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Re: Mead made with wild yeast
Hi Frances, sounds like you've got a winner with the blackberry wine!
Here (below) is the recipe I used for mead, as originally worded ? it seems to exist in a number of places on the ?net so I don?t think it?s a problem to post it here and I have included the name of the person originally responsible for posting it. Though I can?t vouch for how it will turn out, I saw a number of reports from people who had tried this recipe and they seemed happy with the results. It?s supposed to be an almost fool-proof recipe, great for beginners, and produces a good end product.
This recipe is apparently very unorthodox in it?s use of bread yeast (most use special wine yeast strains) and I have to say, from what I?ve read, wild yeast in particular seems to be considered an enemy to wine, or at least mead fermentation (as is too much air in the jug, certain bacteria, chlorine and light) ? go figure ? not really sure about the ?ancient? appellation either ?
Anyway, so far, mine?s bubbling away ? and smelling kind of like orange furniture polish, but it seems that?s normal at this stage.
What proportion of honey did I add? Well, this recipe is for an imperial gallon ? that?s 160 fluid ounces (4.54 litres), or 10 pounds. The honey in this recipe accounts for about one third of that (3.5 lbs / 1.5 litres) ? so honey to water is 1:2 (our recipes sound quite similar).
I used 25 golden raisins (they?re what we had and I decided to be precise with my first effort), 1 clove (I read where who used more than 1 or 2 were not happy they had), 2 sticks of cinnamon (they were small ones), a touch of allspice and no nutmeg (not a favourite of mine). I also took the rind off the orange and removed the white pith, since I have read the pith can make things bitter. I put only the inner orange and the outer rind in the jug. I don?t know if your bread yeast is Fleishmann?s, but it just means those tiny little beads of the dry kind.
Good luck if you try it!
Sarah
Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Mead
This is a great first Mead for the novice as it is almost fool-proof.
3? lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice - very small)
1 teaspoon Fleishmann?s bread yeast (now don't get holy on me - after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights - add orange (you can push em through opening - rinds included ? it?s ok for this mead - take my word for it - ignore the experts).
Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. (Need room for some foam - you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)
Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.
When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. (No, you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary - just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not - the yeast can fight for their own territory.)
Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone, except it?s okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.)
Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking ? You?re not listening, don't touch
After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that - you are not so important after all.) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet.) Likes a little heat (70-80F). If it didn't work out ... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away). If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey - this recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.
Enjoy, Joe
Hi Frances, sounds like you've got a winner with the blackberry wine!
Here (below) is the recipe I used for mead, as originally worded ? it seems to exist in a number of places on the ?net so I don?t think it?s a problem to post it here and I have included the name of the person originally responsible for posting it. Though I can?t vouch for how it will turn out, I saw a number of reports from people who had tried this recipe and they seemed happy with the results. It?s supposed to be an almost fool-proof recipe, great for beginners, and produces a good end product.
This recipe is apparently very unorthodox in it?s use of bread yeast (most use special wine yeast strains) and I have to say, from what I?ve read, wild yeast in particular seems to be considered an enemy to wine, or at least mead fermentation (as is too much air in the jug, certain bacteria, chlorine and light) ? go figure ? not really sure about the ?ancient? appellation either ?
Anyway, so far, mine?s bubbling away ? and smelling kind of like orange furniture polish, but it seems that?s normal at this stage.
What proportion of honey did I add? Well, this recipe is for an imperial gallon ? that?s 160 fluid ounces (4.54 litres), or 10 pounds. The honey in this recipe accounts for about one third of that (3.5 lbs / 1.5 litres) ? so honey to water is 1:2 (our recipes sound quite similar).
I used 25 golden raisins (they?re what we had and I decided to be precise with my first effort), 1 clove (I read where who used more than 1 or 2 were not happy they had), 2 sticks of cinnamon (they were small ones), a touch of allspice and no nutmeg (not a favourite of mine). I also took the rind off the orange and removed the white pith, since I have read the pith can make things bitter. I put only the inner orange and the outer rind in the jug. I don?t know if your bread yeast is Fleishmann?s, but it just means those tiny little beads of the dry kind.
Good luck if you try it!
Sarah
Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Mead
This is a great first Mead for the novice as it is almost fool-proof.
3? lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice - very small)
1 teaspoon Fleishmann?s bread yeast (now don't get holy on me - after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights - add orange (you can push em through opening - rinds included ? it?s ok for this mead - take my word for it - ignore the experts).
Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. (Need room for some foam - you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)
Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.
When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. (No, you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary - just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not - the yeast can fight for their own territory.)
Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone, except it?s okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.)
Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking ? You?re not listening, don't touch
After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that - you are not so important after all.) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet.) Likes a little heat (70-80F). If it didn't work out ... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away). If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey - this recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.
Enjoy, Joe
.
, and one mead smelt of nail varnish remover... this may have had something to do with using a pastic bowl which formerly held stuff for the compost. Hey, I did clean it first!
It needs to be sweetened with honey before drinking, at least for drinking right away. 
), so I'll keep on experimenting.
- the first two small batches worked fine but since then, garbage.
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