Trenchfoot's Mead

Trenchfoot’s Mead

I’m still sore that Fendog stole my idea of making mead. So whilst he’s busy preparing his Leviticus sermon, I thought I would get one on the go this weekend so we can have a good old fashioned brew-off.

Although Fendog’s mead is now in bottles and looking good, it tasted pretty rank at the racking stage, and I’m confident that I can make something far superior.

I’ve gone for a much sweeter recipe than Fendog, although the Tesco Value honey could prove to be my downfall…

1.9kg Tesco Value honey
~4l water
15g citric acid
1tsp wine tannin
1tsp yeast nutrient
1tsp wine yeast

I added enough water to the honey to dissolve it and boiled it for a few minutes then skimmed off the scum. This sterilises it and gets rid of the impurities. Then added water to make it up to 4.5l and added the other ingredients (you could start the fermentation in a smaller glass or bottle, but I couldn’t be bothered). Then shoved it all in a sterilised demijohn with a clean airlock. The hydrometer reading was 1.1

It looked strangely beautiful, but not like anything you would ever want to drink. It was a lovely clear golden liquid with weird jelly-like solids suspended in it with the yeast particles. There’s going to be one heck of a lees. I’ll be surprised if I get 5 bottles out of this.