Making Mead

Wine has been a part of human culture for about 6000 years.  In fact, the oldest discovered winery was found in Armenia and was dated to about 4100 BC.  This site came complete with Wine Press, Fermentation Vats, Jars, and cups.  Evidence of older wines exists in anchient  Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and pretty much everywhere around the world people put wine into jars and forgot about it a little too long.

Mead, however, blows Wine out of the water.  The oldest archeological discovery of Mead was dated at 20,000 - 40,000 years ago.  There was a nomadic tribe in Northern Africa that was found to travel not only with their food and clothing but also Beehives and of course all those delicious natural yeasts.

Flash forward to ancient Egypt, and there are records of King Tut being a big fan of Mead.  The Greeks called it Ambrosia (The Nectar of the Gods) and of course, what would the Vikings be without their Horns full of Golden Delicious Honey Wine.

In appreciation of all of you coming back after 4 years.  I channeled my inner  Viking made Mead Today.  It's an amazingly beautiful colored Melomel (Mead with Fruits added), and I can't wait for the finished Product

Recipe:

• 5 Gallons Clean Water (I made my own today with a Water Distiller)
• 15lbs Wildflower Honey.
• 2 Navel Oranges Quartered
• 1 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1/2 Cup Dried Raisins
• 1/2 lb Strawberries Sliced
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)
• 1 pkg Lalvin k1-116 Montrachet Wine Yeast
• Yeast Energizer
• Yeast Nutrient

Now for the Making!
	It All Starts with a Nice Clean Bucket
And Of Course the Honey (Sorry I forgot to take a pic before adding it to the water)
	Use a little warm water to get all the residue from the bottle (That stuff is expensive).
Here's what 15lbs of honey in 3 gallons of Water looks like. Now you have the stir the shit out of it to get everything nice and incorporated.
Next come the fruits
	I Used 2 of these lovelies cut into quarters
About of a Cup of Cranberries
	And Two boxes of these little guys. (The raisins add a TON of extra nutrients to your mead that the yeasts love.
Fruits in the pot with water and brown sugar, then on the stove
	...And Boiling
I reduced the mixture by about 3/4 to extracted all the flavor
	As an afterthought I decided to add about half a pound of Strawberries to a pot with a little bit of the green wort.
...And boiled them Down
Almost go time. Heres the last few steps
	I added the deliciously fruity goodness to the green wort.
Look at that OG. 1.125 meaning that by the time this bad boy is done is should clock in at about 12%ABV. Woot!
	Here is the color of the mead pre yeast addition. Golden Goodness
Now for the Yeast
Lalvin Montrachet wine Yeast. Ferments clean and has a decently high attenuation rate.
	I bloomed it in a bit of the green wort for about 15 minutes
Godspeed and goodluck little buddies. May the odds be ever in your favor.
	...And the finished bucket. Labled, sealed, and Airlocked. It'll take about a month for final product. After about 2 week I plan on racking it off the dead yeat cake, and feeding the remaining yeats. 1 month should be enough to get full attenuation, and then The aging. It should be ready about Christmas time. Happy Holidays to everyone at our house this year.

Like Tom Petty Said, "The Waiting is the hardest part". But like all good things in life, patience is rewarded. I'll be checking back in with you guys periodically for updates on this brew. This is actually the first thing I've brewed in over 2 years so I'm actually really excited to be back on the horse. Thank you to everyone who came back after 4 years. It's been a while, but we're back and for good. Happy Brewing all.