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Mead
Apr 19, 2005 2:57:10 GMT -5
Post by Lady Winter Wolf on Apr 19, 2005 2:57:10 GMT -5
History
Mead is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of a diluted mixture of honey and water. Sometimes with fruit and spices added as flavorings it is called by different names, melomel, metheglin, pyment, cyser and a variety of other names.
It is typically clear with a slight gold tint, with an alcohol content of between 7-22%. By varying the proportions of honey and water and the point at which fermentation is stopped, a wide variety of types can be produced ranging from a very dry and light mead similar to more traditional white grape wines, to sweet and heavy-bodied desert wine. If fermentation is left to continue while bottled a sparkling mead resembling a sparkling white wine is produced.
Until the late middle ages both mead and sparkling mead were highly popular beverages, especially in northern regions of Europe, where wine grapes could not easily be grown. It was produced by organized industry during the 15th-century, controlled as with other trades by guilds. The largest guild of brewers during the time was the Guild of Free Brewers in London, who at the time controlled all aspects of brewing wine, mead and ale. Not only did they control the manufacture of these products but the distribution and laws governing the measurement when dispensed. The guilds controlled all aspects of the trade and production of ale, mead and only toward the end of the 16th-century wines. As the importance of honey was displaced by less expensive sugars in the late Middle Ages, mead was gradually displaced by less costly beers and ales and to a lesser degree by imported wines. Mead then became a drink of the socially lower classes. Nonetheless, it was always considered for medicinal value and was prescribed to even royalty.
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Mead
Apr 19, 2005 6:16:55 GMT -5
Post by MjolnirH on Apr 19, 2005 6:16:55 GMT -5
MEAD - THE WEDDING STORY
The word Honeymoon has its roots in the Norse word "hjunottsmanathr" which was anything but blissful ;D
While the origin of the terms "Wedding, Bride & Bridegroom" have been traced back as far as the 9th century, young men have been "wooing" young women only since the 11th century, about the same time that they first called each other "dear". We've only been calling each other sweetheart since the 13th century and we've only been "courting" since the 16th century. Even more recently than that, during the 17th century, young Irish men began referring to their sweetheart as a "flame". Marriage in the Middle Ages was quite different than it is today. To begin with when people spoke of good match, they were referring more to what someone could bring to the union in the way of possessions, rather than possibilities.
However the expression "Honeymoon" may be older than most of the terms above. The phrase "Honeymoon" did not evolve from a term of endearment of a decryption of an event. It literally depicted the period of time during which a particular marital convention followed; specifically what the bride and groom did for one full moon after their wedding.
If not for some Irish monks in the Middle Ages, none of us would refer to the post-matrimonial period as a "Honeymoon". Although it is said that the monks originally produced Mead for medicinal purposes, its popularity soon proved that it could make even people who were well, feel even better. Not to say that weddings would have been altered if Mead were not invented, it's more that the nature and quality of the celebration following the wedding would have been affected, the honey-based drink was the origin of the term "honeymoon".
Even since the fame of the Irish monks' "brew" spread throughout medieval Ireland, it was believed that mead was essential for sending off the bride and groom after wedding. It was used both as a final toast and as a proper beginning of the marriage. Following the wedding, the Bride & Groom were provided with enough Mead to toast each other after their wedding, hence the term "honeymoon".
This delicate, yet potent drink was not only considered the best way to start a new marriage, it was also believed to enhance such valued qualities as fertility and virility. On numerous occasions the groom laced with generous amounts of Mead, was carried by his friends to the bedside of his bride. If nine months later, a bouncing baby appeared, credit was given to the Mead.
References have been found on Mead as early as the 5th century and it was in wide use by the Middle Ages. So it seems that the "Honeymoon" tradition may be even older than our contemporary wedding traditions. According to Irish tradition, when it's time to bring festivities to a close, the wedding party gathers around the bride and groom. All fill their glasses with Mead;
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Mead
Apr 20, 2005 3:38:26 GMT -5
Post by Lady Winter Wolf on Apr 20, 2005 3:38:26 GMT -5
Equipment*Fermenter - An airtight vessel with a hole where an airlock can be inserted. Typical fermenters are either glass bottles (bottled-water bottles are good for 5 gallon batches and are also known as carboys. 1-gallon jugs, of the type apple cider is typically sold in, are good for smaller batches,) or large plastic buckets with tight-fitting lids. The important thing to remember is that it needs to keep any wild yeast or bacteria that are floating around the atmosphere out of the brew you're making. *Airlock - Seals the fermenter and allows the gases produced during fermentation to escape. Relatively cheap airlocks (with a stopper to fit your fermenter) can be purchased at your local homebrew store, or you can make one yourself using a piece of plastic tubing and another jar filled with water. *Bottles - For a 5 gallon batch, 3 cases of returnable beer bottles is enough. (Non-returnables won't stand up to repeated handling and you'll end up with broken bottles.) You can also use champagne bottles (you'll need 30 or so). Grolsch-style bottles work well, too, and don't require a bottle capper. Some people have successfully used plastic 2-liter pop bottles, but the plastic will let some gases through, and the screw-on caps don't seal very well after the first time. For those reasons, I wouldn't recommend going that route. *Bottle-capper - This can be bought at a homebrew store near you. *Bottle caps - Gotta have something to keep the mead in the bottles. *Brewing pot - If you're going to be making a mead with fruits or spices in it, you'll want a pot to boil stuff in. I use a 3-gallon stew-pot, which works well for 5-gallon batches. You won't need anything much larger than 3 gallons initially. If you're not using fruits or spices, this'll still be handy for mixing things in. *Funnel - One with a filter or screen built into it is best, but any kitchen funnel will do. You'll be pouring into this from your brewpot, so that should give you an idea of how big it should be. *Tubing - You'll also want a supply of plastic tubing for transferring liquids about. I'd recommend having a couple 3-to-5 foot lengths of plastic tubing (if you discover you've bought a piece that's too long, cutting it shorter is easy. Making it longer, on the other hand, is a real bitch). One piece should be the same size as the hole in the stopper you're using in your fermenter (3/8" outside diameter), and the other piece should be larger (1/2" inside diameter or so) for siphoning the mead from the fermenter into bottles.
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Mead
Apr 26, 2005 4:11:01 GMT -5
Post by Kaber on Apr 26, 2005 4:11:01 GMT -5
I love Mead. *sigh*
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Mead
Apr 27, 2005 15:05:50 GMT -5
Post by Lady Winter Wolf on Apr 27, 2005 15:05:50 GMT -5
ON CHOOSING THE INGREDIENTS FOR MEAD (written by: Yosef Alaric of the Baliset)
For the most part, one basic rule applies to the brewing of good mead: THE BETTER YOUR INGREDIENTS, THE BETTER YOUR MEAD WILL BE! (within reason) This article will discuss how to choose the best ingredients for a mead you will like.
This is the most important factor: if you don't like the mead that your recipe makes, it doesn't matter how good it is. Most people like to flavor their mead with various fruits and/or spices. Obviously, this makes the judgment of the quality of a mead (or of any wine for that matter) very subjective. So before we go head on into a discourse on flavorings, let us discuss the more basic ingredients.
You can't make mead without honey! So we'll start there. The darker the color of your honey, the more flavor it has. This is important to know since it will most definitely affect the final outcome. Unless you intend to heavily flavor your mead with non-honey flavors, which to me defeats the entire purpose of brewing mead as opposed to other formsof wine, you are going to want a fairly dark honey. Here you should be careful to choose a honey you like. Among the darker honeys are Buckwheat, Orange blossom, Tupelo and Marijuana. These honeys each have a distinctive flavor: Buckwheat and Orange Blossom are my favorites and I find Tupelo too flowery for my taste. Warning: Honey made from Marijuana is just as illegal as other forms of cannabis; getting busted can be hazardous to your health. Some wild flower honeys are good, and contrary to the belief of some, clover honey can make a perfectly acceptable mead in the right recipe. All in all, if you choose a honey that you like, you are well on your way to a good mead.
Water: If you don't like the taste of your local water supply, you may want to use distilled water as it will add no unpleasant taste of its own. However, I have never opted for this even though I have been stuck with such unpleasant alternatives as Lake Erie water, and I've only had one major failure in brewing which I attribute to the next category.
Yeast: In these days of modern technology, one can obtain yeasts that have been specially bred for any conceivable fermentation process. There are special yeasts for beer (light and dark), champagne, burgundy, sauterne, stout, hard cider, and, yes, even mead, to name just a few. You can buy these various arcane yeasts in any wine-making store. These stores cater to those of us who want to brew all sorts of alcoholic beverages (more on them later). In spite of this vast variety of yeasts, I've had my best results with standard baking yeast. This yeast is actually thought to be very similar to yeasts that were used in the Middle Ages, so at least it's authentic!
Also available in wine-making stores are various wine-making items such as plastic fermentation vats, wooden kegs, fermentation locks, wine-making kits, books on brewing, etc. You can also get bottles, corks, labels and anything else you might think of.
Finally, flavoring your mead. As I said earlier, most people prefer flavored mead. Common favorites are apple, lemon, tea and various spices. Almost anything can be used to flavor mead. I usually use cinnamon, lemon peel and cloves. Basically, flavor your mead the way you like it. Remember, you've got to drink the stuff. One final warning on flavorings: be careful not to over-flavor your mead. You should be especially careful with spices: they're stronger than they look. I once cut down my recipe and found that I had used too many cloves. Remember that spices are going to be in the fermenting mead for six to eight weeks and that's a long time.
I said at the beginning of this article that the better the ingredients were the better the results would be. Naturally, you should choose flavors and honeys you like, but there is a point of diminishing returns. This is especially true of spices. You really don't have to buy the most expensive spices for the best results; since they have to soak for several weeks, even spices that aren't top quality will give adequate results. Therefore choose your ingredients for quality, but temper your choices with economics in mind.
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Mead
Apr 30, 2005 2:42:11 GMT -5
Post by MjolnirH on Apr 30, 2005 2:42:11 GMT -5
hmmm from what I just read <see Above ^ > and then doing some poking around the internet I just found a rather decent site that sells bulk honey and the snowberry honey <read its taste description> looks like it would make a rather yummy mead <rubs hands together evilly and begins saving for the 5 gallon cannister www.beefolks.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=5&cat=Honey%2C+Bulk
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Mead
May 7, 2005 1:33:02 GMT -5
Post by Lady Winter Wolf on May 7, 2005 1:33:02 GMT -5
Brewery Lane has mead recipes from breweries, as well as homebrewers.
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Mead
Jun 20, 2006 22:09:55 GMT -5
Post by Lady Winter Wolf on Jun 20, 2006 22:09:55 GMT -5
MEAD!!! At Celtic Myth & Moonlight, July 8 from 1-4 PM Introducing ~Short Mead Kits~ Taste a variety of Fruit & Herb Meads (Honey Wines) Created from the Kits Accompanied by other Light Fare ¯ Meet Sherry Fergesen, the Originator of these Kits ¯ Learn how Easy it is to Make Your Own (If you can boil water, you can make mead-- the meads brew up in a gallon bottle of spring water and require no special brewing gear whatsoever) ¯ Find out how you can Celebrate your next Wine & Cakes with Mead, the Drink of the Gods, with Flavors created especially for the Quarter & Cross-Quarter holidays Long-time herbalist, homebrewer & enthusiast of historical food & drink, Sherry Fergesen has developed these kits to introduce the modern world to short meads which brew in just 2-3 weeks. Her flavors have received notice & praise from many familiar with meads. The kits are designed with complete instructions to introduce even novice brewers to the art of making your own heavenly beverages. Celtic Myth and Moonlight 641 Penn Ave ~ West Reading Pa (go to the back of the sidewalk behind Earth Rhythms and Lotus Boutique) 610.685.2307 Store Hours Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri 11-6 Thurs 11-7 (except every First Thursday 11-8) Saturday 10-5 Website: www.celticmythmoon.com/index.html
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Mead
Oct 25, 2006 13:20:36 GMT -5
Post by janeravenswood on Oct 25, 2006 13:20:36 GMT -5
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Mead
Oct 25, 2006 22:06:48 GMT -5
Post by MjolnirH on Oct 25, 2006 22:06:48 GMT -5
sweet I live in Lancaster, I'll hafta check that out ;D
thanx
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