Take of spring water what quantity you please, and make it more than blood-warm, and dissolve honey in it till 'tis strong enough to bear an egg, the breadth of a shilling; then boil it gently near an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then put to about nine or ten gallons, seven or eight large blades of mace, three nutmegs quartered, twenty cloves, three or four sticks of cinnamon, two or three roots of ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper; put these spices into the kettle to the honey and water, a whole lemon, with a sprig of sweet- briar and a sprig of rosemary; tie the briar and rosemary together, and when they have boiled a little while take them out and throw them away; but let your liquor stand on the spice in a clean earthen pot till the next day; then strain it into a vessel that is fit for it; put the spice in a bag, and hang it in the vessel, stop it, and at three months draw it into bottles. Be sure that 'tis fine when 'tis bottled; after 'tis bottled six weeks 'tis fit to drink.The original recipe would appear to make nine or ten gallons of must, to determine the amount of water and honey that was used in measurements other than approximations an amount of water (6 gallons) was mixed together with honey in 6lb increments (1/2 gallon) until a small egg floated to the surface, additional water was added to balance if excess honey was added. So, by doing this we determined that the necessary water to honey mixture is 6.25 gallons of water to 36 lbs of honey or a total of 9.25 gallons or 5.76 lbs of honey per gallon of water.
Add the spices to a muslin or cheesecloth bag and tie it closed. Tie the sprig of rosemary and the briar together and add it also. Bring the liquid to a simmer (boiling honey will overflow your pot and make an absolute mess in your kitchen) and remove the scum that floats to the surface. An hour is probably excessive as most of the honey used today is pasteurized and filtered so only simmer/skim the must for 1/2 an hour. After it is done simmering remove the sprigs of briar and rosemary and allow the must to cool to room temperature (75 degrees) usually overnight. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the must and add the lemon rind which should be removed the following day.
The recipe does not call for any additional yeast to be added and relies solely on the natural yeast that is present. Unfortunately the temperature involved in simmering will kill the natural yeast and there are more bad yeasts and other bacteria than good ones floating around so the possibility of infection is high. With commercial honey that has been pasteurized or filtered there is also little to no natural yeast left. I would suggest using a good wine yeast starter as outlined in the section on yeast in this document. Add the yeast (see below) and put the must into a carboy, cover with several layers of cloth until rapid fermentation begins then place an air lock onto it and continue fermentation until it subsides.
The recipe calls for three months of fermentation and then it is to be bottled. I would suggest that the method for making mead below is followed from this point on as you will likely end up with a very tart mead (as I have on occasion with this recipe) if it is left on the dead yeast cells for three months.
We have looked at a sample period recipe and how it can be reproduced today with little effort and with the same ingredients used by Digby. Some of the notable points of interest discovered in reproducing this recipe were:
It is probably mans oldest sweet food. In many early civilizations it was extolled as food for the gods, as a gift from the gods or as a giver of immortality. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and other ancient peoples used honey in making cakes and candies as well as beverages. It was also used to make salted meat more palatable, hence honey hams. Wherever there was a large orchard there was sure to be an apiary. It was very common for households to have a small orchard as well as a small apiary, or for locals to get together and contribute the honey that had been gathered over the summer to a brewer could make mead for them.
There are several different types of honey that can be used for mead but the most common is a good clover honey. Clover honey gets its name from what the bee's make it out of. You can also acquire an Apple, Orange, peach or other fruit honey. You can use almost any honey in the making of mead. Strongly flavored honeys (orange blossom, buckwheat, wild flower) generally work best.
Clover honey works well and will result in a very delicately flavored and light gold color, but very light honeys (like alfalfa) are not very suitable as they give poor flavor and almost no color. I use clover honey almost exclusively, the reason is that I know what I am dealing with and can control the flavor better. I do use raspberry or other fruit honey when making mead with that particular flavour. If you plan to make a pure mead (honey and water) then you should use a stronger flavored honey as this will be the single thing that will give your mead its character.
By excluding the oxygen supply from the yeasts self reproduction during fermentation we can force the yeast to use a secondary energy source to reproduce, that is the sugars in the must. This gives us a different type of fermentation the byproduct of which is carbon dioxide and alcohol in equal quantities as this chemical equation shows
C6 H O6 to 2C2H5 OH + 2CO 2
One sugar molecule is changed into two alcohol and two carbon dioxide molecules.
Of the fruits used, pear is one of the favorites as well as apple, peach, elderberry, blackberry and raspberry. When fuit is added to mead it is usually called something else. Pyser, melomel, pyment and cyser are some of them.
The nutrient problem can be overcome easily by adding a small amount of whole grain bread or a commercially available yeast nutrient such as vitamin B1 or easier yet get a jar of marmite or vegimite which are both high in vitamin B1. One teaspoon per gallon should be enough.
The incipidity is due to a lack of tannin in the must. If you find that your meads are lacking in astringency then there are several solutions. Grape tannin may be purchased commercially and is usually in powder form simply add one half teaspoon per gallon of must. Tea may be added to the must, 1/8 cup per gallon or black grapes with the skins may be added. I would recommend that the grapes be crushed and the pulp added to the must at the rate of 1/2 lb per 5 gallons.
1 - Pot For simmering the must in. I would recommend either an enamel or stainless steel pot in the 6 gallon range. 2 - 5 gallon glass carboy The carboy is used to ferment themead in and a second one is handy to rack into when you need to. You can always use the cooking pot for a temporary racking solution but it requires double the effort. 1 - 5 foot siphon tube Used to siphon the must into clean fermentation vessels and to fill bottles. 1 - Thermometer To check the temperature of the must before adding the yeast and to make sure thetemperature is not too high or low during fermentation. 1 - Hydrometer The hydrometer is your best friend. While it was not used in period, our sample recipoe uses an egg as a rudimentary hydrometer. by adding honey to the water until the egg floated to the top our brewing forbearers knew that they had sufficient honey to produce a fine mead. Use it to measure the specific gravity of your must before you start fermentation and during fermentation to determine when to rack. When the fermentation is complete use it to get a final reading of the residual sugal quantity and thus a measurement of the alcohol potential. Refer to figure 1.0 for specific gravity measurements and potential alcohol content. To determine the potential alcohol content simpy subtract the ending SG from the starting SG and using the chart find the total drop in specific gravity.the potential alcohol is the number to the right under the Potential % column. 1 - Airlock The airlock is used to seal the fermenting must from the outside air and to trap the carbondioxide gas in the fermentor.
1 - Sterilize all vessels and implements with boiling water or washing them with a chlorine solution of 1/8 cup chlorine to a gallon of water then rinsing with cold water or use idophor solution. The idophor solution is probably the safest way and leaves no residual odor or taste. 2 - Boil the water, adding the dry ingredients. (add nutrient and acid blend after it has cooled) 3 - Add in honey. A few brewers boil the honey in the water and skim off the foam that rises. This sometimes results in changes to the flavor of the but makes it easier to clear. If you don't mind the change in flavor (especially with light honeys) then boil (simmer) away but one word of warning; CAUTION: once the honey starts to come to a boil REMOVE THE HEAT AND PUT A COLD METAL IMPLEMENT INTO IT. OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE FAST ENOUGH TO STOP IT FROM BOILING OVER and boil over it will in less than a few seconds.If you decide not to simmer and scum the mead you may find that it remains cloudy when bottled. This is especially true with unprocessed honey. 4. Allow the must (your fermentable liquid) to cool to around 75-85 deg. by waiting overnight. When it has cooled test the specific gravity (SG) of your must with a hydrometer and record the results. Measure the temperature as well and remember that the SG varies with the temperature. Refer to table 2 for exact adjustments. Specific Gravity for must when cooled. dry sweet 1.09 1.135 5. Make a yeast starter. 6. Add the yeast starter to the must and cover the fermentor with several layers of cheese cloth or muslin and allow it to start fermenting. Once it has begun to ferment rapidly seal it with the lid and airlock or in the case of a carboy with the airlock. In a week to 10 days the primary fermentation will have subsided and the SG will now be around 1.04. Make a note of this and calculate the alcohol potential that exists now. Go ahead and have a taste. Siphon into a clean sterilized container and seal with the airlock. 7. Ferment for a few weeks in a warm, dry place. When a lot of sediment has collected on the bottom of the container, siphon off the liquid (without disturbing the sediment (racking)). You may need to rack several times over the course of the next two to three months to produce a clear mead. If your mead is cloudy a few additional months in bottle will clear it or if you like you can use one of the following methods to help clear stubborn cloudiness. Use any of these methods you like but I usually try them in this order. Irish Moss This is probably the best method of clarification/prevention of a cloudy wine. Simply add 1 oz per 5 gallons to the must before fermentation. You should finish with a clear mead. Bentonite This dry clay powder will usually clear just about anything from any liquid. Take one or two pints of the mead and mix into it 1 teaspoon of bentonite per gallon of wine. Mix the resulting paste into the wine and allow to settle for at least two weeks before bottling. Isinglas Isinglass is used by adding 2 oz of the liquid to 5 gallons of the finished mead. Polyclar liquid Polyclar is used by adding the prescribed amount usually 2 oz per 5 gallons to the mead. Allow the mead to clear before bottling usually several weeks. Filtration You can usually rent filtration systems from most home brewing supply stores. Start with a 1 micron filter and then if it still remains cloudy filter again with 0.5 micron filter. Remember filtration is usually a last resort to clear the haze and it is impoortant to note that it can also remove color and taste from an otherwise fine beverage. 8. Once you have a clear mead you will need to bottle or barrel it. The specific gravity will probably be around 1.035 or lower. If it is higher allow it to ferment until it is between 1.005 and 1.0158. The following table shows the finished SG (results will vary for each brewer) Final Specific Gravity Dry Sweet 1.005 1.035
Note: ferment warm, and age cool.
Other varieties of mead include Metheglin, Pyment, Cyser and Melomel. The recipes for these are the same as the basic mead recipe but with the changes notedhere.
Specific Gravity - Alcohol Potential Chart S.G Alc.% Proof 1010 0.09 0.16 1015 1.60 2.80 1020 2.30 4.03 1025 3.00 5.25 1030 3.70 6.48 1035 4.40 7.70 1040 5.10 8.93 1045 5.80 10.15 1050 6.50 11.38 1055 7.20 12.60 1060 7.80 13.65 1065 8.60 15.05 1070 9.30 16.28 1075 10.00 17.50 1080 10.70 18.73 1085 11.40 19.95 1090 12.10 21.18 1095 12.80 22.40 1100 13.50 23.63 1105 14.20 24.85 1110 14.90 26.08 1115 15.60 27.30 1120 16.30 28.53 1125 17.00 29.75 1130 17.70 30.98 1135 18.40 32.20 1140 19.10 33.43 1145 19.80 34.65 1150 20.50 35.88 Wine Log Name of Wine: ______________ Date Started: ________ Ingredients Quantities ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ ______________________ ________________ Method: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Yeast Used: ______________________________________________ S.G. Before adding honey _____________ S.G. After adding honey _____________ Date fermentation starte _____________ Date fermentation ended _____________ S.G. at end of fermentation _____________ Dates Racked Appearance _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ Date put into storage ________________ Date bottled ________________ Comments ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Chart 1 Temperature variation chart 10 50 subtract .06 15 59 none 20 68 add .9 25 77 Add 2.0 30 86 Add 3.4 35 95 Add 5.0 40 104 Add 6.8
Bibliography
The Closet of Sir Kenholme Digby, Knight, Opened London: H. Brome, 1669; reprint London; Philip Lee Warner,1910 MacDonnel, Anne, ed., The Winemakers Companion Argus Books Limited 1987 Berry, C J J Food and Drink in Britain Constable & Co. 1973 Wilson, C. Anne The Goodman of Paris Translated to English by Eileen Power. Routledge and Sons 1928 Curye on Inglysh Oxford University Press 1985 A history of wine London 1961 Allen H. Warner Groliers Encyclopedia Americana (references for species names) Chaucers Canterbury Tales