NightDaughter
Posts: 264
Joined: 1/23/2004 From: Ontario, Canada Status: offline
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Mead ---Basic Mead--- 1 gallon water 5 lbs dark honey 2 oranges, sliced 1 lemon, sliced 1/2 pkg champagne yeast Place the honey, water, and fruit in a 2-gallon pot over medium heat. Bring the mead to a rolling boil, skimming off any "scum" which rises to the top over the next hour. Cool to lukewarm, strain out the fruit, and add the yeast (dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water). Allow this mixture to set, covered with a towel, for 7 days, until the first fermentation has slowed considerably. Strain again, pouring off only the clearer top fluids into bottles to age. These bottles should be lightly corked for about 2 months, then tightly sealed for 6 months before using. Since it was honey, not sugar, which was the main source of sweetening for many centuries, simple mead recipes like this show up in almost every nation, with only minor variations appropriate to that culture. ---Quick Wine Mead--- As the name might imply, this mead is a charatan in that it is not made from scratch, but prepared when haste is needed. It is similar in flavor to a traditional mead made with grape juice, which in medieval Europe was called "pyment". 1 gal red wine (medium dryness) 2 lb honey 2 oranges, sliced 1/4 fresh lemon Spices as desired Warm the wine over very low head, adding honey slowly to dissolve thoroughly. Divide this between 2 (1-gallon) containers, with equal portions of fruit and spices in each. Cork and shake daily for 3 days before using. This should be served warm. The amount of honey can be decreased to suit personal tastes. Alternative: Try apple wine instead of red wine, and stir with a cinnamon stick. The taste of Mead is kind of like Honey with a dash of lemon.. so I think whites do just as well as reds, just remember to get (at least) a partially dry wine... the honey and citrus will sweeten it up, and a sweet wine will be a little too much for the recipe.
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NightDaughter My Blog - http://www.livejournal.com/users/nightdaughter/ "I never said that I could spell, but I do try my darndest to get my point across" - ND
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