mead-msg - 2/19/08
Making mead. Honey based alcoholic beverage. Period and modern recipes.
NOTE: See also the files: meadery-list-msg, wine-msg, perry-msg, cider-msg, brewing-msg, beer-msg, beverages-msg, beverages-NA-msg, p-bottles-msg.
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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: dawyd at dasys1.UUCP (David Gurzynski)
Date: 21 Nov 89 05:02:35 GMT
Organization: The Big Electric Cat
To all the good folk who might read this, Greetings!
The following is another mead recipe which I have not yet tried but
I thought that if there were some brave souls out there I might find out
from others how well it works.
SPICED MEAD
4 lbs honey
4 qts water
1/4 lb chopped candied ginger
3 tbs whole cloves
3 tbs mace
3 tbs Cassia buds
Mix the honey and water and boil and skim till the scum stops rising,
(those who wish might just use campden tablets to sterilize and boil the
spices
in some water and add this to the must). Place the spices in a muslin bag and
add to mixture and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and add the
ginger. Then, when cool, add the yeast. Leave the bag of spices in for about
a week.
After two weeks strain well and rack. When fermentation is finished
bottle and allow to age AT LEAST three months.
***
Anyone who tries this, please let me know how it turns out!
I have also heard from someone up in the northeast that there is an SCA
person who is commercially brewing mead and calling it Odin's Mead. Has
anyone heard of it?
--
David Gurzynski Jamaica NY dasys1!dawyd at cmcl2.nyu.edu
mka. Dawyd z Gury Ostgardr 73647.233 at compuserve.com
From: clanhlm!blank at UCSCC.UCSC.EDU
Date: 6 Dec 89 03:14:18 GMT
Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism
I have been trying this mead recipe -- no batch has completed, but
the intermediate samples are very good.
Somebody might want to try this. It is modeled on a 14th centuary
recipe. It is a working man's mead, with no frills. You can spice
it up with the addition of cinnamon or other spices, added during
the second boiling. You could also add rose water (I think that
I will try that in a later batch...) Other flavors which might
be good could be orange, clove, nutmeg, or other winter spice.
If you try this, I'd appreciate hearing about it...
John
Claymore's Mead
25 lbs wild honey
10 ounces dried rose hips
5 gallons clean water
1 package of Champaign yeast
yeast nutrient
6 gallon carboy
water lock
siphon
champaign bottles, 750 ml
3/4 cup corn sugar
place the honey and rose hips in a large (five or more gallon
capacity) kettle. Add enough water to half fill the kettle.
Stir until the honey begins to dissolve. If you can't get
home raised honey, which HASN'T been strained, add the yeast
nutrient, according to the directions on the package. Begin heating.
Stir until the honey is disolved. Bring to a boil, and boil
for about 30 minutes. Add the remaining water (or intil the water
is two inches from the top of the kettle). Bring to a boil,
and let boil for about 15 minutes. Boil a small amount of
water, and then cool (without contaminating) to about 90 degrees
F. Add yeast to the small amount of water. Cool the honey
mixture to about 70 degrees F. Add the yeast to the honey mix,
and let ferment in the kettle, until the activity subsides (about
5-7 days). Keep the kettle covered with sterile airtight seal.
Periodically release the gas. Sterilize the carboy and water lock.
When the activity in the honey mixture subsides, siphon into the
carboy, leaving the sediment in the kettle. Let the carboy stand
at a constant temp (about 65 degrees F) until it clears (about
4 months). Boil the corn sugar with about 2 cups of water.
Sterilize the kettle, and decant into the kettle. Add the
sugar water to the mead, stirring with a sterile metal spoon.
Decant into the bottles, leaving about 1 inch of head. Cork.
Let sit for about 9 months. Drink.
Let the sugar water cool before adding it to the mead (when you
are decanting into the bottles). Otherwise, you might kill the
remaining yeast, which would defeat the purpose of the sugar
water. It is to make the mead a lightly sparkeling mead. You
will have to find a yeast which has a high alcohol tolerence
(champaign yeast is pretty borderline. There are very high
alcohol yeasts which would work better -- I can't get any of
them locally, unfortunately.)
John
From: ddfr at tank.uchicago.edu (david director friedman)
Date: 7 Dec 89 01:19:16 GMT
Organization: University of Chicago
"I have been trying this mead recipe.... It is modeled on a 14th
centuary recipe." (John)
The only two 14th century mead recipes I know of are in Curye on
Inglysch (V9,10). V9 just uses honey and water, fermented; V10 uses
boiled apples, honey, pepper, and cloves. Neither is at all similar
to the recipe you gave; do you have another source?
Incidentally, you might note that corn sugar could not have been used
in any 14th century european recipe. The use of cane sugar would be
very unlikely in northern europe, since it was much more expensive
than honey; I do not know if mead was made in Spain or Italy, where
sugar would have been more nearly competitive.
David Friedman (Cariadoc)
College of Grey Gargoyles, Middle Kingdom
Chicago, IL
From: AR.SEG at forsythe.stanford.edu (Steven E Goodman)
Date: 7 Dec 89 19:53:14 GMT
It isn't all that tough to make a drinkable mead. But I don't claim
its good, just drinkable.
Sterilize a wide mouth crock with lots of hot water.
Boil a bunch of water, and then cool to luke warm (slightly above
room temp).
Mix some honey and warm water with ale yeast.
Mix a bunch of honey and a bunch of water in the crock (1 gal water
to 1 lb honey).
Mix in the yeast.
(Throw in a tea bag or three, for the tannin)
Place some cloth over the mouth of the crock to keep dust and
airborne stuff out of the crock.
Place the crock in a cool (but room temp) place.
Go away for a month.
Come back.
Careful skim all the scum off the top.
(Careful not to stir up any sediment)
Carefully siphon into bottles, trying not to get any sediment.
Cork the bottles.
Put the bottles in the previous cool place (upright).
Go away for three months.
Come back.
Chill
Uncork
Drink
This should create a somewhat alchoholic, somewhat carbonated,
beverage. Throw in more stuff if you want it to have flavor.
Most important (as Kevin will agree) everything needs to be sterile.
The tea isn't really period (I think), but its the easiest way to
add a little tannin. Lemons and Oranges would probably add enough
acid in place of the tannin.
Etienne
From: ddfr at tank.uchicago.edu (david director friedman)
Date: 8 Dec 89 00:59:10 GMT
Organization: University of Chicago
"The tea isn't really period (I think)" (Etienne)
You are correct. Tea comes into use in England about 1650. So far as
I can tell, it was not being used anywhere in Europe in 1600. I do
not think Kenelm Digby (mid 17th c) uses it. Indeed, the article on
mead in the first edition of the Britannica does not mention tea,
which makes me suspect that its use in mead may be a nineteenth or
twentieth century innovation.
This raises the interesting question of what, if anything, was used
to provide tannin in period meads. Does anyone know if they used oak
casks? Would such casks result in tannin in the mead? I believe
acorns have lots of tannin, but have never seen a mead recipe using
them. My best guess is that there was no tannin; if so, using it may
result in a noticably different product from a period mead.
Has anyone experimented with the 14th century mead recipes I
mentioned? The first one does not tell you much that is useful, but
the second gives quantities and is not a standard mead, since it has
both apple and spices. John's use of "derived from," (loosely based
on something said to be said to be said to be based on a period
recipe), while literally correct, reminds me a little of the hundred
year old axe: the head had been replaced twice and the haft three
times, but the axe was a hundred years old and still worked fine.
David Friedman (Cariadoc)
College of Grey Gargoyles, Middle Kingdom
Chicago, IL
From: KGANDEK at MITVMC.MIT.EDU (Kathryn Gandek)
Date: 8 Dec 89 19:50:03 GMT
Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism
Regarding the recent comment about making mead palatable to the modern taste versus period, appropriate ingredients and all that stuff...
I would like to put forward the theory that the palatability of mead has much
less to do with its periodicity than with the care, attention and restraint
of the brewer. My lord is Sir Michael of York, whose article on making mead
appears in the Knowne World Handbook. He gets asked to taste quite a number of brews, and I end up trying them too. Taste is a relative thing, but I
suspect that, along with experience, the greatest determiner of how the mead
turns out has to do with the how even more than the what.
Michael's mead (informally known as MichaelMead for any of you who may have run
into it without meeting him) when it has appeared in an auction has gone for
anywhere from $6-$10 dollars for a bottle--presumably he is doing something
right. Although Michael's recipes do come from sources such as Digby, the main thing I have noticed is his painstaking attention to the details of the
process
--the cleanliness of the kitchen and tools, the freshness of the ingredients,
the skimming of the scum, and many other things... but it's not for me to give
away any mysteries of the brewing process ;-) He has worked on the nuances of recipes instead of trying as many as possible. Consequently, the product is
quite palatable, even for modern tastes.
Catrin o'r Rhyd For Kathryn Gandek
Barony of Carolingia Boston area
East Kingdom kgandek%mitvmc.bitnet at mitvma.mit.edu
From: crf at PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU (FEINSTEIN)
Date: 14 Dec 89 12:15:00 GMT
Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism
Greetings!
Some time ago, several people noticed my note to Jhanos about having various
addresses for brewers', and asked for the info. Due to a lack of time, the
best way to reach these people is to post the info.
I hope he doesn't mind my saying so, but I also recommend people contact
Dagonell the Juggler, who is a wellspring of such things.
I also have mundane info of a similar nature, such as how to subscribe to
_Zymurgy_, the magazine of the American Homebrewers' Assoc. Feel free to
write
me with requests and questions, but please be aware that, after this today, I
shan't be at work again until after Christmas.
Happy Holidays!
Interkingdom Brewers' & Vinters' Guild Newsletter
Lord Phillip the Pilgrim
c/o Phil Reed
510 Reed Lane,
Lexington, KY 40503-1228
$5.00 and 4 issues per year
Info on the Guild itself:
Master Solomon ben Jacob, Guildmaster
c/o Sherwin J. Kader
3721 N. Murray Ave,
Shorewood, WI 53211
East Kingdom Brewers' Guildmaster:
Robin Argyll du Coeur Aile'
c/o Argyle R. Wolf-Knapp
PO Box 1826
New York, NY 10025
In Service,
Cher de Bellevue
From: 504800%UOTTAWA.BITNET at MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Kate Sanderson)
Date: 7 Feb 90 03:04:36 GMT
Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism
Greetings to all from Gwilym, appearing courtesy his Lady wife, Kasia.
A couple of months ago some people were discussing how to get tannic acid into their mead recipes. This was a back burner question that I've just gotten
around to looking up.
The chief sources of tannin in period seem to be what we would call berries.
Primarily cranberries and currants, but raspberries, wild strawberries,
elderberries and many of the berries from the tundra and near tundra, were
used in period meads as a tannin source. One Iron Age dig discovered a primary
fermentation pot for mead and it contained cranberries. Sometimes cheap red
wines were also used for a tannin source, especially if the wine had started
to go to vinegar.
One of the better secondary sources for this sort of thing is a book called
Food and Drink in Great Britain (I think, maybe A History of ...)
Most of my looking up was a conversation with Mistress Enid Aurelia, so if
there are further enquiries, I will be happy to get a slightly more
concrete set of references, so people can look them up in the library, rather
than Skraeling Althing.
Gwilym ap Alun Bill Sanderson
Barony of Skraeling Althing Ottawa, Ontario
Ealdormere, Middle Kingdom Canada
PS. Your Principality Exchequer (Ealdormere) reminds you that there are only
9 days before the tax forms are due.
From: jim at surya.UUCP (owner)
Date: 17 Apr 90 04:39:51 GMT
Organization: surya.system (sunny side up)
brighid at hern.mv.com writes:
> I want to make a dry mead - what ratio of honey to water should I use?
Make it the old fashioned way,
Take your pot of (boiling ) water, add honey,
when the solution will float an egg up to the top of the pot, then you
have enough honey. If the egg shows a spot the size of a quarter, you
will have a sweet (and strong) mead a spot the size of a dime or
smaller will be on the dry side.
Remember also, that the yeast used will affect how sweet/dry the mead
will turn out.
R.J. Klessig Hayward Ca..........Ch'ndra P'nthi Esfenn Mists West.
{pacbell!rencon!esfenn!surya!jim}, an upcomming waffle site.
are very Viking, with Althings, etc. They do SCA fighting, often as
mercenaries. I'd guess 50 to 100 members, a fair number are overlaped with
SCA. A fun, rowdy group, with a penchant for fire-jumping and good mead
(from Tellef Thygesen, who also made my helm. He's gone commercial, and
makes __good__ mead. Odin's Mead, from The Meadery, Meader Rd, Greenwich, NY,
(518) 692-9669. I hear they're sold out for the next 6 months of production.)
--
Randell Jesup, Keeper of AmigaDos, Commodore Engineering.
{uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!jesup, jesup at cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com BIX: rjesup
Common phrase heard at Amiga Devcon '89: "It's in there!"
From: david at twg.com (David S. Herron)
Date: 17 Jul 90 06:59:46 GMT
Organization: The Wollongong Group, Palo Alto, CA
"Although we may little realize it today, when the
world was young, when the gods walked the earth and
communed with men, and when men had more ready access
to paradise than they have had since, mead was the
liquor drunk by gods and men alike."
This is the first paragraph in _Brewing_Mead_ by Robert Gayre and
a chap named Nigg. Bound in the same book is _Wassail!_In_Mazers_of_Mead_
written by Charlie Papazian.
The first half, _Brewing_Mead_, is an in depth history of mead
production world wide through history. The author makes a lot
of lintuisticly derived arguments to prove that various drinks
talked of in ancient texts are really honey-derived wines & beers.
Along the way there are many "secondary sources" given, reproductions
of pictures and translations of text fragments into modern english.
Very fascinating and informative ..
The second half, _Wassail!_, tells how to do it. There's a buncha
recipes here of all major types of mead.
Now.. the reason for mentioning this book is.. The first time I
saw it was in the library, and it had all the indications of having
been a first edition. (Original publication: 1948..)
This book I have in front of me is a fresh printing from "Brewers
Publications".
Brewers Publications
American Homebrewers Association
PO Bos 287
Boulder, CO 80306
(303) 447-0816
This was a second printing in 1988. I found this copy in a
wine making store here in Sillycon Valley.