Mead Gruit

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digdan

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Before the hop revolution (yes hard to believe), alcohol was spiced with what was called gruit. It basically was a mixture of bitter herbs to counter the sweetness of the partly fermented sweet liquid.

While this was the mainstay for the precursor of modern beer, I ask myself what if this gruit mixture was used in Mead.

Of course it would be a metheglin

The recipe would follow a slow and low pasteurization to create a medium show mead plus this :
1 oz. Dried Mugwort at 60 minutes
1 oz. Dried Yarrow at 60 minutes
2 g. Dried Sweet Gale at 10 minutes
0.2 oz. Dried Marsh Rosemary at 10 minutes


I would suggest 10lbs of light mead

What kind of yeast ?

What else ?

Thoughts Suggestions?
 
I have no idea what even one of those tastes like, so I have little advice haha. But I would say that following advice for a braggot would probably benefit you. I know summersolstice has a at least one braggot thread on here as well as several other mead experts.

I am very intrigued by this though, so I will be checking on your progress.
 
I don't know about Mugwort but 1 oz of Yarrow is going to be very bitter. FYI, too much Yarrow will give you diarrhea really bad but 1 oz in 5 gallons should be fine. You just want to be carefull if you decide to make a tea with it. :p

I've never found Sweet Gale to be overly bitter. I can't really describe the taste but maybe "bitter/sweet/flowery". I know I don't like it in Gruit.
 
If I remember correctly, yarrow tea is also an anti-inflammatory, a blood thinner, and an anti-bacterial for the bladder [helps infections].

Digdan - Did you end up making this?
 
yes I did... kinda. I omitted out the yarrow (it tasted like gasoline when I brewed it in a tea). I also added elderberries... I think... look below. Instead I added a special type of lavendar, which was a great success. My friends and I drank 5 gallons in just short of a month. I have since lost my brew journal, but I did manage to find this pic of the mix before going into the brew :

dscn1462l.jpg


In retrospect I would refine the balance between the Sweet Gale, Rosemary, and Lavender. And use only those three ingredients. The lavender flavor alone was great.
 

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