Cold Mead
This is the more traditional (pre-1600s) way to make mead. The only thing that's changed since then is that we're (at least most of us) not living in the Old World where the wild yeasts are friendlier. New World wild yeasts haven't had as many years of coexisting with humans brewing stuff. In general, good sanitation, getting any chlorine out of the water, and proper aeration will make for good mead.
Raspberry Cooler
Ingredients
- 8 lbs dark wildflower honey
- 4 oz raspberry extract
- 1 lb frozen raspberries
- ½ oz Saaz hops
- 2 pkgs Red Star champagne yeast
Directions
- Mix 8 lbs dark wildflower honey in 4 gallons cold water, stirring until the honey's all dissolved. Splashing it around is good, as you want to make sure the must is well-aerated.
- Add 4 oz raspberry extract.
- Mush up the fruit, and throw that in the fermenter, too.
- Toss in ½ oz Saaz hops. This is dry-hopping, and they'll spend their life in the fermenter.
- Add 2 pkgs Red Star champagne yeast, sit back, and wait.
Notes
The dark honey and the raspberry extract make an interesting combination. I'm not sure if I'd use the whole 4 oz bottle of extract again, but it's about right to balance the strong flavor of the dark honey. If you use a lighter honey, use a little less extract. Over time, the raspberry flavor kind of gives out, so this is a mead that's better without too much aging. Three to six months was good, but bottles saved longer than that were missing the raspberry flavor.
#recipe