My grandfather was engaged in beekeeping, and as far as I can remember, at home there was always not only honey, honeycombs and other waste products of bees, but also a fragrant drink – mead. Grandpa has dozens of different recipes, which vary in the complexity of preparation, the number of ingredients, the strength …
But the main unifying factor is the presence of honey in the composition and the rather mild taste of the finished drink. I copied all these recipes from my grandfather and now sometimes I myself make this or that version of mead.
Today I want to talk about the simplest thing that I got at the very beginning of my journey as an “alcohol master”.
I don’t have a relative with an apiary, I will buy honey for cooking in a regular store, but I think mead according to Irina’s recipe will work for me and for you.
Why do I cook alcohol
At first, the preparation of mead did not seem to me something interesting – everything was easy and simple with my grandfather. But when I tried to cook it myself, I failed – I had to pour everything out.
And I did everything according to the recipe! Then I decided to try again, but choose mead with a minimum set of ingredients. This grandfather called uncomplicated – “yeast-free.”
Reference! Yeast-free mead refers to a drink of its own fermentation, and not a tincture of vodka.
The recipe for this mead itself is very simple. So simple that even a child can handle it! So even if you have no experience at all (like I did then), you can start with this recipe. But be prepared for a long wait for the result.
What ingredients are needed
The recipe is as simple as possible, and there are very few ingredients:
- 1 L of water;
- Xnum g raisins;
- 80 g of honey.
But there are some subtleties in the preparation and choice of ingredients. Firstly, I use boiled water for any alcoholic drink, i.e. I boil water first, then cool and use. There is always bottled water at home, but even I prefer to boil it first.
Secondly, we select varieties of seedless raisins. Also, don’t rinse it before use. Because it is the most important ingredient! The fact is that wild yeast remains on the skin of raisins, which start the fermentation process of the drink. If you wash the raisins, nothing will work.
As for honey, any will do. The main thing is that it is natural. I used herbal honey brought from my grandfather. But even in modern supermarkets you can buy a natural product.
The cooking process
For cooking, you need to add honey and raisins to a bottle of water. I used the usual plastic 1,5 liter. It’s convenient and safe.
The first 2-3 days the mixture should be in a warm place. The lid does not need to be tightened, it is enough to tie gauze around the neck for constant air access and prevent dust from entering.
Or you can use a water seal. The steeping time may vary. For example, in winter I put a bottle near the heater and the first stage ended in less than a day.
How to understand that the first stage is over? Yes, everything is simple. By the end of it, the entire drink should “shut up”, that is, fermentation slows down and stops altogether. This can be seen from the absence of rising air bubbles.
As soon as the first stage is over, we twist the lid and send the mead to the refrigerator for 3-6 months.
Instead of a refrigerator, any cold place will do. But in a city apartment this is hard to find. That is why I used standard 1,5 liter bottles. They are convenient to store in the refrigerator, they do not take up much space on a hanging shelf.
Periodically, I checked the condition of the mead. If the bottle got too hard, I opened the lid and let off the gas. After that, tightly twisted the container again and sent it to the refrigerator.
What should happen
I withstood the drink for six months. Just before drinking, she strained it through gauze and poured it into glass bottles, in which she served the mead to the guests. There was a lot of foam. I did not feel a strong smell of fermentation, but the aroma of honey was felt brightly.
The strength of the resulting mead is not high – about 4 degrees. It tasted more like kvass, but the “degrees” were still slightly felt. Especially if you drink a couple of liters at once.
But this recipe also has a minus – it will not work for a long time to store such mead outside the refrigerator. After all, it is a natural fermentation, so literally the next day after filtering and transfusion it becomes too acidic.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
By the way, have you tried making mead without yeast yourself? What strength is the drink? Is it possible to make it stronger than mine and how?