Celtic Druid's Honey Mead - Meade - Metheglin

"Mead, made from fermented honey, was the earliest of all alcoholic beverages; the BEAKER people who inhabited England from 2000BC were known to have drunk it or something like it. Long before the Romans arrived in Britain, Celtic Druid Bards described the island, as dicovered in ancient Roman texts, as "The Isle of Honey". It was orginally a drink for warriors and Druidic princes & priests, as well as noblemen. A chieftains’ bodyguard would fight his battles in return for drinking his mead. There are many types of mead; this method is for "Metheglin", which means it is a "Spiced Mead". The ancient Druids would not have had spices or lemons available, but nevertheless, this is based on a very ancient Celtic recipe. This is an easy and delicious form of mead, but although it is ready to drink after 4-6 months, it is far superior if left for many years. The mead in my photographs was made in 2002 and bottled in 2003! Please ensure if you do not make wines or liqueurs regularly, that you thoroughly sterilise EVERYTHING that you use; I use "Campden Tablets"."
 
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photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
Ready In:
4321hrs
Ingredients:
7
Yields:
8 Pints
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ingredients

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directions

  • EQUIPEMENT:

  • Very large Pan - to hold 12 pints; Thermometer; 8 pint Fermentation Jar; Airlock; Bottles.
  • Bruise the ginger by folding it in to a clean cloth and hitting it with a hammer to release its flavour.
  • Tie the bruised ginger, cloves, cinnamon stick and the lemon peel in a muslin cloth and put it into a 12-pint pan.
  • Add the water and lemon juice and bring it to the boil.
  • Allow to cool to 50C/122°F.
  • Meanwhile, stand the honey in a warm place and allow to come to the same temperature.
  • Add the honey to the lemon and ginger water and mix.
  • Allow to cool to 21C/70F and then remove the muslin bag with the ginger and lemon peel in it.
  • Crumble the yeast into the honey water and mix lightly.
  • Pour the liquid into an 8-pint fermentation jar, it should reach about three quarters full, and fit the airlock.
  • Leave until all fermentation has finished, racking if necessary.
  • Leave for another 1-2 weeks before bottling and storing.
  • The mead can be drunk after 4-6 months, but is best if kept for several years!

Questions & Replies

  1. Champaign yeast added to fermented blends come out well but sweetener has to be added back before bottling. Whats going wrong?
     
  2. Most other mead recipes use far less yeast, is there a reason for 1 full ounce here?
     
  3. Did anyone use Campden Tablets to clear the mead? If so when and did it affect the end product?
     
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Reviews

  1. I made up my mind almost 15 months ago to make this mead, even though I'm not much of a drinker! So, I got a friend of mine who has fermentation jars & the necessary bottles to get the job done! I furnished the ingredients, & he helped me out with the processing! All I wanted out of it was a bottle of the mead, so he was happy enough with the 'leftovers' if you could call them that! I was almost tempted to taste it after a couple of months, but was persuaded to leave things alone for at least a year! And here I am now to tell you what? I have no idea what honey mead should taste like, but I can tell you 2 things: I thoroughly enjoyed the mead that I drank, & my friend, who is much more knowledgeable than I am assured me that the mead was worthy of at least 7 or 8 stars, so . . . Thanks so much, French Tart, for the great recipe! [Made & reviewed in Bargain Basement recipe tag]
     
  2. Nice story, always love learning about food history. This recipe sounds delicious. I've tried homemade mead before and I really enjoyed it, but I don't know the exact recipe that was used except that he varied it with different types of honey and fermentation times. I really wish I had the money, the room, the time, and the resources to make this. Going to save it anyway, just in case. :D Thanks for sharing, French Tart.
     
  3. How long does it take to clear? Mine has been going for about 2 1/2 months and it hasn't cleared yet
     
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<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! (I used to have three cats, I recently lost Monty, a beautiful seal point Siamese and before that, Rama, who was a debonair blue point Siamese cat - I would love to have another Siamese cat or cats in the future!)</span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span>This is my Burmese Cat, Willow, sunning herself on the log pile in the kitchen garden:</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong><img title=My src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/ABaconButtyandSundryFoodPhotos34.jpg alt=My width=640 height=480 /></strong></p> <p><strong><span>Here is my lovely Monty, a seal point Siamese, and Willow, sitting&nbsp;in the kitchen garden last year, and a few months before Monty died; he was 18yrs old:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Monty src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/AbsolutelySinfulStickyToffeePudding.jpg alt=Monty width=640 height=480 />My</p> <p><strong><span>This is my wonderful old boy, Rama, a blue-point Siamese, who died when he was 20yrs old - excuse the old and much sellotaped photo:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Rama src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Rama1stOctober2004164.jpg alt=Rama width=517 height=639 /></p> <p><strong><span>My favourite pastimes are: reading, writing, painting &amp; drawing, photography, gardening, anything creative, walking, travelling, dining out and of course COOKING! 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