cranberry Mead
From The Honorable Lady Roana Aldinoch
3 lbs. clover honey
2 qt water
12 oz whole cranberries (in the bag, not the can)
juice and zest of one large orange (be sure not to get any pith when you shred the zest)
5 3" sticks of cinnamon
1 tsp grains of paradise
1 tsp allspice, whole
1/2 whole nutmeg, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp black peppercorn
1 pkg. Lalvin EC - 1118 yeast
Cook all the ingredients except yeast on medium heat until cranberries pop. Lower heat to low then simmer for 15 minutes more. Strain all pulp and spices out of the must. Let cool to 100F, then pour into one-gallon glass carboy. Top off with lukewarm water. Pour two cups of must into a sterile cup to pitch yeast. Let sit for a few minutes, then pour back into the carboy. Airlock it and put it away.
Spiced Apple Mead
From The Honorable Lady Roana Aldinoch
3 lbs. clover honey
1 qt apple cider
2 qts water
3 3" sticks of cinnamon
1 tsp grains of paradise
1 tsp allspice, whole
1/2 tsp black peppercorn
10 whole cloves
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 tsp Red Star Active Yeast
Heat all ingredients except yeast on medium heat until simmering. Turn down to low and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain all spices out of the must. Let cool to 100F, then pour into one-gallon glass carboy. Top off with lukewarm water. Pour two cups of must into a sterile cup to pitch yeast. Let sit for a few minutes, then pour back into the carboy. Airlock it and put it away.
Spiced Peach Mead
From The Honorable Lady Roana Aldinoch
10 Whole Peaches - frozen
4.5 lbs. honey
2 qts water
5 sticks cinnamon
5 whole cloves
1/2 T black peppercorn
1/2 T All Spice
1/2 T Grains of Paradise
LDC 2346 Coopers 15G Ale Yeast
Peel, pit and quarter peaches. Put in a large, stainless steel pot. Add honey. Bring water to a boil and pour into honey containers to be sure to get all of it. Empty containers into pot and pour the rest of the water in. Make a spice bag of the spices (place all spices into a cheesecloth or mesh square and tie up tightly. Put spice bag into the pot with the honey, peaches and water. Bring to a boil, skimming off the white frothy stuff as it rises to the top. Take pot off the heat. Strain fruit and spice bag out of mead and pour mead gently into a 1-gallon glass carboy. Let cool to ~100F. (No more than 110F and no lower than 80F.) Add yeast, stir gently, top with airlock. Set aside for two-three weeks to allow for fermentation. Decant into a second glass carboy and allow to settle out for another two-three weeks. Bottle. Drink in 6-12 months.
Spiced Pumpkin Mead
By Lady Emma de Lyons
3 cups pumpkin cubed
1 stick Cinnamon
1 Vanilla Bean
1 tsp shredded Ginger
1 tsp Nutmeg
4lbs of honey
Water
1 packet of 71B-1122 Lalvin wine yeast
Peel, gut, & cube pumpkin. Place about 1/2 gallon of water in large pot to boil. Empty 4 lbs of honey and 3 cups cubed pumpkin into pot. Bring to gentle boil skimming off foam as needed. Boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat. Pour into 1 gallon glass carboy. Place pumpkin cubes, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg into carboy. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and place in carboy. The carboy should not be full yet. Fill carboy to just under the "One Gallon" label with cold water. In a small container mix the packet of yeast with about 1 cup of tepid tap water and blend until milky. When the carboy mix cools to about 85 degrees, empty yeast water into the carboy and mix. Cap carboy with air lock and label with wet erase marker. Allow to sit until fermentation stops, bubbling will have slowed or stopped entirely. This usually takes about 4 weeks. Rack the mead into a second glass carboy removing the cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and pumpkin cubes. Rack as frequently and as many times as needed to gain the level of clarification desired. Bottle clarified mead and let age 6-12 months.
Sweet Dreams
By Lady Emma de Lyons
4 oz Mugwort
4 pieces of Star Anise
1 Vanilla Bean
1 Cinnamon stick
4lbs of honey
Water
1 packet of 71B-1122 Lalvin wine yeast
Place about 1/2 gallon of water in large pot to boil. Empty 4 lbs of honey into pot. Bring to gentle boil skimming off foam as needed. Boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat. Pour into 1 gallon glass carboy. Place Mugwort, Star Anise, & Cinnamon Stick into carboy. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and place in carboy. The carboy should not be full yet. Fill carboy to just under the "One Gallon" label with cold water. In a small container mix the packet of yeast with about 1 cup of tepid tap water and blend until milky. When the carboy mix cools to about 85 degrees, empty yeast water into the carboy and mix. Cap carboy with air lock and label with wet erase marker. Allow to sit until fermentation stops, bubbling will have slowed or stopped entirely. This usually takes about 4 weeks. Rack the mead into a second glass carboy removing the cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and anise pieces. Strain out the mugwort. Rack as frequently and as many times as needed to gain the level of clarification desired. Bottle clarified mead and let age 6-12 months.
Cranberry Pommegranate Mead
By Lady Emma de Lyons
Finishings from Cranberry Pommegranate sauce
3 lbs honey
Water
1 packet of 71B-1122 Lalvin wine yeast
Place about 1/2 gallon of water in large pot to boil. Empty 3 lbs of honey into pot. Bring to gentle boil skimming off foam as needed. Boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat. Pour into 1 gallon glass carboy. Place remaining juice and pieces of cranberries and pommegranate from making cranberry sauce into carboy. The carboy should not be full yet. Fill carboy to just under the "One Gallon" label with cold water. In a small container mix the packet of yeast with about 1 cup of tepid tap water and blend until milky. When the carboy mix cools to about 85 degrees, empty yeast water into the carboy and mix. Cap carboy with air lock and label with wet erase marker. Allow to sit until fermentation stops, bubbling will have slowed or stopped entirely. This usually takes about 4 weeks. Rack the mead into a second glass carboy removing the cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and anise pieces. Strain out the mugwort. Rack as frequently and as many times as needed to gain the level of clarification desired. Bottle clarified mead and let age 6-12 months.
Guidelines for Quick Mead
From Lady Helewyse de Birkstad of the Midrealm Brewers Facebook group
When asked how to make a quick mead by Christmas (5-6 weeks away from the post), Helewyse writes:
"I've made perfectly drinkable mead in that time frame. The trick is yeast. Skip the wine yeasts go with an ale yeast, Nottingham ale yeast is perfect, nice clean ferment no odd flavors and quick to drop out. Alcohol will top out at around 7%, so I generally use about 3 - 3.5lb honey for a medium sweet final product."
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