There is a legend that as the two families of Norse gods (Odin and Freyr) made peace, they "spit into a bowl". This is most likely a reference to the Germanic tradition of crushing berries in your teeth and spitting them into a bowl, then allowing them to ferment. (Don't worry. You don't gotta chew anything for this recipe)
From the bowl was born a man. This man was considered to be the wisest of all mortals. Even as wise as he was, he was tricked and slain. His blood was drained and was considered to be the finest of all meads.
This is my first original recipe. My goal was to use two berries found in ancient Norse countries to represent the two families of gods making this, i suppose, a melomel. In addition, I wanted to attain a blood red color. Lingonberry jam was used because I did not have a local source of lingonberries. I found the lingonberry jam at walmart's online site for only 5 dollars and had it shipped to my local store free.
Ingredients
1 14.3 oz jar of Lingonberry jam
3/4 lb cranberry
3 lbs wildflower honey
Water enough to make 1 gallon
3 tbsp water
A few drops lemon
Red Star Premier Blanc Yeast
2.5 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
Bentonite clay to clarify
Campden tablets and potassium sorbate to stabilize
1lb wildflower honey for backsweetening
12 oz cramberry juice for backsweetening
1. In a stainless steel pot, bring six cups water and lingonberry jam to a boil. Stir well. Remove from heat once it starts to boil. Allow to cool to room temp and add pectic enzyme. Store covered by a mesh bag for 3 days.
2. Strain jam mixture through a muslin cloth into sanitized bowl. In stainless steel pot, add wildflower honey, 3 tbsp water and a few drops lemon juice. Warm over low heat (really low) stirring constantly. It will begin to bubble and will swell up to many times its size, so make sure there is room in the pot. Allow to boil for about a minute, then remove it from the heat. Add the jam mixture and stir until honey is dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature. Start your yeast for about 10 minutes before pitching. Chop cranberried and put in straining bag. Squeeze as much juice as you can, then allow cranberries to soak in the must during fermentation. Aerate, pitch yeast and transfer to bucket. Fill with water to 1 gallon. Allow to ferment 7 days with the lid placed on loosely.
3. You will notice a lot of sediment. Like... a lot. Rack it over to another container and top up again. Fit a lid and airlock and allow to ferment until it stops. Again, you will probably have a lot.of sediment, so try not to let it sit on the lees too long. If it needs more time to ferment, rack after about 30 days, but it should be good.
4. About a week before bottling, add your hydrated bentonite clay to clarify. You should be able to see its beautiful color right now. Its even better clarified.
5. Rack. Add campden tablets and potassium metabisulfite. Combine wildflower honey with cranberry juice. Add the honey slowly until you get the same blood red color (the honey may begin to turn it brown. Add more juice in this case). Use this to backsweeten to your desired sweetness. I added pretty much all of that.
6. Bottle and age. I have some aging now almost a month. I will try it again in a couple months. But even without aging, it was delicious.
From the bowl was born a man. This man was considered to be the wisest of all mortals. Even as wise as he was, he was tricked and slain. His blood was drained and was considered to be the finest of all meads.
This is my first original recipe. My goal was to use two berries found in ancient Norse countries to represent the two families of gods making this, i suppose, a melomel. In addition, I wanted to attain a blood red color. Lingonberry jam was used because I did not have a local source of lingonberries. I found the lingonberry jam at walmart's online site for only 5 dollars and had it shipped to my local store free.
Ingredients
1 14.3 oz jar of Lingonberry jam
3/4 lb cranberry
3 lbs wildflower honey
Water enough to make 1 gallon
3 tbsp water
A few drops lemon
Red Star Premier Blanc Yeast
2.5 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
Bentonite clay to clarify
Campden tablets and potassium sorbate to stabilize
1lb wildflower honey for backsweetening
12 oz cramberry juice for backsweetening
1. In a stainless steel pot, bring six cups water and lingonberry jam to a boil. Stir well. Remove from heat once it starts to boil. Allow to cool to room temp and add pectic enzyme. Store covered by a mesh bag for 3 days.
2. Strain jam mixture through a muslin cloth into sanitized bowl. In stainless steel pot, add wildflower honey, 3 tbsp water and a few drops lemon juice. Warm over low heat (really low) stirring constantly. It will begin to bubble and will swell up to many times its size, so make sure there is room in the pot. Allow to boil for about a minute, then remove it from the heat. Add the jam mixture and stir until honey is dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature. Start your yeast for about 10 minutes before pitching. Chop cranberried and put in straining bag. Squeeze as much juice as you can, then allow cranberries to soak in the must during fermentation. Aerate, pitch yeast and transfer to bucket. Fill with water to 1 gallon. Allow to ferment 7 days with the lid placed on loosely.
3. You will notice a lot of sediment. Like... a lot. Rack it over to another container and top up again. Fit a lid and airlock and allow to ferment until it stops. Again, you will probably have a lot.of sediment, so try not to let it sit on the lees too long. If it needs more time to ferment, rack after about 30 days, but it should be good.
4. About a week before bottling, add your hydrated bentonite clay to clarify. You should be able to see its beautiful color right now. Its even better clarified.
5. Rack. Add campden tablets and potassium metabisulfite. Combine wildflower honey with cranberry juice. Add the honey slowly until you get the same blood red color (the honey may begin to turn it brown. Add more juice in this case). Use this to backsweeten to your desired sweetness. I added pretty much all of that.
6. Bottle and age. I have some aging now almost a month. I will try it again in a couple months. But even without aging, it was delicious.
