How To Brew Mead

Here's How:

1. Collect three gallons of fresh spring water or clean well water. Melted snow will also do.
2. Put the water in an enameled cauldron and set it on your fire.
3. When the water is warm, add a quart of honey, preferably in as liquid a form as you can get it.
4. When the mixture boils, a foam will rise to the top. Skim it off.
5. Allow your mixture to boil, skimming regularly, until nothing further rises to the top.
6. Take the mixture off the heat and allow it to cool until it is lukewarm, or body temperature.
7. Stir in a spoonful of yeast.
8. Pour your mixture into a bowl, cover it with cloth, and set it in a cool dark place for a fortnight. Use a shed or barn, for the smell will be too powerful for your household.
9. Pour the mixture carefully into a jug, leaving any sediment behind in the bowl.
10. Stopper the jug and set in a cool dark place.
11. Theoretically, it should be ready to drink in 6 weeks, but the longer it remains bottled up the better it will taste. Even after two years your mead should still be drinkable, if it ever was to begin with.

Tips:

1. To make Metheglin, add cinnamon, cloves, or any spices you desire when skimming is finished, and boil for an additional hour. To make Melomel, use fruit instead of spices.
2. Beware the hangover. Mead may taste sweet and light when properly brewed, but it can have an alcohol content of up to 18%.
3. If you're going to make mead in the 21st century, use a sanitizer, and try a modernized recipe for more pleasing results.

What You Need

• Water
• Honey
• Yeast
• A cauldron and fire
• A stoppered jug