This coming Sunday at Chelsea Brewing Company, Chelsea Piers, NYC….
I have a dry mead in, which I made at the end of 2009, and we’ll see what happens. Probably won’t win anything, but I’ll get feedback from the judges.
I’m also judging on the day. I have to be there at 8.30 am, and get to start drinking tasting at 9.15 on a Sunday.
I started a mead last night, using Raw Honey from Mead Orchards in Tivoli, NY.
For one gallon (US) I added 3lbs of honey. This gave me an O.G of 1.106 (potential 14% ABV).
The process is simple. Add honey to warm water. Bring to the boil to sterilize the honey (received wisdom is keep above 66 degrees C for 10 minutes). Allow to cool, pitch yeast, add yeast nutrient and ferment under airlock. Rack when clear.
When it comes to bottling time you can choose between a sweet or sparkling mead. If the latter is what you desire, then prime bottles with sugar and use an appropriate pressure closure.
I had Suzdalskaya Medovukha at a pickle festival a few years back, and have had it since in Moscow. I was wondering how to recreate it, and found a recipe here. The original recipe is in Russian, but here it is in English:
500g sugar
250g honey
Yeast and nutrient
1 tsp citric acid
water to 4.5 litres
This reckons that you should leave for 3-4 weeks under airlock. Rack, add an additional 250g honey and then either ferment to completion of stop fermentation (using 1 campden tablet) depending on how sweet (and alcoholic) you want your mead.
Fermented all the way out this would be about 7.5%, with just the first amount of honey it would be around 5.5%
Mead is an ancient drink made from honey. If herbs are added it is Methegelin; with grape juice, Pyment; with apple, Cyser; with other fruit, Melomel. Here’s a basic mead recipe, for 1 gallon (UK) of mead:
4 lbs Honey
water to 4.5 litres
1 tsp citric acid
wine yeast and nutrient
Add honey to warm water, and bring to the boil (this sterilizes the honey). Cool, add yeast, nutrient, and citric acid. Ferment under airlock to completion, rack to allow to clear, and bottle. The whole process should take about 4-6 weeks.
A Storm Brewing 