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Surfin the beer, choosing the mead !

Bilde
Its festival time – and therefore – mead time Last week has been a quite an interesting and hectic one at work, so I figured going to such a festival will be a great ending to it. I brought my ethical and moral bodyguard with me – my wife – to keep me from delving too far into the subject matter of the festival: drinking beer and whiskey (and mead). Little did I know that these roles were to be reversed in only a few hours Immediately; as we enter the festival, the scent of grains hits us like a wall. No doubt this is the place to be this weekend if you are a beer aficionado. However, with posters of whiskey brands and suppliers covering the walls, there is no doubt that whiskey has a rightful place here as well. The whole point of the visit today is naturally to go test out new whiskey and beer, but incidentally, I came across the Norwegian mead making company Mjøderiet . Now, as a Mead Fanatic, I could not let this opportunity to taste their mead slip away from me. I also wanted...
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Pyment, Reindeer, and cravings; a beautiful mix

Bilde
When Santas reindeers go out to pasture…     While it is not strictly hunting season, it is always mead season, and as such, I thought to share one of my more successful reindeer pot roast recipes. Remember – I don’t use wine, I use mead. So for today’s pot roast, I will be making a pot roast using a Pyment , a mead made with grape juice. This idea has been brewing ( pun intended) for a while, and as i had one bottle lying around, I thought after last weeks video on how to make pyment  that perhaps I should also show what else to do with it, then simply drinking it….. Therefore – Let’s make roast!   VENISON POT ROAST RECIPE 1-3 kilo rump/leg of Reindeer/deer a few carrots, peeled and cut into about 3 cm pieces 1-2 potatoes  – mid-sized 2 large white onions 2 turnips  A good bunch self-harvested mushrooms Olive oil Pepper Maldon salt / kosher salt Herb-mix 1-2 cubes of beef or game stock, dissolved in 3dl warm ...
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Basic Dry mead

The basic mead recipe – we all start somewhere. It never hurts to go back to one’s roots. A basic mead well done will let you do just that. Much of this recipe is based on the basics taught in Ken Schramm’s book ” The complete meadmaker “. While the craft of mead making has evolved a bit since Ken wrote the book, the basics described within to give a great base for anyone to become a great meadmaker in their own rights. The traditional dry recipe Original gravity: 1.1000 Final Gravity: 1.000 Honey (local variety or storebought) 6,5 kg ( 14 lbs) 15 liter water 10 Gr D-47 yeast ( OR your own choice yeast) Yeast nutrients Yeast energizer The mead-making procedure Aim for an OG at just around 1.100 The starter : As always – sanitize EVERYTHING. Boil about 6 cups of water, and add 1/2 teaspoon of nutrient along with 1 tbs of malt extract. This being said – whichever nutrients and / energizer you use – make sure to follow the manufacturers directions !! Let this boil for 5...
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Blackberry Lavender mead

Bilde
This recipe was first published on meadist . All credit goes to the author website. Bill Savage, a former employee of the Wild Blossom Meadery in Chicago originally created this favorable and highly scented mead. Bill is now working at Goose Island Beer Co , and while it might not be all mead, he is absolutely a fantastic brewer. This recipe surely shows his qualifications Now – if you, dear reader, have a great recipe to share, click yourself to the  “contribute your recipe” page, and we will publish it shortly… If you try out this recipe, feel free to comment and share images of it. Ingredients 12 lbs. of raspberry honey 2 tbs  Yeast Energizer 14 g Lavender Flower Tips Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast 4- 4,5 kg of blackberries Directions Aside from the rest of this recipe – make a  Yeast Starter Use a 5-gallon/ 20-liter pot; bring 4 gallons/ 15 liters of water to boil for 5 minutes. If you have a beer-chiller, let the water cool to around 70 Deg...
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Sweet, sweet addiction – Miód Pitny – The polish mead.

Bilde
Let there be – Miód Pitny   “At last Gandalf pushed away his plate and jug– he had eaten two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and drunk at least a quart of mead – and he took out his pipe” While the naughty Norse is world famous for having raided Europe a thousand years, the polish has been busy .. brewing mead. These days eastern Europe can show over a thousand years of mead-history, where we Scandinavian “re-invented” it, or rather found back to our mead roots only decades ago. (yes yes, I know there are historical references to mead brewing…) Now .. back to polish mead – Miód Pitny…. Miód , sweet Miód In the polish language, mead has the melodic name Miód Pitny, meaning “drinkable honey”. It is a Polish culinary traditional beverage, refreshing the throat of Poles for over a thousand years, and alluded to as the “drink of the gods”. Alcoholic aging of wort i.e. a honey and water mixture makes up this Polish “drink of the gods...
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Tej – the mead from the origins of mankind

Bilde
Tej – mead in the Rift Valley Basin. Ethiopia – few countries have such a documented history as this African country on the east coast of the continent. It is said humankind has its origin in the rift valley , an area that is littered with archeological finds from as far back as the origin of man. It does feel somewhat natural then, to pose the idea that perhaps this was also where our forefathers – and mothers, first came across a bubbling substance of honey and water. Sweet as it was, and nutritious – it was drunk… and the rest is history. Tej and Ethiopia – a history joined When it comes to Ethiopia, we are really talking biblical history. The country finds its roots back to the age of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheeba, and the bible legends. Back then, we see a much different climate, one that very much aided in beekeeping. This gives us the idea that better climate = better nature = more bees. A good and stable environment means a better environment for bees. Now...
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Apothecary mead – legends of Sherwood brought back to life

Bilde
As we look back through history, women have been the driving force behind the brewing industry. In fact, the very term ‘Brewster’ was used to denote a female brewer. In the annals of old, we frequently find references to brewing ale (and assumedly then, Mead ) and it was very much considered a woman’s job. (Let’s face it, we men would just end up drinking the must before it ever got a chance to ferment) This was the common standard up till monks started brewing as a source of income, and where the church held power, men soon ended up taking over what was previously a woman’s domain. For centuries, where Christianity ruled, the number of women has at large been left out of this wondrous craft, with only a few women crafting in secrecy. But this story is focused on mead, and as mead is on the rise yet again, we are thrilled to see that women are easily regaining positions as crafters, artisans, and experts. Today  I am fortunate enough to talk with Alison Heath of Apoth...
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