13thC-Mead-art - 12/3/08 "Mead, using a 13th/14th century English manuscript" by Master Rhys Terafan Greydragon. NOTE: See also the files: mead-msg, 12-Step-Mead-art, Mead-Mkng-Tps-art, meadery-list-msg, honey-msg, hops-msg, herbs-msg, beer-msg, brewing-msg, beverages-msg, wassail-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator. While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file. Thank you, Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ You can find more of Master Terafan's writings elsewhere in the Florilegium as well as on the House Greydragon website, http://www.greydragon.org/ . Mead, using a 13th/14th century English manuscript The "Tractatus de magnete et operationibus eius" England, 13th century. by Rhys Terafan Greydragon The Reynolds Historical Library has parts of the Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius (the thirteenth-century letter on the magnet by Petrus Peregrinus) available on-line. Included is one of the oldest known surviving English mead recipes (folio 20r).The manuscript is written on vellum in brown ink with red chapter headings. Much of the text is in Latin, however the recipes are mostly in English. Below is the mead recipe. //ffor to make mede. Tak .i. galoun of fyne hony and to þat .4. galouns of water and hete þat water til it be as lengh þanne dissolue þe hony in þe water. thanne set hem ouer þe fier & let hem boyle and ever scomme it as longe as any filthe rysith þer on. and þanne tak it doun of þe fier and let it kole in oþer vesselle til it be as kold as melk whan it komith from þe koow. than tak drestis of þe fynest ale or elles berme and kast in to þe water & þe hony. and stere al wel to gedre but ferst loke er þu put þy berme in. that þe water with þe hony be put in a fayr stonde & þanne put in þy berme or elles þi drestis for þat is best & stere wel to gedre/ and ley straw or elles clothis a bowte þe vessel & a boue gif þe wedir be kolde and so let it stande .3. dayes & .3. nygthis gif þe wedir be kold And gif it be hoot wedir .i. day and .1. nyght is a nogh at þe fulle But ever after .i. hour or .2. at þe moste a say þer of and gif þu wilt have it swete tak it þe sonere from þe drestis & gif þu wilt have it scharpe let it stand þe lenger þer with. Thanne draw it from þe drestis as cler as þu may in to an oþer vessel clene & let it stonde .1. nyght or .2. & þanne draw it in to an oþer clene vessel & serve it forth // And gif þu wilt make mede eglyn. tak sauge .ysope. rosmaryne. Egre- moyne./ saxefrage. betayne./ centorye. lunarie/ hert- is tonge./ Tyme./ marubium album. herbe jon./ of eche of an handful gif þu make .12. galouns and gif þu mak lesse tak þe less of herbis. and to .4. galouns of þi mater .i. galoun of drestis. Redaction: I have only used the part of the recipe highlighted in yellow. My redaction is as follows: For to make mead. Take 1 gallon of fine honey and to that 4 gallons of water and heat that water til it be as lengh [?]. Then dissolve the honey in the water, then set them over the fire and let them boil and ever scum it as long as any filth rises thereon. Then take it down off the fire and let it cool in another vessel til it be as cold as milk when it comes from the cow. Then take lees from the finest ale or else yeast and cast it into the water and honey and stir all well together, but first look before putting your yeast in that the water with the honey be put in a clean tub and then put in your yeast or else the lees for that is best and stir well together. Lay straw or else cloths about the vessel and above if the weather is cold and so let it stand 3 days and 3 nights if the weather is cold. And if it is hot weather, 1 day and 1 night is enough at the full. But ever after 1 hour or 2 at the most assay thereof and if you will have it sweet take it the sooner from the lees and if you will have it sharp let it stand the longer therewith. Then draw it from the lees as clear as you may into another vessel clean and let it stand 1 night or 2 and then draw it into another clean vessel and serve it forth. The ratio of 1 part honey to 4 parts water will produce a sweet mead. This is equivalent to 3 lbs of honey per gallon. The water is boiled first and then the honey added which will reduce the water amount a little. It can be interpreted to remove the water from the heat and dissolve the honey, which is good advice to avoid carmelizing honey on the bottom of the part before it is dissolved in the water. The phrase "as lengh" seems to indicate how long you boil the water. The recipe says lees from a batch of the finest ale is best but otherwise fresh frothing yeast from the top of an ale batch is good. The lees provide some nutrients which will help the yeast grow better. The recipe calls for adding the yeast when the mixture has cooled to the fresh milk temperature which is about 95 deg F. If this is done using fresh yeast then it will help it activate more quickly while the mixture continues to cool to room temperature. The original recipe uses some old terms. "Stonde" is found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) under the entry "stand", meaning an open barrel set on end or a tub. "Drasts", which the OED dates back to AD 1000, means dregs or lees. Adding the lees of a previously brewed batch to start a new batch is common practice even today. It is interesting to note the recommendation to insulate the fermenting vessel if the weather is cold. Of further interest is the number of vessels used. Transferring to another vessel to cool will speed the cooling process because the new vessel is presumably room temperature. Transferring it again (presumably by pouring it) into another vessel will also serve to aerate the mixture before adding the yeast, which as modern brewers know will help the growing conditions of the yeast. What I did: I used 1 quart of honey to 4 quarts of water, boiling the water first and then dissolving the honey in the hot water and putting it back on the fire (my gas stove) to boil again. I skimmed the rising foam until it quit foaming and then took it off the fire and transferred it to a clean vessel to cool. Transferring to a clean vessel (which is nominally room temperature) helps speed the cooling process. I then transferred it to my fermenter. I did not have another batch of previously brewed mead (or anything for that matter) so I used fresh yeast. I brewed the batch on Monday, and on Thursday evening (after 3 nights and 3 days) I transferred to another vessel, which I let stand for a day before racking it into the final bottle to bring to the event. Sources: Making Medieval Mead (or Mead Before Digby), Compleat Anachronist #120, Christina M. Krupp, Summer 2003 Tractatus de magnete et operationibus eius. With other tracts., Reynolds Historical Library, University of Alabama. http://www.uab.edu/reynolds/tractatus/intro.htm Below is an image of the manuscript. ------ Copyright 2003 by Peter C Barclay. . Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author receives a copy. The best way to locate Peter's postal address, since he frequently moves, is through his website at: http://www.greydragon.org/contacts.html If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan. Editd by Mark S. Harris 13thC-Mead-art Page 4 of 4