Mead: Delicious and Healthy Recipes

In Rus', mead has long been considered a key attribute of the holiday, leading to the saying: "I drank honey, it ran down my mustache, but none of it made it into my mouth." Brewing the modern drink isn't particularly difficult, making it possible to make it yourself—the recipe for making it at home requires a unique technique and nuances, but learning them isn't difficult.

About mead

Mead, also known as honey wine, is a low-alcohol alcoholic beverage traditionally produced by yeast fermentation. Classic mead is made with honey, water, and hops, resulting in a light and pleasant drink.

You can add additional ingredients to the recipe, such as aromatic herbs, berries, fruits, and experiment with honey varieties at your own discretion.

Both young and aged honey, and even fermented honey, are suitable for making mead. Properly brewed and steeped, mead is slightly intoxicating, but leaves a sober head, and rarely causes a hangover. Its strength starts at 3%, but for those who prefer stronger drinks, there are recipes that add moonshine or vodka to the finished product. This can increase the strength to 75%.

Read also:

• Bee bread: beneficial properties and how to take it
• Cherry jam with pits for the winter

The beneficial properties of mead

The drink can be considered healthy and even medicinal, as it contains a large amount of honey, known for its cold-fighting properties. If spices, berries, and roots are added to mead, it becomes even richer in various vitamins.

Mead is also known for its diuretic properties. It is a popular remedy for the prevention and treatment of kidney disease. It helps remove toxins and waste, cleansing the body.

In addition to preventing colds, mead can combat bronchitis; it thins and draws out mucus, clearing the airways.

The drink can be enjoyed hot, with the addition of aromatic spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. It's somewhat reminiscent of mulled wine in its strength and the ratio of ingredients.

Helps combat fatigue, restores energy, and lifts mood. It restores vitality and has a positive effect on overall emotional well-being.

Peculiarities of home cooking

Different types of honey impart different flavors and richness to mead. If low-quality honey is used, the mead will develop an unpleasant odor even during the fermentation stage and can be considered spoiled.

Therefore, the most important thing is to choose high-quality honey, and the variety and shelf life depend on preference. The traditional recipe for making mead at home using aged honey produces a classic drink with a moderate body and distinct flavor.

Classic mead made from old honey

Ingredients:

• old honey – 1.5 kg;
• clean water – 11 l.;
• dry yeast – 5 g;
• hop cones – 12 g.

Preparation:

1. Pour purified water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, add honey a little at a time, stirring constantly. Stir to prevent the mixture from burning to the bottom.
2. Boil the syrup for no more than 5 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface. When the foam stops, add the finely chopped hop cones. Then turn off the heat and cover the container with a lid.
3. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature; it should reach 45 degrees Celsius. Then add the dissolved yeast and place the pot in a warm, dry place. Leave it there for about 5 days until fermentation reaches a certain level.
4. After 5 days, strain the mixture through several thick layers of cheesecloth to remove sediment, and the liquid is ready for bottling. The mead should be poured into sterilized bottles, then tightly corked and stored in a place with a temperature of up to 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) for 5 days. Reduce the pressure in the bottles daily by uncorking them.

This honey beer can be stored for up to 1 month at a temperature of 10-12 degrees Celsius. Shake well before drinking. This traditional recipe for a drink with a rich honey flavor and a pleasant aftertaste.

To ensure the drink turns out well and doesn't turn into sour vinegar, you need to choose the right fermentation catalyst.

The traditional recipe for making mead at home with yeast ensures the fermentation process starts quickly and the mead's flavor is preserved. It's best to use brewer's yeast; regular baker's yeast is not suitable for this purpose.

Mead with yeast

Ingredients:

• honey – 300 g;
• water – 2 l.;
• dry yeast – 5 g.

Preparation:

1. Bring the water to a boil, add honey once it boils, and simmer over medium heat for no more than 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Be sure to skim off any foam that forms during cooking.
2. Cool the resulting syrup, then add the dry yeast to the pan, a little at a time. Pour the mixture into a dry container, install an airlock, and leave in a dry, warm place for a week.
3. After the time has elapsed, strain through thick cheesecloth and refrigerate for a few days. This product is now ready to drink, but by increasing the steeping time, you can achieve a stronger alcohol content and a richer flavor.

The recipe for making mead at home without yeast requires the use of natural fermentation catalysts, such as fruit juice.

Mead with yeast without boiling

Ingredients:

• honey – 300 g;
• clean water – 1 l.;
• brewer's yeast - 4 g;
• spices for flavor.

Preparation:

1. This mead recipe allows you to prepare the drink without boiling. You'll need an enamel container of suitable capacity.
2. Honey is dissolved in clean water, then dry yeast is added, as well as aromatic spices such as cloves and cinnamon, if desired.
3. The mass is left for 24 hours under a water seal for natural fermentation.
4. After 24 hours, filter the mead through several layers of thick cheesecloth, bottle, and leave in a cool place or cellar for several months. The longer the aging period, the richer the finished drink.

Recipe without yeast and boiling

Ingredients:

• dark buckwheat honey – 0.5 kg;
• freshly squeezed berry juice (cherry, blackberry, strawberry, cranberry, etc.) – 1 l;
• hop cones – 4-6 pcs.

Preparation:

1. To prepare the juice, use fresh berries, which should preferably not be washed before juicing.
2. You will also need an oak barrel in which to age the drink.
3. The ingredients are mixed in a single pan and left in a dark place for a week. During this time, the mixture must be stirred daily to ensure the fermentation process continues.
4. After a week, carefully pour the wine into an oak barrel without straining, being careful to avoid sediment. Seal the barrel with a special wedge, which can later be replaced with a tap, and store in a cool, dark place or cellar.

This drink is aged for a long time—at least three years. The longer it ages, the richer the flavor and aroma, as well as the strength. Therefore, those looking to quickly try homemade mead should consider a traditional recipe using yeast.

On alcohol

Using strong alcohol in a typical homemade mead recipe adds significant strength to the drink. Alcohol-based mead is richer and more intoxicating than usual.

Ingredients:

• honey – 2 kg.
• clean water – 2 l.
• alcohol 75% – 1 l.
• lemon peels.

Preparation:

1. Soak lemon peels in alcohol for 24 hours, then strain the infused liquid.
2. Pour water into a saucepan, after boiling, gradually add honey, cook over moderate heat, stirring, for 4 hours.
3. Add alcohol and leave in a warm place for 14 days to ferment. After two weeks, filter through thick cheesecloth and refrigerate for at least five months to achieve the desired strength.

Mead with hops

Hopped mead is considered the oldest type of this drink, and its yeast-free, hop-infused recipe has been known since ancient times. Hops impart a moderate, not excessive, strength to the drink. They impart a beautiful color and a pleasant bitterness.

Ingredients:

• honey – 1 kg.
• hop cones – 3-4 pcs.
• clean water – 8 l.
• gelatin – 1 tsp
• spices to taste.

Preparation:

1. Add honey to a pot of boiling water, stir well, and let sit in a dark place for 24 hours. Bring the resulting syrup back to a boil and simmer over moderate heat for an hour. Add hops, bring to a boil, and maintain the temperature for another hour. Repeat this process four times.
2. Pour the cooled mixture into an oak barrel, add gelatin diluted with water, and spices (cardamom and cloves). If you have any doubts about the fermentation process, you can add dry yeast. Let it ferment for three weeks.

After the first fermentation, bottle and store in a cellar or cool place for at least 3 months.

Mead with raspberries

Adding wild berries to the original recipe makes the drink even more delicious and healthy, as berries such as raspberries, cranberries, and strawberries are a natural storehouse of vitamins and antioxidants.

Ingredients:

• honey – 500 g;
• raspberries – 500 g;
• clean water – 2 l.;
• dry yeast – 1.5 tsp.

Preparation:

1. Bring clean water to a boil in a saucepan, add honey, stirring thoroughly. Cook for 5 minutes, periodically skimming off any foam that may form on the surface. Mash fresh raspberries and add to the honey. Let the mixture cool to 30 degrees Celsius, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, dissolve the yeast and add it to the honey syrup.
2. Leave the pan, covered with a lid, in a dry place for 2 days to start the fermentation process.
3. Strain the mead, pour into bottles, and leave in a cool place for 2 weeks.

Useful tips and recommendations

Honey is crucial to making delicious mead. It's responsible for the flavor and aroma of the finished drink. Therefore, choosing the right type of honey should be done with particular care.

1. To prevent honey from burning during boiling, it is necessary to monitor this process and constantly stir the mixture in the pan.
2. Foam that forms on the surface during boiling can make the mead cloudy and spoil its appearance, as well as form sediment. Therefore, it should be skimmed off regularly.
3. Spices and additives can be added to mead according to personal preference. One of the best additives is lemongrass, which imparts a particularly piquant flavor.
4. Mead should be consumed chilled, but in winter it can be heated for a while to obtain a hot and healthy drink.
5. It's best to store at temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, away from sunlight. Freezing the drink will destroy all the beneficial properties of the ingredients.
6. Pears, ripe melons, and a variety of cheeses will be very tasty when paired with mead.

It's important to remember that honey is a strong allergen. If you have an intolerance to this product, you should refrain from drinking mead.

Store-bought mead isn't always as healthy and tasty as homemade mead made using traditional ancestral recipes. It contains a high percentage of chemicals and a minimum of natural ingredients. Therefore, learning how to make mead at home is an excellent way to reap the benefits and have a fun time.

This drink is a pleasure to drink at any celebration or alone, to use for disease prevention and to support immunity, and to warm up on cold winter evenings.

By choosing only high-quality ingredients and experimenting with the composition, you can regularly enjoy a drink such as mead.