Mead

[ianwachob07]

Favorite mead recipes??

 

[bernardsmith]

My favorite is t'ej and I usually make this with about 2.5 - 3 lbs honey dissolved in water to make 1 gallon to which I add about 3 oz of gesho and 1/4 t nutrients. I typically allow the gesho (enchet - twigs) to sit in the primary for about two weeks and then rack to the secondary where I might add fruit or fruit juice, though I have one batch I just made using banana peel tea as the primary (about 2lbs very (VERY ripe) peel boiled in water) . The previous batch I added blackberry and a little tart cherry to the secondary. When I simply use gesho I tend to look for a varietal honey. When I add fruit etc I tend to look for a honey more as the vehicle for flavor so I choose a wildflower honey. Have only ever tasted one commercially made t'ej but I assume that the gesho is there to balance the sweetness of the t'ej so I often stabilize and backsweeten. Most often I use commercial yeast but occasionally (as with the banana t'ej) is simply back slop lees from a previous batch or even the gesho I strain and dry). Traditional t'ej uses the bacteria and yeast from raw honey and from the gesho but you cannot predict the flavors that will result or the tolerance for alcohol of the indigenous yeast...