Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I have just started twelve new batches of Mead (the front two rows in the picture).

I have been reall wanting to get a good handle on the different types of yeasts and how they affect both the taste of mead and the fermenting cycle so what I did is make all of the variables identical including temperature, honey, water, sanitation and everything else except for the yeast. So, now I will be able to track comparatively speaking how each type of yeast develops, how long they take and how they taste.

It should be an interesting experiment that will yield some good results. If there is no noticeable difference between many of the batches I will be able to identify which type of yeast matures into a good mead the fastest.

Interesting Notes within the first couple of days. Some of the yeast are off to a great start and some are slower. Some yeast have already started quite a nice leeds accumulation and some have not. There is also a marked difference in color across the various batches.

Some info:

• Type of honey used is wildflower directly from an apiary.
• All Equipment sanitized using Easy Clean
• Must santized with Potassium Metabisulfate and allowed to sit for 24 Hours
• After waiting period yeast energizer and nutrient added, then yeast pitched

Lots more mead making stuff on my website here

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I was watching a little bit of the spelling bee last night and was amazed by the spelling skills of the kids. They left me in the dust. Anyhoo in the final rounds a word came up that surprised me: “Rhyton”. It’s an ancient Greek cup in the shape of a horn and often having the shape of an animal on the end. Sounds to me like something that would have been perfect for mead .

I guess I should give up my Mazer and graduate to the more sophisticated Rhyton

A mazer is a plain wooden bowl.

A little update on my mead making:

This weekend I am doing another video tutorial on how to make mead and next weekend I am brewing up five more batches including:
- Cranberry Walnut Mead
- Peach Mead
- Pear Mead
-Chocolate Cherry
- Cherry Vanilla

Hopefully they will be passable come the christmas holidays!

If you are curious about Mead Making you might want to take a look at my website where I have full tutorials and lots of information about the wonderful drink. The Joy of Mead

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If you would like to try something special and different for Valentine’s Day try some wine called Mead. It is brewed from honey rather than grapes; it has a beautiful golden color and a very long tradition of love.

Mead goes by many names and over the centuries it has been called honey-wine, nectar of the gods, and even honeymoon wine. This last name stemmed from a tradition to give a 30-day supply of it to newly married couples. It was said that if they drank a glass every day for the first thirty days of their marriage it would bring them happiness and fertility.

Chocolate, flowers, candy and cards are wonderful traditions that have lasted decades now. But for centuries longer there was the tradition of drinking Mead that was shared by couples. Make this holiday special and try some. It has been around for many hundreds of years and it has been speculated that it was the first alcoholic beverage ever made. This is a matter of debate but one thing that is not up for debate is the delicious nature of this beautiful wine brewed from honey.

So If you are looking for a little something special to do on Valentine’s day I recommend you give Mead a try. It is a brilliant little drink and will make for an interesting new experience and conversation piece.

Honey wine is a very popular drink world-wide but is lesser known in North America and if you are considering a purchase of it you may want to call your local wine retail shop ahead of time to see if they have any in stock.

If you want to learn more about mead or learn how to brew some mead yourself check out my website: The Art of Making Mead

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