My latest batch

This weekend, I started another batch of mead. This one is based on several different mead recipes I found on the internet, from the medieval Scandanavian people. It is not a "period" recipe (as you might have noticed from some of the additives I am using), but the ingredients and the process are fairly close. It is fermenting happily in Anthony's basement at the moment; when it is finished I will let you know how it turned out.

VIKING MEAD

Ingredients
1 quart (3 pounds) unfiltered wildflower honey
2 quarts fresh water
1/2 cup dried chamomile flowers
12 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon yeast energizer
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 packet dry wine yeast
1 can (12 oz) organic frozen apple juice concentrate
1 Campden tablet
2 teaspoons sparkoloid powder
(glossary)

Directions
In a large pot or kettle, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Slowly add 1 quart of honey, stirring constantly to prevent the honey from burning. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Skim the white foam off of the top of the honey-water, cover, and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a separate saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a full boil. Add the chammomile and cloves, cover tightly, and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out the flowers and cloves, and add the tea to the must.

Once the must has cooled to room temperature, pour it into a sterile, 1-gallon glass jug. Add 1/2 teaspoon of yeast energizer, one teaspoon of yeast nutrient, and enough cold water to almost make one full gallon (leave about 3 inches of room at the top of the jug for froth). Shake until well-mixed. Add the dry yeast, and shake again until well mixed. Attach a sterile fermentation lock to the jug, and set in a cool, dark place to ferment.

Once fermentation stops (2 or 3 weeks), remove the fermentation lock and taste the mead. Stir in the apple juice concentrate, a couple of ounces at a time, until the mead is as sweet as you like it. Replace the fermentation lock, and allow to ferment to completion once again. Repeat this process until the mead is both sweet and stable.

Rack, clarify, stabilize, and bottle. Makes 1 gallon of "cyser" (apple mead).