I had recently taken up brewing as a side hobby, and so with Their Excellency’s competition for Baronial Champions drawing near, I set to brewing a mead for competition. I am not a huge fan of mead, but I thought that perhaps a period recipe and some labor on my part might help me acquire a taste for it. My Lady, Guenièvre de Monmarché, found a recipe that she thought would work well and be tasty, so we tried it out. It hasn’t turned out to be something that I personally like to drink, but it is interesting to taste and sip on. I also find it to be better if watered down, much in the style of other period wines.
Period Recipe
The recipe is from Ein Buch von Guter Spise (German, c. 1350), which Guenièvre (my Lady) found online for me at this address. (It pays to marry a period food geek.) This version is from copy that was re-printed in 1844.
In German for those who can speak it:
Der guten mete machen wil, der werme reinen brunnen, daz er die hant dor inne liden künne. und neme zwei maz wazzers und eine honiges. daz rüere man mit eime stecken, und laz ez ein wile hangen. und sihe ez denne durch ein rein tuch oder durch ein harsip in ein rein vaz. und siede denne die selben wirtz gein eime acker lane hin und wider und schume die wirtz mit einer vensterehten schüzzeln. da der schume inne blibe und niht die wirtz. dor noch giuz den mete in ein rein vaz und bedecke in, daz der bradem niht uz müge, als lange daz man die hant dor inne geliden müge. So nim denne ein halp mezzigen hafen und tu in halp vol hopphen und ein hant vol salbey und siede daz mit der wirtz gein einer halben mile. und giuz ez denne in die wirtz, und nim frischer hoven ein halp nözzeln und giuz ez dor in. und giuz ez under ein ander daz ez geschende werde. so decke zu, daz der bradem iht uz müge einen tae und eine naht. So seige denne den mete durch ein reyn tuch oder durch ein harsip. und vazze in in ein reyn vaz und lazze in iern drie tac und drie naht und fülle in alle abende, dar nach lazze man in aber abe und hüete daz iht hefen dor in kumme und laz in aht tage ligen daz er valle. und fülle in alle abende. dar nach loz in abe in ein gehertztez vas und laz in ligen aht tage vol und trinke in denne erst sechs wucher oder ehte. so ist er allerbeste.
I do not speak German. So, luckily enough, two folks have provided translations of this text. First, the translation by Alia Atlas:
He, who wants to make good mead, warms clean water, so that he can just stand to put the hand in. And take two maz water and one honey. One stirs that with a stick and lets it set a while and then strains it through a clean cloth or through a hairsieve into a clean barrel. And boil then the same wort against an acre long there and back (as long as it takes to walk this distance and back) and remove the foam from the wort with a bowl with holes. The foam stays in the bowl and the wort does not. Next pour the mead in a clean barrel and cover it, so that vapor can not get out, until one can bear the hand there in. So take then a half maz pot and add until half full hops and a hand of sage and boil that with the wort against a half mile (as long as it takes to walk this distance) and give it then in the wort and take a half nut of fresh yeast (the amount that could be held in a nutshell) and give it there in and mix it together so that it will ferment. So cover also, so that the vapor can get out, a day and a night. So strain then the mead through a clean cloth or through a hairsieve and pour (it) in a clean barrel and let it ferment three days and three nights and fill (it) in all evenings. There after one lets it go down and looks that yeast comes therein. And let it lay for eight days, so that it falls and fill in all evenings. There after let it down in a resined barrel and let it lay eight days full and drink in the first six weeks or eight. So is it the best.
Secondly, a translation by Stephen Pursley, which I found via the Florilegium:
To make good mead, warm clean water to the point where you can just stand to place your hand in it. Use two parts water to one of honey. Stir with a stick, then let it sit a while. Then strain through a clean cloth or a hair sieve into a clean barrel. Put the must back into the brewpot and boil it as long as it takes to walk the length of an acre and back. Skim the foam from the pot with a bowl with holes in it. Pour the mead into a clean barrel and cover it tightly, so that no vapor escapes. Let it cool until one can bear to put ones hand into it. Take a half maz pot of hops and a hand full of sage. Add this to the must and boil for the time it takes to walk 1/2 mile. Add the must a half nut of fresh yeast (the amount that would fit into half a nut shell). Cover, so that the vapor can get out. Let it ferment for a day and a night. Strain the mead through a clean cloth or hair sieve and pout it into a clean barrel. Let it ferment three days. Rack it. After fermentation stops, let it sit and settle for 8 days. Rack to a clean barrel and let it sit for eight days. Drink within the next 6-8 weeks for best results.
The translations are not horribly different, so I felt good about the recipe being reasonably close to the original intent of the period German brewer.
Ingredients and Method
So, now time for some math. We had to figure out some quantities. I haven’t ever bought honey in maz’s, and I don’t really want to go for a big walk during the brewing process, so we cracked out a calculator instead.
In the translation notes of the Atlas translation, a maz is referenced to be 1.43 Liters. Google told me that’s a bit over 48 ounces. Honey is 12 oz (by weight) for every 8 oz (by volume) cup. Thus, one maz of Honey would be 48 oz (by volume), or 4.5 pounds. Thus, we went off to the farmer’s market and procured half a gallon (64 fluid oz, or 6 lbs, or one and a third maz’s) of locally gathered honey.
On the way home, we picked up some bottled water from the grocery store. Fresh mountain springs are in short supply in the South Point area of Durham, NC. According to the proportions, we’ll need twice as much water as we have honey. Luckily, we picked up half a gallon of honey, so that math was pretty easy.
We will also need some sage and some hops. The recipe says to fill a half maz pot half full of hops, or a quarter maz of hops. That’s about 12 oz, or a cup and a half, of hops. We picked up a bag of full leaf Willamete Hops from the brew store for this, and used the entire bag (about 2 cups). The recipe also calls for a “hand” of sage, so I threw in a handful of fresh sage from the grocery store.
Lastly, we’ll need some yeast. They don’t sell yeast in “nuts” so we had to take what we could get on that front. We used an active yeast packet of the “Dry Mead Yeast”. The reason we went with dry rather than sweet yeast, is because of the super high sugar content in this mead. We thought sweet yeast would finish too early and leave a lot of sugar left to be done. Dry yeast would run longer and convert more of the sugars to alcohol.
So, home and to the boiling we go. A gallon of water and half a gallon or honey into the pot, brought to a boil. Oh right, how long to boil.
As long as it takes to walk an acre and back. Acroding to Wikipedia, average walking speed is 3-5 kilometers per hour. According to the curators of Hemyock Castle, a medieval acre is 220 (201 meters) yards long. Thus, the walk would be 402 meters, or .402 kilometers. At 4 Km/hr, that would take about .1 hours (6 minutes). In a couple minutes, it’s going to ask us to walk half a mile, which is 804 meters, or twice the first measurement. Hence the second boil measurement is 12 minutes. (With all this math, it would be pretty important that you not be sampling other batches while brewing.)
Ok, so back to boiling. We boiled it for about 6 minutes, skimmed off the foam, then added our hops and sage. We then boiled it for another 12 minutes and then put it aside to cool down – skimming the top as we went. Not being a professional brewer, I didn’t have time to look at it the next day. So, later that evening, we strained it (removing the hops and sage), added the yeast, and put it in fermenters. Four days later, we transferred it to another fermenting vessel, and let it run for another 7 days. At that point, we bottled it. I wish I had some nice oak barrels to do all this in, but glass carboy’s had to make due.
Fermentation took off pretty quickly and ran quite vigorously for a good time of the process.
Results
I’m still not a huge fan of mead in general, but I will admit to liking a few sips of this “good” mead every once in a while. Like I said, I think it’s better watered down a bit, and definitely better chilled. While I wasn’t planning to make sparkling mead, it does have quite a bit of fizz to it. I think that is due to the high sugar content and the short brewing process.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.