2/2/24: Making Mead today! Check out my Reel on Instagram to see what the process looks like. Down below is the recipe from Almost Off Grid. Here is a fun and inspiring history of Mead from Liquid Alchemy Beverages:
The rich history of mead is 20,000-40,000 years old with roots in Africa making it one of, if not, the oldest alcoholic beverages. These early African dwellers gathered honey and accidentally wildly fermented mead. The theory goes that bees made hives inside hollowed-out trees and when it rained the honey and water mixed, became stagnant for some time. As it sat, natural wild yeast introduced itself and in a matter of days a basic alcohol/mead was produced. As hunters and gatherers feast on what they thought was just water were pleasantly surprised at the intoxicating qualities. As these people left Africa to explore other corners of the world they took with them the knowledge of mead and how to make it and upon reaching far-away lands they began to share their know-how with other civilizations each adding their own unique touches. Some historians believe that cavemen may have made this discovery.
Ancient Greeks believed mead to be the drink of the Gods and believed mead to have magical powers and sacred properties. Bees were thought to be the messengers of God. Indications show not only the Greeks enjoyed mead but the Romans, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Scandinavians, Assyrians, Incas, and Aztecs used mead for religious purposes and for festivals and celebrations. King Midas, Queen Elizabeth I, and King Tut were all happy customers.
The term honeymoon comes from the ancient tradition of giving a bridal couple a supply of honey wine to last for 30 days, moon-to-moon. Long thought to provide a fruitful union for the newlyweds.
2/3/24: Ever since tasting mead for the first time after a lovely afternoon spent picking grapes from a small Wyoming vineyard I was hooked and couldn't wait to make my own! My first batch started yesterday and will hopefully be ready in August as a special bonus to our Anniversary month! This blog will develop as things happen and I will regularly post updates along the way so you can see my Mead-making journey. A few notes/thoughts from today:
We are currently in Star Valley Wyoming at an elevation of 5906 ft above sea level. I have found that everything takes a little longer to kick into action than what the recipes say. I made the mead at 7:00 pm last night and checked this morning at 8:00am and there were no bubbles yet so we'll see!
I used Brewers Yeast from Starwest Botanicals
Our water is Reverse Osmosis filtered water, which has a few added drops of minerals from the Health Ranger store.
2/17/24: Still no bubbling in the airlock. there is a little bit of blue and white mold bubbles on the top of the fruit that is exposed, which looks similar to the stuff that forms on top of apple cider vinegar. I decided to add more yeast in hopes of this one still working but we'll see. I added 1 tsp more of yeast. Some bubbles come up to the top when I swirl it.
3/13/24: Still no bubbles in the airlock but there are bubbles in the mead that rise when I swirl it. The fruit is still floating and there is some cloudy stuff suspended throughout the yeast. I am doing some research today to understand what this is better. I am not seeing anything that throws up as a listed "red flag" yet so we'll see. I need to order my siphon today as it looks like that is what everyone recommends for when the mead is ready.
4/1/2024: Throwing this batch out and trying again with better starter yeast!
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