Rasberry Mead

I just started a batch of mead. It will have a rasberry flavor with a hint of mint.

I was asked by a pal to post the complete directions for making your own mead. So here goes. Note that this recipe is without any warranty, and mead making is not an exact science, as everyone does it differently.

What you will need:

• 1 Gallon of Spring or Distilled Water
• 2 Pounds of Filtered Honey
• Measuring Cups
• Sauce Pan with Lid
• Funnel, or a soda bottle and a knife
• Rubber Band and piece of muslin or high thread count cotton swatch
• Spices of your choice
• Fruit of your choice or preserves of fruit of your choice
• 500 MG tablet of vitamin C (optional, for clarity of liquid)
• Dry Champagne Yeast

The water is best if it comes in a plastic gallon jug with a screw top lid. The honey should be filtered and not raw, crystalized or with any honeycomb in it. The funnel should have a wide mouth since you have to pour thick honey through it, so if you don’t have one handy, a 16 oz soda bottle makes a great substitute. Just cut off the bottom of an empty one, and get it clean.

There is no single way to make mead, which is why you can choose the spices of your choice to create a spiced tea to influence the taste of the honey. Caraway, Fennel, Cinnamon, Anise, Mint, Vanilla, Rosemary and even pepper can be used. You can use just about any fruit you wish, such as rasberry, blueberry, strawberry or even citrus can be used. It can be dried fruit or fresh, but just a little to flavor the mead. There is a risk of fresh fruit containing some bacteria that may taint the fermentation process. I have had great success with fruit preserves, which has already been sterilized and you can keep any extra that you do not use.

Make sure that the honey and the water are both above 70 degrees before you begin.

Be sure to use Dry Champagne Yeast or a comparable wine yeast for making the mead. Beer yeast and baking yeast is a no-no. I had to buy my yeast online. It is cheap and comes with a great catalog for home brewers. If you like making mead, maybe its time to try your hand at brewing beer, and Grape and Granary is a great place to start for home kits.

Directions:

Pour 3 cups of water from the water jug into the saucepan. Pour out another 4 cups into the sink, as you need to make room in the water jug for the honey and the tea.

Grind your dry spices together into a powder. Remember that the spices are to flavor the mead, so do not use more than 2 tablepoons total. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle to grind the spices, you can use a bowl and the bottom of a coffee cup. Put the spices into the saucepan. Grind your fruit separately and add it to the saucepan. Again, this is to add flavor, not as a main ingredient. For instance, if you want strawberry flavor, use no more than 2 medium strawberries, or no more than 2 tablespoons. If you have a vitamin C tablet or any multivitamin that contains vitamin C in doses higher than 500 MG, you can crush this and add it to the mix. The vitamins will act as an antioxidant and keep the cloudiness down in the fermented mead.

Bring the mixture in the saucepan to a boil, with the lid in place. Once it begins to boil, stir and reduce heat to a simmer with lid on for about 15 minutes.

While the tea is simmering, its time to add the honey to the water. Pour the 2 lbs of honey into the water using the funnel. You will see the honey sink to the bottom of the water. Put the cap back on the water and start shaking until all of the honey dissolves into the water. This can take as long as five minutes.

When the tea has simmered for about 15 minutes, remove it from heat and let it cool for about ten minutes. Then pour it into the honey-water, and shake it once. This should raise the temperature of the mixture to about 100 degrees which is perfect for adding the yeast.

Add 1 tablespoon of Dry Champagne Yeast to the mixture, and it will spread across the top and float there. Do not shake it. Put the cloth over the top of the jug and secure it in place with a rubber band. The purpose of the cloth is to allow the CO2 to escape while it ferments.

Place the mead in a warm dark place, between 70 and mid 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Bubbling and fizzy sounds are a good sign that the honey is being turned into alcohol.

It should be ready for its first tasting after 5 days, but typically it will not reach a good balance between sweet and dry until 7 days. When the flavor is right, put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation. When its chilled, its ready to drink. Enjoy!

When pouring it, you may want to pour it through a strainer to make sure any floating spices are screened out. And pour it slowly as most of the spent yeast will be at the bottom of the container. When there is about one inch of mead left at the bottom of the jug atop the spent yeast, throw it away as the sludge at the bottom tastes bad.

The mead should taste good for up to two weeks. It tastes great over ice in the summer and is yummy when it is warm in the winter.

All about Mead types here.