Right assuming we all got our chainmail and our round shields set all that is left is to find some wenches and something proper to drink. Now - beer is the obvious first choice but hardly the only one - if you are willing - you can try brewing mead.
There are many recipes depending on what exactly do you want to get for your final product, I will write down as many as I can find here in a series of posts, detailing their differences in flavour, taste, ingredients and making.
One thing that rings true for all of them is that this will be a long term investment - brewing will take several months, so you should also consider making a sizeable batch too. It will also require a few things you may have a better luck finding in your granma's cellar - namely the jugs.
Now without further ado - home made mead recipe number 1
Ingredients :
8-10 lbs pure honey for light, delicate Mead or 12-13 for medium sweet Mead or
15-16 lbs for very sweet or alcoholic Mead.
4-5 gallons purified spring water (not distilled)
3 tablespoons of yeast nutrient (or 5 tablets)
1 tablespoon acid blend (combination malic/citric acid)
5-7 oz. sliced fresh ginger root (1 finger's length)
POSSIBLE EXTRAS - just for spicing it up
1/4 tablespoon fresh rosemary
5-6 whole cloves
lime/orange peels
1-2 vanilla beans
cinnamon/nutmeg
crushed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes, blueberries - you can experiment yourself here)
1 tablespoon Irish Moss to clarify Mead
OR
1/2 tablespoon clear gelatin to clarify Mead
1 packet of yeast - either champagne or ale yeast.
Heat The water for 10-15 minutes until its boiling. Then stir in honey, yeast
nutrients, acid blend, and whatever spices you picked ( ginger, vanilla, cinnamon,
nutmeg, etc.). The mix stays like that for another 10-15 minutes,
(overcooking removes too much honey flavour so you can turn down the heat ). Skim off the foam as needed
should be 2-3 times. After 15 minutes, add Irish
Moss or clear gelatin to clarify the mead. After last skimming, turn off the heat,
add crushed fruit if you want to, and let it steep 15-30 minutes while allowing the mead to
cool and clarify. After it begins to clear, strain off the fruit with
hand skimmer and pour the mead through strainer funnel into a 5 gallon glass
carboy jug. Let it cool down to room temperature for about 24h.
After 24h warm up 1 cup of mead(microwave works for this), stir in 1 packet of yeast - its important what you picked as
it will affect the final product and leave it for 5-15 min to allow the yeast to start working.
Add the mead/yeast mix to the jug and swirl it around.
Place run-off tube in stopper of bottle, with other end of tube in large
bowl or bottle to capture "blow-off" froth. Let mead sit undisturbed 7
days in cool, dark area. After initial violent fermenting slows down
and mead begins to settle, rack off (siphon off) good mead into clean
sterilized jug, leaving all sediment in bottom of first jug. Attach
airlock to this secondary carboy. After 4-6 months, mead will clear.
During this time, if more sediment forms on bottom, good mead can be
racked off again to another clean sterilized jug.
When you are bottling in order to add carbonation you can put a quarter of a tablespoon of white sugar per 12 oz.
or stir in 1/2 to 1 lb raw honey per 5 gallons of mead(dissolve it first with mead or pure water)
