A Knightly Vintage: For All that Ale's You

[Lord Dane]

To start this segment, I like to offer my favorite, often least spoken of drink, my brethren.....

MEAD!!! (a sweet medieval drink indeed!!) - Typically a medium sweet honey wine best enjoyed in the medieval tradition.... dressed in your most comfortable Ren-Faire attire listening to lively tunes.

A fine recipe for ye brewers; www.chaucerswine.com
1.) Pour 1/2 or full bottle of Chaucer's Mead into a medium-sized saucepan.
2.) Drop in spice-bags (One for half the bottle; two for full bottle)
3.) Let the bag(s) steep over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the Mead has reached the desired spiciness. Do not bring to a boil.
4.) Remove spice-bag(s) and pour hot-spiced Mead into a favorite goblet, mug, or glass.

Cheers!!!
A good spice-bag recipe of ingredients includes cinnamon, orange peel, clove, and other natural ingredients that suit your pallet (for home-brewed). I add some semi-diluted honey to mine & coat the spice-bags so it is not too thick but still favor-full when heating (process called "Mulling").


 

[Sir Edward]

As a store-bought option, one of the best we know of is Rocky Mountain Meadery. Most of the stuff you can buy in local stores is so-so. Chaucers is OK, for instance. But the Rocky Mountain stuff is really good. Our family usually tries to get a case shipped over for special occasions, such as the holidays, and for our weddings.

[Lord Dane]

As a store-bought option, one of the best we know of is Rocky Mountain Meadery. Most of the stuff you can buy in local stores is so-so. Chaucers is OK, for instance. But the Rocky Mountain stuff is really good. Our family usually tries to get a case shipped over for special occasions, such as the holidays, and for our weddings.

I shall try that Sir Edward.  I tried a home-brewed raspberry mead at KRF in Carver, MA last season. Kinda of like a mulberry/blackberry-cider.  They still serve it & it's delicious.  They won't part with their spice-bag recipe however so I borrowed it by getting my wife to work the event. Strategy is best planned when thirsty.

Do you like sparkling wines?

[Thorsteinn]

Would anyone like a good recipie for 1 gal of my quick mead?

The only thing special you will need to get is a fermentation lock.

[Sir Patrick]

Sure!

[Thorsteinn]

For 1 gal Mead:

1 Fermentation Lock
1 gal Bottled water in a 1 gal plastic jug (Jug will be fermentation vessel).
1 quart extra water.
3-4lbs honey.
1 Lemon, cut in half.
6-8 whole cloves.
1-2 cinnamon sticks.
1 package bread yeast (like Fleishmans).
2 empty & sanitized 2 liter soda bottles.

Add water to pot. Mark level (I use a wooden spoon). Add 1 quart extra water.
Turn on stove, add honey, bring to rolling boil. Skim off scum.
When little scum is coming up add spices & juice lemon into pot & add halves.

Boil till a minimum of scum comes up and you have reduced to just below 1 gal mark. Let cool over night. Strain mead into jug, add around 1/3-1/2 packet of yeast. Cap with lock and place out of sunlight.

Initial fermentation will start in 24-48 hrs. After that, let ferment 3 days. Uncap vessel, put in pot, cut hole near bottom above dead yeast line & drain. Put Mead into 2 liter bottles removing as much air from them as possible. Cap & put in fridge for 2 weeks remembering to release gas from bottles 1-3 times a day as appropriate or they will explode.

Open & Enjoy!

[Sir Edward]

Cap & put in fridge for 2 weeks remembering to release gas from bottles 1-3 times a day as appropriate or they will explode.

Exploding mead bottles. Sounds like a party!

It would be a real gas... err, I mean we'd have a blast... err... dangit.

[Sir Gerard de Rodes]

A fantastic Mead that we consume in quite large quantities over here is Moniack Mead. Drunken Monk also do a good one.
All best drunk as mead should be, out of an unwashed mead horn of course ( seems to add to the flavour ) 

G.

[Lord Dane]

For this week's vintage, I shall consider one of my personal best (yet cheapest) favorite Spanish sparkling wines...Segura Viudas. www.seguraviudasusa.com 

A fine vintage for those of you that love dry white-sparkling wines from the cava regions of Spain.  Here's one of my personal loves that ranges from $6.99-$24.99 with a 12-14% alcohol content.  I've tried them all!!

1.) Extra Dry (Ok but too dry for my pallet)
2.) Brut Rose (Perfect vintage for right price)
3.) Aria Estate Brut (Good with chicken, seafood, cheese, fruits)
4.) Aria Extra Dry (Ok but again..too dry)
5.) Aria Pinot Noir (Good variance for desserts)
6.) Reserva Heredad (Top pick for special occasions)

Try & offer thoughts.  

[Sir Rodney]

I'm going to have to try that quick mead recipe!

We like to make cordials to pass around the feast table.  I named our latest concoction "The Root of All Evil", a root beer schnapps.

1 cup hot very water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup liquor (100 proof vodka or use 190 proof Everclear for an extra kick in the pants  )
1 teaspoon root beer concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Dissolve the sugar in hot water
2. Add liquor, concentrate and vanilla while stirring well.
3. Bottle and store in the 'fridge.
4. Print fancy labels as gifts to your friends (and to not forget which batch is 50 proof vs. 95 proof!)

[merc3065]

I've only tried Munro's Meadery out of Alvinston Ontario.
Tried all of their melomels but they are really strong alcohol tasting unless you let them air for a few minutes.

I tried to air a bottle and it went bad the next day

Love raspberry and blueberry melomels more than I like the straight up meads.
Though alvinston makes a nice dry mead which is smooth.

[Sir Patrick]

Can't wait to try that recipe.  Thanks Thorsteinn!