Quick mead

54 Servings

Ingredients

QuantityIngredient
3gallonsWater
5poundsHoney
cupJasmine tea
½teaspoonGround ginger
2teaspoonsCinnamon
½teaspoonGround allspice
½teaspoonGround cloves
½teaspoonGround nutmeg
Ale yeast

Directions

Boil water, adding tea and spices. Remove from heat and stir in honey.

(Some mead makers boil the honey, skimming the scum as it forms). Cover boiled water, and set aside to cool (this usually takes a long time, so start on the next step). Make a yeast starter solution by boiling a cup of water and a tablespoon or two of honey. Add starter to cooled liquid. Cover and ferment using blow tube or fermentation lock. Rack two or three times to get rid of sediment. The less honey, the lighter the drink, and the quicker it can be made. 1 pound per gallon is the minimum, 5 pounds per gallon is about the maximum for a sweet dessert wine. This mead is a metheglin because of the tea. The yeast is pitched one day after starting the batch, the crud skimmed about 10 days later, then wait 3 days and rack to second- ary. Wait 2 more weeks and bottle---about 4 weeks from start to finish. Yield is 3⅒ gallons. Excellent clarity, fairly sweet flavor, slight sediment, light gold color. An excellent batch.

Recipe By : Kevin Karplus , Issue #538, 11/16/90 From: Date: 05/30 File