Quick Mead

Classification: mead, metheglin

Source: Kevin Karplus (karplus@ararat.ucsc.edu) Issue #538, 11/16/90

Yield is 3.1 gallons. Excellent clarity, fairly sweet flavor, slight sediment, light gold color. An excellent batch.

Ingredients: (for 3-1/2 gallons)

3 gallons, water
5 pounds, honey
1/3 cup, jasmine tea
1/2 teaspoon, ground ginger
2 teaspoons, cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon, ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon, ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon, ground nutmeg
ale yeast

Procedure:

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.