lowtones84
Well-Known Member
So I've never made mead before but I've been interested for quite some time. I have Polish ancestry and mead is a pretty traditional Polish table drink. I found this recipe in a recipe book. Of course it's in a book of food recipes so it's not really intended for people with lots of brewing experience. Anyhow, what do you folks think?
1 quart honey, 3 quarts water.
nutmeg, ginger, piece of dried orange peel (amounts not specified)
1 tsp hops (sweet!)
1 tsp juniper berries
1 1/2 oz. fresh yeast.
Cook honey with water for 1 hour. Place nutmeg, ginger, orange peel, hops, and juniper berries in a piece of cheesecloth, tie it closed with a weight on one end and place in honey mixture. Boil another hour. Cool honey and place in a carboy (goes into detail of finding one and an airlock surprisingly).
Dissolve the yeast in a little of the honey mixture, then add to the mead. Seal carboy, let ferment 6-12 months yadda yadda yadda.
So I would like to keep the ingredients the same, but not boil the honey, or at least not boil most of it. If I want to use the hops, should I boil a small portion of honey with the hops? I also feel like boiling the juniper berries, nutmeg, ginger, and orange peel for an hour is a little much.
Opinions? Also, what sort of gravity would 1 qt. of honey (I know that's not the best way to measure) to 3 qts. of water give me? Anything else I should consider, other than proper sanitizing procedures and perhaps using a yeast other than bread yeast?
Thanks a bunch all! Na zdrovye!
1 quart honey, 3 quarts water.
nutmeg, ginger, piece of dried orange peel (amounts not specified)
1 tsp hops (sweet!)
1 tsp juniper berries
1 1/2 oz. fresh yeast.
Cook honey with water for 1 hour. Place nutmeg, ginger, orange peel, hops, and juniper berries in a piece of cheesecloth, tie it closed with a weight on one end and place in honey mixture. Boil another hour. Cool honey and place in a carboy (goes into detail of finding one and an airlock surprisingly).
Dissolve the yeast in a little of the honey mixture, then add to the mead. Seal carboy, let ferment 6-12 months yadda yadda yadda.
So I would like to keep the ingredients the same, but not boil the honey, or at least not boil most of it. If I want to use the hops, should I boil a small portion of honey with the hops? I also feel like boiling the juniper berries, nutmeg, ginger, and orange peel for an hour is a little much.
Opinions? Also, what sort of gravity would 1 qt. of honey (I know that's not the best way to measure) to 3 qts. of water give me? Anything else I should consider, other than proper sanitizing procedures and perhaps using a yeast other than bread yeast?
Thanks a bunch all! Na zdrovye!