Brewing great mead may seem complicated, expensive, and challenging. Books, websites, and articles often do much to make it appear even more daunting. The equipment lists are long and brewing involves multiple fermentation, precise timing, and exact measurements.
However, as mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages produced it can also be the simplest. Ancient brewers didn't have the equipment most modern brewers consider absolutely necessary. They had the yeast used to make their bread dough rise, clay jugs, and whatever honey their local bees provided.
So why does mead making look so complicated? It's like most anything else, you can make it as simple or difficult as you wish. Many mead makers enjoy constantly pushing themselves and challenging their skills. The varieties of mead they can produce is astounding. Me? I'm interested in an inexpensive, delicious, reliable, easy, slightly sweet mead that can be enjoyed right away.
If that's you, you're going to love this book. I'll show you step by step how to make a very drinkable type of mead called a quick mead. A quick mead is any mead that ages quickly and can be consumed right away. This mead is so drinkable you'll have a hard time keeping your family and friends from drinking it all as soon as it's bottled. I'll take you through equipment needed and how you use it. Then we'll move on to ingredients and give you the real skinny on honey. Finally we'll follow the recipe step by step with photos, from preparing the jugs to fermentation to bottling the finished product. This method of mead making really is (almost) fool-proof.
However, as mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages produced it can also be the simplest. Ancient brewers didn't have the equipment most modern brewers consider absolutely necessary. They had the yeast used to make their bread dough rise, clay jugs, and whatever honey their local bees provided.
So why does mead making look so complicated? It's like most anything else, you can make it as simple or difficult as you wish. Many mead makers enjoy constantly pushing themselves and challenging their skills. The varieties of mead they can produce is astounding. Me? I'm interested in an inexpensive, delicious, reliable, easy, slightly sweet mead that can be enjoyed right away.
If that's you, you're going to love this book. I'll show you step by step how to make a very drinkable type of mead called a quick mead. A quick mead is any mead that ages quickly and can be consumed right away. This mead is so drinkable you'll have a hard time keeping your family and friends from drinking it all as soon as it's bottled. I'll take you through equipment needed and how you use it. Then we'll move on to ingredients and give you the real skinny on honey. Finally we'll follow the recipe step by step with photos, from preparing the jugs to fermentation to bottling the finished product. This method of mead making really is (almost) fool-proof.
