Medd Hen FFasiwn or Mead

Equipment:

  • Plastic Sieve
  • One Big Pot - Two Gallon preffered
  • Small Bowl - to hold ingredients
  • Wooden Spoon with long handle
  • Thermometer
  • Hydrometer (optional, but it helps) for checking alcohol content (Specific Gravity from 0.990 to 1.170)
  • Two 5 gallon Buckets with sealable lid (Clear Jugs or Carboys are preferred)
  • ***Optional - One Oak Hogshead Barrel ***
  • Rubber Stoppers - solid rubber bungs to fit the different neck sizes of the fermenters, drilled rubber bungs to fit airlocks;
  • Airlock - device to allows carbon dioxide inside the fermenter to escape, without letting in contaminated air;
  • Secondary Fermenter - After the first couple of weeks of fermentation, the activity level of the must drops off and can be siphoned into a secondary fermenter. Secondary fermenter is most often a glass Carboy but can also be a 5 gallon bucket.
  • Bottles for racking and storing mead

    •  Ingredients:

    Basic Mead
    (makes one hogshead)

    Chocolate Mead
    (Makes 1 Gallon)

    Sweet Raspberry Mead
    (Makes 1 Gallon)

    Orange Clove Mead
    (Makes 1 Gallon)

    Strawberry Lemon
    Honey Mead
    (Makes 1 Gallon)
  • 4 lbs. Honey
  • 1 whole Ginger
  • ½ lb. hops
  • ¼ lb. allspice
  • 4 gallons Water
  • 2 packets Yeast (Lalvin 71b) - or similar substitute.
    		•
  • 1 gallon water
  • 25 raisins
  • 1 orange
  • 3 jars of set honey
  • 3 oz cadbury's drinking chocolate powder
  • 1 packet Yeast: (EC-1118) or similar substitute.
    		•
  • 1 Gallon Spring Water
  • 4.5 lbs. wildflower honey
  • 1.5 pounds raspberries
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • 3 Tablespoons of strong english tea
  • 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
  • 1 packet Yeast:
    (EC-1118 )
    		•
  • 1 gallon of Spring Water 25 Raisins
  • 1 Cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole orange, sliced and peels included
  • 1 pinch of allspice
  • 1 pinch of nutmeg
  • 3 1/2 pounds of clover honey
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1 packet Yeast Fleishcmanns
    		•
  • Strawberries (2.5 pounds) blended
  • Honey ½ lb.
  • 10 lemons
    • 4 zests of lemon peels
      remove lemon pulp
    • juice from 6 lemons
  • 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
  • 1 gallon water
  • Yeast: Fleishcmanns (1 packet)
    		•

    Method for One Hogshead (5 gallons):

  • Add 4 lbs honey to each gallon of water ( or one part honey to nine parts water).
  • Honey and water should be boiled for one hour then skimmed (honey will sink to the bottom of the pot and burn unless stirred at first)
  • When the mixture is bubbling happily, a whitish scum will riser to the surface.
  • Add ingredients and boil in the honey water for 10 minutes then let cool to about 80-85 degrees F.strain and add liquid to cask until cask is full
  • Introduce yeast (and yeast nutrient if needed) - stir and cap with an airlock.
  • Let ferment four to six days - Skim scum from cask.
  • If too sweet, let it continue fermenting five to seven more days;
  • Skim again - wait for lees to settle;
  • Siphon mead to separate clear mead from lees and store to secondary fermenter (Jug, carboy, or Barrel) ,
  • bung and store for at least four months to one year.
  • The reason for oak barrels as for aging, storing, and flavouring the spirits it contains. If unable to get hold of an oak barrel then you can provide a smooth and slightly smokey flavour by adding peppercorns into the second fermentation of storing!
  • To provide carbonation for bottle conditioning - add one cup of priming sugar or ½ cup honey to clear mead before bottling;
  • Bottle Mead and store in cool environment or refrigerate!
  • Optional - To prevent carbonation add Potassam sorbate to prevent any further fermentation. Add when yeast is not active - as it prevents bottle conditioning for carbonation

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