Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

7 lb Light honey 1/4 ts Irish moss powder
1 1/2 lb Corn sugar 1 lb To 6 lbs crushed fruit
1 oz To 6 oz fresh ginger root 3 oz Lemongrass, or other spices
1 1/2 ts Gypsum 1 pk Champagne yeast
3 ts Yeast nutrient OR... 3/4 c Corn sugar (bottling)
1/4 oz Yeast extract

Boil 1 1/2 gallons of water, the honey, corn sugar, grated ginger root,
gypsum, citric acid, irish moss, and yeast nutrient for 15 minutes. Turn
the heat off. If you're going to add fruit (this is entirely optional, as
are the spices) then fish out as much of the ginger root shavings as you
can. Then add your crushed fruit or concentrate and let it steep for 10-15
minutes. Some ideas for fruit are: Sour cherries, blackberries,
raspberries, blueberries, chokecherries, rhubarb, grapes, grape
concentrate... go wild here.

Pour the entire must (unsparged if fruit is added) into an open primary
fermenter and add about 3 gallons of cold water. When cooled to 70 to 78
degrees, hydrate and pitch your yeast. After the specific gravity has
fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days, whichever comes first, rack the brew into
a secondary fermenter. Leave the fruit behind. Age 1 to 1 1/2 months in
the secondary fermenter. Bottle with 3/4 cups priming sugar. If using
spices or herbs as a flavoring, add them now by making a "tea" and adding
them at bottling time. The flavors will be fresher and sharper. Some
suggested spices are lemon grass, citrus peel (just the zest, not the white
part), etc. If using cloves, cinnamon, or hops go lightly on these. Adding
flavors in this manner also allows you to use different flavors in the same
batch, since you're just adding a "tea" to the mead at bottling time. You
can bottle two or three flavors at once this way!

This mead should age from 3 months up to a year to allow the harsh flavors
to mellow out. Tasting at 6 months will show approximate flavor profile.
Serve well chilled.

Author: Charlie Papazian

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