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Honey Mead

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M-P:
Hi Folks,  I 'm not much of a drinker, but I did brew mead a few times, ( years ago!) I'm betting that googling "mead recipe" will get you a ton of recipes.   Honey has enough yeast in it to start fermenting as soon as you lower the sugar levels by diluting ~ 1/2 and 1/2 with water.  Any steps past that are mainly just gilding the lily. Of course relying on wild yeast risks fermantation with a yeast that may produce off flavors, so you may want to use a commercial wine yeast.   Mix honey ~ 50/50 with fresh apple juice and the finished product is merowin. 
Boil the water and add to the honey.  Be sure to ferment in a very clean (ie. boiled), nonreactive, covered container.  Once the bubbling has totally stopped and the yeast have settled, you should gently decant the mead into boiled bottles and seal.  The initial yeasty taste will resolve with a little aging.  Or drink it fresh, that's probably what the vikings did.
Ron

Beleg813:
That sounds awesome M-P--thanks for the tip(s). That sounds right down my alley :)

Knocker:
Hey D.Tiller (Dave)
My Dad is Nordic decent (You know about Ballard, Seattle) and my Mother was a VanDeventer.  I went to the Clan gathering at the King County fairgrounds a few years ago and knew I had the right clan tent by all the war-making hardware scattered around in racks and piles...  My heritage probably fuels my need to make arrow throwers.

Yes, honey varies greatly and it's taste is dependant on what the bees are feeding on.  My honey is typically very light colored and mild flavored.  Mostly maple and other things from the Black Lake swamp behind my place.  Other things affect what the honey looks and tastes like too.  Most beekeepers give extracted honey comb back to the bees to refill as it takes a lot of energy for the bees to make the wax.  The re-used honeycomb turns dark colored, and so does the honey.  Clover honey in stores is a generic mix of all the different cheap honey that the suppliers can buy.  Some honeys - such as that made from almond orchards - is not even edible and used for hog feed.  Commercial bee keeping is becoming more about fees for pollination for large crop yields than it is about the honey sales.  Humm... all this talk of Mead, guess I'll have to do some sipping this rainy Western Washington Sunday.

Keith

D. Tiller:
Yep! I know Ballard very well.  Its only arround 1/2 an hour from the home and 1 1/2 hours durring rush hour. My mothers side of the family are all Hagstroms and Van Ripers.  My Dads side are all Scotts and English so it makes a great mixing of the warrior clans there.

We should have a mini bow gathering here in the Northwest! Bring bows and lots of mead!!!  ;D  Though that will mean it will need to be arround a year away if we want to start brewing today. Anyone have some favorite recipies???

David T

DanaM:
Ok so I want some, ya going to ToeJam if so please bring an ample supply ;D

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