Help with a polish mead recipe

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wickerman

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I found a recipe for a "Traditional Polish Mead" a while ago that has really intrigued me, but there are a few things I don't really understand (rough translation?). Don't remember where I found it, but here it is-

Traditional Polish Mead
Czworniak -("Quadruple" - refers to water to honey ratio) - 5 gals.
17 lbs honey
4 gals water
1 tsp tartaric acid
1 tsp tanin
4 tsp yeast nutrient

Additives to Polish Mead
hops - 2 ozs
1 tsp ginger
part of a stick of cinamon
1/2 stick vanilla
pinch of nutmeg
6 cloves
2 pepper corns
lemon skin
orange skin
champagne, sherry or Madiera yeast - rehydrated at 100 degrees F.

Directions
Boil water, add honey and citrus skins. Tie hops and spices in a cloth with a small stone so that the cloth bag sinks to the bottom. Boil the liquid and skim until clear. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Place liquid in primary
fermenter, add rehydrated yeast. Skim, then rack to secondary fermenter. If using hop pellets, several rackings may be required. Allow several weeks, or at least two to three years for the Czworniak or Trojniak respectively. The sugar reading should be zero or less upon completion of fermentation. Bottle and age at least one years. Original recipe calls for aging between
seven and one hundred years.

This recipe sounds like it will be wonderful, or vomit, but I think i want to give it a try. Here are my questions/concerns

-Would lemon and orange skin be zest?
-Does "Boil the liquid and skim until clear" mean until no more foam?
-Should I use fresh or powdered ginger?
-Would the flavor be too diluted if I only boiled the "additives" and then added the honey after boil?
-Yeast recomendations?

Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
wickerman
 
-Would lemon and orange skin be zest?

Probably not, but the pith in the skins of both citrus fruits is bitter. I wouldn't think you'd want much bitter in your mead, so i'd just use a similar volume of zest without the white pith.
-Does "Boil the liquid and skim until clear" mean until no more foam?

Yes, this is known as a hot break where certain proteins coagulate during boiling. Skimming them off with a spoon will improve the clarity and taste of your mead.

-Should I use fresh or powdered ginger?

Fresh if you can get it and can grind it to powder size. Ginger can be a little "hairy" when chopped, so grate it finely.

-Would the flavor be too diluted if I only boiled the "additives" and then added the honey after boil?

No, but your honey addition should follow instructions.

-Yeast recomendations?

Champagne yeast if you want no yeast character and a dry balanced flavor. There are also sweet and dry mead yeasts. You might even try a light white wine yeast like lalvin 1118
 
-Would lemon and orange skin be zest?
-Does "Boil the liquid and skim until clear" mean until no more foam?
-Should I use fresh or powdered ginger?
-Would the flavor be too diluted if I only boiled the "additives" and then added the honey after boil?
-Yeast recomendations?

Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
wickerman

1: I'd use the skins
2: yes, no more foam. (but i wouldn't do a lot of heating, I'm in the cold mead camp)
3: I would guess 1tsp is powdered. fresh grated would used more, or be listed as a weight.
4: I would only boil the additives in a small amount of water.
5: i like lalvin 1116 for hard ferments like this

I'd add the nutrient in steps and make it 6 tablespoons instead of 4 teaspoons, 2 at mixing, 2 after to transfer from must bucket to fermentor, 2 at your first transfer.
 
Thanks for the feed back. How much "skin" should I use? One of each? I was thinking about the bitterness of the pith, and don't know if that is wanted or not with the hops and all... I never really do any heating with my meads, thats why I was thinking of boiling everything but the honey. As far as the yeast, I usually use d-47, or ec-1118. My only problem with ec-1118, I haven't had alot of luck with things that aren't super sweet. I have a few batches that have been sitting for a year and a half plus that still haven't mellowed out much.
Thanks,
wickerman
 
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