Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

7 lb Light honey 1/4 ts Irish moss powder
1 1/2 lb Corn sugar 1 lb To 6 lbs crushed fruit
1 oz To 6 oz fresh ginger root 3 oz Lemongrass, or other spices
1 1/2 ts Gypsum 1 pk Champagne yeast
3 ts Yeast nutrient OR... 3/4 c Corn sugar (bottling)
1/4 oz Yeast extract

Boil 1 1/2 gallons of water, the honey, corn sugar, grated ginger
root, gypsum, citric acid, irish moss, and yeast nutrient for 15
minutes. Turn the heat off. If you're going to add fruit (this is
entirely optional, as are the spices) then fish out as much of the
ginger root shavings as you can. Then add your crushed fruit or
concentrate and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Some ideas for fruit
are: Sour cherries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries,
chokecherries, rhubarb, grapes, grape concentrate... go wild here.

Pour the entire must (unsparged if fruit is added) into an open
primary fermenter and add about 3 gallons of cold water. When cooled
to 70 to 78 degrees, hydrate and pitch your yeast. After the
specific gravity has fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days, whichever
comes first, rack the brew into a secondary fermenter. Leave the
fruit behind. Age 1 to 1 1/2 months in the secondary fermenter.
Bottle with 3/4 cups priming sugar. If using spices or herbs as a
flavoring, add them now by making a "tea" and adding them at bottling
time. The flavors will be fresher and sharper. Some suggested spices
are lemon grass, citrus peel (just the zest, not the white part),
etc. If using cloves, cinnamon, or hops go lightly on these. Adding
flavors in this manner also allows you to use different flavors in
the same batch, since you're just adding a "tea" to the mead at
bottling time. You can bottle two or three flavors at once this way!

This mead should age from 3 months up to a year to allow the harsh
flavors to mellow out. Tasting at 6 months will show approximate
flavor profile. Serve well chilled.

Author: Charlie Papazian

Browse by categories