TheLastWithPaganBlood
Nordman
So, anyone has some really good mead recepees (how the fuck do you spell that, recept? I know there's an I in there somwhere but I'm too drunk) to share with the rest of the board?
Behold the mead thread ...
- Thread starter Belgar
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Thrymfal
Snootchie Bootchies
Tyra
Member
Well, then, are you sure you need more alcohol?? There's a bezillion recipes on the web. Here are some of the sites i like:
This is a plain and basic mead, but it makes a large quantity. Not space-saving, and maybe not great if you don't know if you're going to like mead in the first place.
BASIC MEAD Recipe at Epicurious.com
I included this link because of the short mead - it's for when you're in a hurry and don't have time to wait for things to ferment forever. The maple mead is very sweet, but it's good anyhow, not to mention it's a small quantity recipe so it saves on space. You can litterally make it under your bed! Good for a beginner. The other recipes are good too:
Mead Recipes
Mead that contains fruit is called melomel. Elderberries and pomegranate makes good melomel. Metheglin is mead containing spices. I am not a fan of most of these varieties, but ginger and cloves are OK.
Anyhow, you really should ask Runesinger. She is so good at making this stuff!
Sleipnir
Thorsmadr
you need to send me your mailing address T. I still have some of the stuff here I need to send you. I have a honey, a mixed berry that unfortunately is weak as hell and a red raspberry that has gotten rave reviews so far. I also have to update you on my current situation, gimme a holler when you get a chance.
Sleipnir
Thorsmadr
Anything with fruit is always a hit. I use frozen fruit...as do most of the brewers in the community here...as it makes it easier during fermentation since the cell walls are crystallized and broken down already.
Bates
Swamp Yankee
Out of curiosity, how honey-like does it taste? I'd satisfy my curiosity myself, if I could, but it appears mead isn't popular here 
Tyra
Member
You're not supposed to taste the honey at all. It's more like a slight aftertaste if anythihg (unless you really want it to taste like honey, of course).
It's a heathen drink, so, no, it's not popular here.
It's a heathen drink, so, no, it's not popular here.
Runesinger
Member
I can, at least partially. Honey is already a liguid (don't need to spend extra time txtracting the liquid from another fruit), it's easier to ferment and still keep a good taste than most other natural sugars. They did not have some of the other liquid types of sugar, like maple syrup, sugar cane syrup, molasses and corn syrup at the time/in Scandianvia.
Mainly, though, I believe mead came into the culture by way of the religion. In almost all Indo-European religions, there is a holy drink made with honey. As the religious rituals would have entailed the use of this holy drink both for drink and sacrifice, and as the religion spread, the mead spread with it. So the use of honey to make alcohol may not seem the best way to do so in Scandinavian terms, but if the religion originated in India or Anatolia or on the steppes, then it may have been one of the few sources of natural sugar available when the first rites were performed and then it spread from there.
If you're interested in how to make it, you should ask Runesinger about mead. She's the highest authority on meadmaking that I know. Her stuff is gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.
Thanks for the compliment, Tyra. You are always welcome to sample my growing mead-horde. I'm about ready to bottle up my Howling Jack (Pumpkin) mead. Since it was made in pumpkins, I'm not so sure about the control of the conditions, so we'll have to see after it ages. A pumpkin mead is a variant of gourd fermented mead
Contrary to popular belief, mead was probably the first fermented beverage. It probably was made naturally when a beehive cracked open and got water in it. The diluted honey was a perfect medium for the wild yeasts in the air. Some foragers happened by, tried it, and the first rowdy drunk was born. After that, they started fermenting mead in gourds. In African they still make mead in gourds, which they call Tej. Some kind of mead is found in almost all cultures past and present, and it's often associated with holy rituals.
In Viking society, it was typically women who brewed mead, because it takes some patience and care to make it come out right. Brewing beer is a more forgiving art, which was more a man's task. Although, the Norse god Heimdall is reputed to make the best mead in Asgard, and Sif, the wife of Thor is reputed to make the best beer.
Honey is a very complex substance of about 18% water and containing almost 50 kinds of sugars. Each type of honey contains a different bouquet. Blackberry Blossom and heather honey are considered the optimum choices for mead, but I have used orange blossom honey and white clover as well.
The most important thing about mead-making is to keep everything clean, and not to introduce any unwanted microorganisms. As far as yeast, I have use Cote des Blancs if I want a mead that is not so strong, but mostly I use Champagne yeast to make really @$$-kicking mead!
Runsinger
Bates
Swamp Yankee
Wow. I think my brain just ran away from sheer information overload.
This is why it got divided up into "You make the mead, I'll bring home the shiny stuff" way back when
This is why it got divided up into "You make the mead, I'll bring home the shiny stuff" way back when
Golden Hall
The song is ringing loud
Chaucer's Mead is actually produced by a winery (Bargetto) a few minutes from me, it's okay... We had a Glogg party last night, they carry ready-mix bottles at Cost Plus now, just add copious amounts of vodka, that was cool... At the moment I'm drinking a Jerome Cerveza Negra from a microbrewery in Argentina, it's mighty tasty... I had a Beermann's Barley Wine aged in oak bourbon barrels the other day, that was a hell of a beer ... And pretty much anything by Stone Brewery in San Diego is a sure thing.
Thrymfal
Snootchie Bootchies
you canget a hold of Oaked Arrogant Bastard? I hate you. No Stone brews make it past the mason dixon line.
Golden Hall
The song is ringing loud
Yeah, it is one hell of a beer, and it's impossible to get here in Santa Cruz too, I got a 3 liter bottle last year as a gift, and I picked up a six-pack in San Diego a couple weeks ago when I flew down for the AA show. Stone used to be pretty easy to find up here, but their local distributor went out of business last year, so I look for it whenever I go out of town...Stone Imperial Russian Stout is my all time favorite beer, though I have a bottle of AleSmith Speedway Stout for Xmas dinner tonight that may dethrone the champion
Sleipnir
Thorsmadr
As far as yeast, I have use Cote des Blancs if I want a mead that is not so strong, but mostly I use Champagne yeast to make really @$$-kicking mead!
Runsinger
Champagne yeast makes it too damm dry...although my last one, a red raspberry is really really good... I used it for the first 3 I did and the one brewed on friday night...20lbs honey,6lbs peaches,6lbs strawberries,3 gal. water...I used Red Star Premier Cuvee.
Some of the other ones you could try are Lalvin D47,Lallamand K1-V116(good for high alcohol meads) and Wyeast Mead,Sweet...
Ill let you know how the most recent batch turns out.
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