Mead!

Since my sister returned from Texas, we have been plotting to make a special little item!  Years ago, she took me to the Texas Renaissance Fair.  She made me a costume and EVERYTHING!  It was a BLAST and I’d go again in a second… of course, along the way, we had a taste of mead.

Mead is, simply, fermented honey water.

Sounds appealing, right?

Sometimes fruit or spices are added, and although they have different names, most people still apply the term mead to them as well.

Well, I had some honey on hand…

Our first step though, was the purchase of this…

Make Mead Like a Viking (affiliate link) is a rollicking look at using wild and tame yeast and available fruit and spices to make your own mead.

I rounded up some gallon jars and we were in business.

The first step is to make “barm” or “bug”.  We chose to use wild yeast and use the recipe for “Impatient Vikings”.  That meant mixing a bit of honey, sugar, water, and orange juice and letting it ferment.

Wild yeast, you ask?  Yes… there’s yeast floating around in the air, basically, and if your concoction starts to bubble and fizz a bit, you’ve captured some!

Following his recipe, we then took this “barm” and added to it.  I used fruit in one and spices in the other. A balloon was placed on top of these jars.

The balloons are an indicator of fermented gases being released.  Twelve hours later…

There they are… happily fermenting away on my countertop.

Mead seems to be a “taste and add” type of beverage… a delicate balance between honey and acids and the fermenting process.

It’s a fun experiment, especially if it works… and we will have a taste test and let you know… No renaissance apparel required…

Find me here!

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