Food and Drink
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The Stuff of Poetry Mead
   
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Feeling Tired? No Pep & Zing? Tap Into Breakfast Smoothies!
I'm 40-something years old, and for 40-something years breakfast has been a pain. Some of my earliest memories are getting ready for school with my mother .....
People have been drinking fermented beverages since the dawn of civilization. At first, the production of alcohol may have been accidental. Over time, it became an art.I'm 40-something years old, and for 40-something years breakfast has been a pain. Some of my earliest memories are getting ready for school with my mother .....
Mead is a beverage made from fermented honey. This very drink was the founding father of wine and beer. A purist might just stick to just the simplest recipe of honey, water, and yeast, but some people, like myself, add a few additional ingredients to compliment the main ingredient.
My first introduction to mead was on my birthday. I prepared a medieval feast, each ingredient carefully chosen to be historically accurate or at least as accurate as it could be. A friend of mine brought along mead made by a brewery also known for brewing Tej, an Ethiopian honey wine. It was a welcome accompaniment to the sweet and savory flavors of the various medieval dishes.
I acquired a taste for mead while in Denmark. I was attending a folk school, and two of our favored activities were singing and drinking. A local liquor store carried mead in a ceramic bottle. The label depicted two Vikings, who seemed rather happy enjoying their brew out of horns. My friends and I started having little parties we appropriately dubbed Viking Giggle Fest.
Easy Summer Salads, Lighter Foods For A Brighter Summer
Easy summer salads, lighter foods for a brighter summer
Easy summer salads do not need dozens of hard to get ingredients or heavy bottled sauces. Go light and use a few good quality vegetables, well combined with a little well-chosen .....
After school ended, I returned home. I yearned to make mead. I had been brewing for years, but most of these experiments ended in failure. This time around I was determined to make something drinkable. My first batch was rather scaled down. I boiled honey in water, let it cool to room temperature, added yeast, and set it aside to ferment for two weeks. I wanted to try it, so after the two weeks were up, I decided to try it. It wasnt bad, but it wasnt wonderful either. It showed signs of carbonation, its bubbles gently tickled my palate. The taste was a little watered down, but I was working off of a theory and not off of a recipe.Easy summer salads, lighter foods for a brighter summer
Easy summer salads do not need dozens of hard to get ingredients or heavy bottled sauces. Go light and use a few good quality vegetables, well combined with a little well-chosen .....
The next time I brewed I was prepared. I went out and got a basic brewing kit. I used more honey this time and also decided to use a few additives and clarifying agents such as gelatin, hops, lavender, and rose hip. I used champagne yeast instead of bread yeast for better flavor. This brew fermented for two weeks, I then aged it for two more, bottled it, and left it to age on a rack for about two more months. The end result was something wonderful, and I gave my grandfather a taste. He had been an avid amateur vintner, so he knew a thing or two about how wine should taste. A tear came to his eye, and I could tell he was proud that I had been successful.
For more information, visit these sites:
http://www.gotmead.com/making-mead/
http://www.solorb.com/mead/mead.html
http://sca_brew.homestead.com/files/recipes/Crystal_5.htm