Equipment
Brewing Notebook for recordkeeping – your MOST IMPORTANT item!
Brewing Pot (stainless or enamel) – 6 quarts
Slotted Spoon (plastic or stainless)
Funnel (not aluminum)
Glass jug or plastic, one gallon capacity
Airlock and rubber stopper – optional
Siphon tubing – optional
Thermometer – optional
Bleach or sanitizing powder – optional
Ingredients
Honey – 2 lbs per gallon to start, later adjust to your preference
Water – one gallon
Spices, fruits, flavorings (optional)
Yeast (bread yeast, or ale yeast)
Process
– Clean your workspace, wash & rinse (or sterilize) all equipment, and your sink.
– Start heating the water in your brewpot; when hot, stir in honey
– Bring to a simmer, stir to collect the foam, skim off the scum with a slotted spoon (10-15 mins)
– When skimming is complete, add optional flavorings. Turn off heat, cover pot, let it cool to room temp.
– While cooling, proof the yeast in a little warm water (check viability)
– Add yeast when honey-water is 70-80 degrees, stir vigorously to aerate well.
– Using funnel, pour this into your glass jug, and stopper it with airlock or wadded-up clean cloth.
– Keep jug away from sunlight, at 65-75 degrees.
– In your brewing journal, write down what you just did!
– After a week, siphon or carefully pour liquid from jug back into your clean brewing pot. Use a strainer to remove any solid flavorings.
– Clean the jug to remove sediment, then pour liquid back into jug and stopper it.
– Taste every few days – should be good around 10-14 days, but the timing varies.
– When it’s tasty – pour into clean empty soda bottles, cap tightly and refrigerate until serving.
– Young mead will keep, refrigerated, for a few weeks, but will not age well, so drink up!
– Beware – bottles will become increasingly carbonated. Keep on ice if transporting.
– Update your brewing journal with tasting notes so you can repeat or improve the process: how long until it was ready? Use more or less honey next time? Do spices need adjustment? Was it warm or cool during the fermentation period?
Advice for your first batch – use 2 lbs honey. Optionally, flavor it with one or two cinnamon sticks, and either a few cloves or a few thin slices of fresh ginger. You could also add the juice and outer peel of one orange or lemon (not authentic for early-period northern Europe.) Adjust future batches to your liking.
Questions? Write to Marieke (ckrupp@uvm.edu) for advice!