Technoviking Mead

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Ingredients:

  • 8-10 lbs pure raw honey (for light, delicate Mead)
  • (or) 12-13 " " " " (for medium sweet Mead)
  • (or) 15-16 " " " " (for very sweet or alcoholic Mead)
  • 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 (optional, as desired)
  • 5-6 whole cloves (optional, as desired)
  • 1-2 vanilla beans (optional, as desired)
  • cinnamon/nutmeg (optional, as desired)
  • lime/orange peels (optional, as desired)
  • crushed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes, etc.)
  • 1 tsp. Irish Moss (to clarify Mead)
  • 1/2 tsp. clear gelatin (to clarify Mead)
  • 1 spotted newt's tail (optional, as desired :)
  • 1 packet yeast (champagne or ale yeast)

Preparation:

  • Heat spring water 10-15 minutes till boiling.
  • Stir in honey, yeast nutrients, acid blend, and spices (rosemary, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon peel).
  • Boil for another 10-15 minutes, (overcooking removes too much honey flavor), skimming off foam as needed (2 to 3 times during last 15 minutes).
  • 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.
  • After 24 hours, warm up 1 cup of mead in microwave, 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 7 days in cool, dark area.
  • After initial violent fermenting slows down and mead begins to settle, rack off (siphon 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 5 gallons mead (by first dissolving honey with a small amount of mead or pure water in microwave).

Source: http://www.blue-n-gold.com/halfdan/meadrecp.htm