Interesting Historical Note About Wine

[calithena]

"Up to the start of the 17th century wine was in the unique position of being the one and only wholesome and - up to a point - storable beverage. It had no challengers. Water was normally unsafe to drink, at least in cities. Ale without hops very quickly went bad. There were no spirits, nor any of the caffeine-containing drinks that appear essential to life today.

"Europe drank wine on a scale it is difficult to conceive of; our ancestors must have been in a perpetual fuddle."

- Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson, The World Atlas of Wine

[kesher]

Only you would post this...

[tombowings]

Yeah, we were talking about that in my history of ancient medicine class. It's pretty funny once spirits get added into the mix, too.

In Egypt, at least, the bear and wine was hardly alcoholic enough to get you a little tipsy.

[DeBracy]

«Common folk usually had to settle for a cheap white or rosé from a second or even third pressing, meaning that it could be consumed in quite generous amounts without leading to heavy intoxication. For the poorest (or the most pious), watered-down vinegar would often be the only available choice.» (from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_cuisine#Drink)

Hey, barkeep! Wine for my friends, vinegar for the cleric!

[calithena]

Wine, glass, first pressing 1 sp
Wine, glass, second pressing 4 cp
Wine, glass, third pressing 2 cp
Wine, vinegared 1 cp

[coffee]

May 12, 2011 10:36:24 GMT -6 DeBracy said:

Hey, barkeep! Wine for my friends, vinegar for the cleric!

Oh, is THAT why clerics always seem to have that sour expression on their faces?

[DeBracy]

I imagine so, yes! Probably because they'd be served straight up vinegar instead of a vinegar-based drink like posca (unless the DM has read this thread, or is a huge Roman buff!).

Me, I'm fond enough of vinegar to actually find a few dashes of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water pretty tasty. I guess this means I'll have to try my hand at making my own posca too! ;D

[aldarron]

Mead seems to keep nearly, perhaps exactly as well, in my experience - and I store my mead in mason jars. Friends have kept mead for twenty+ years in wooden casks. Usually, it just gets better.

[jcstephens]

May 12, 2011 16:09:21 GMT -6 DeBracy said:

I imagine so, yes! Probably because they'd be served straight up vinegar instead of a vinegar-based drink like posca (unless the DM has read this thread, or is a huge Roman buff!).

Me, I'm fond enough of vinegar to actually find a few dashes of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water pretty tasty. I guess this means I'll have to try my hand at making my own posca too! ;D

De Saxe's Reveries actually recommends vinegar as a disinfectant for water, citing the Roman usage.

[DungeonDevil]

Know of any good mead available in the US?

[Deleted]

I, too would like to know this. Most of the meads I've found are basically very sweet dessert wines. I once found a very nice, frothy, yeasty beer-y mead that I loved. I've never been able to find it again.

[akooser]

We have lots of good, local non-sweet meads made here in NM. I do a look of brewing both modern and historical styles. Making mead is pretty straight forward if you want a recipe I can write one up with directions and supply lists.

Course once you have your mead you'll probably want to make up some iron rations

[Deleted]

Sure, I'd love to see the recipe.

Now ... when you say "easy" do you mean easy for someone who has been doing this sort of thing for a while, or easy for a complete new boot?

[tombowings]

Being a college student, I've become pretty comfortable with home brewing. An old house mate and I picked up the hobby a couple of years ago. After making cock ale, I'm pretty sure that even the tough recipes aren't all that difficult.

Never have done mead before, though, just beer, wine, and port.

[aldarron]

May 14, 2011 23:27:51 GMT -6 DungeonDevil said:

Know of any good mead available in the US?

Lots. dare I say tons? Not in stores though. Look up your local medievalist group. Viking age reenactors (I'm currently serving as Lawspeaker of Norseland) engage in lots of experiential archaeology of which mead making is one of the most pleasureable and competitive.

It is dead easy, but best done with a carboy as with making beer. You could just use a wooden cask but your mead will be hit or miss.

This is a recipe I like to use - I have put in as much as 5 pounds honey to a gallon of water though and gotten some really good stuff:

Irish Mead – by A.B.
from the Z(cluster) cookbook on the Kaos website defunct as of 2000 and obscure to begin with. This website seemed to be oriented towards Cthullu enthusiasts. The only other recipe from A. B. was an Arabic stuffed grap leaves thing. Therefore I don’t know how Irish this recipe is but the use of hazelnuts as a tannin and its relatively high amount of honey (bunratty like) do seem to hint at authenticity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 tablespoon yeast
1 gallon pure water
3 1/2 pounds of raw honey
2 dozen shelled hazelnuts

In a large pot combine water and honey. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put the hazelnuts into pot with the liquids, cover, and let stand overnight. Remove the hazelnuts. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the liquid, cover, and let sit for two to five days. During this time the yeast will work into the liquid. Transfer the liquid into an air-tight bottle and let stand for three months. Once the mead is opened, the shelf life is minimal.

Notes:
Room needs to be left in the bottles so they don't explode from the yeast; brewers yeast - champaign or wine.

Also, contrary to the recipe, never bring the honey to a boil. Let it get close and then turn off your heat.

[Deleted]

Okay, I'm going to give this a try. A few specific questions:

1) Which yeast do you use, the champagne or the wine?

2) Do you recommend the 5# of honey variant?

3) Let the mixture sit in a pot for 2 to 5 days unrefrigerated and unsealed? (except, presumably, for a pot lid?)

4) Assuming a complete greenhorn, is there anything specific a brewer would know that an newbie would not that doesn't appear here on your post?

[tombowings]

#1 Either champaign or wine yeast should do it. Most recently, I used champaign yeast for port--worked just fine.

#2 Can't say. Got to wait for aldarron on this one.

#3 Yeast need oxygen to activate correctly and will give off CO2 to do its thing. Typically, I'd cool it in ice water and poor it into something like this during fermentation.

Another note here is to make SURE your don't bottle too early. Otherwise you'll have exploding bottles. I made that mistake with some blackberry wine a couple of years ago. The cellar ceiling has never been the same since.

Personally, I'm surprised/dubious about the short fermentation time. I'm curious to hear what aldarron has to say on the matter.

#4 Make sure to sanitize everything that's going to touch the mead before and after boiling. That includes pot, spoon, bottles, etc. Other than that, I think you'e good to go.

[akooser]

@dubeers

Easy as in my science student make some up every year in class. None have every homebrewed before.

I'll get some recipes up a little later this evening. If you want to be old school and what not you can use natural yeast in the air to ferment the air and/or bread yeast.

The recipes I'll post will be small batch using 2L soda bottles. The 2L bottles are easy to clean and allow you to experiment with different styles of meads.

[akooser]

Mead making

Supplies
2L soda bottle, new
12-16 oz local honey
20 oz water
1 pkg yeast*
Cheesecloth

Start
Empty and rinse out 2L soda bottle. Be sure to keep the cap and bottle clean i.e. don't stick your fingers (and/or cats) into it.

Recap the the now clean bottle

Prepping the yeast
Typically a package of yeast will ferment about 19L of mead (or beer). You can measure out roughly 1/8 of a package or just use the whole thing. In a small bowl add ~1/2 cup warm water and a tablespoon of sugar. The sugar can be cane, brown, honey, or malt extract. The type of sugar will change the taste and how productive the yeasts are. Add your yeast and after 10 mins or so it should be foamy.


Making the wort
Wort is just a fancy word for stuff you are brewing added to water. Put your honey in a bowl and add 20 oz of clean water. Make sure you are using a clean liquid measuring cup.

Fermentation
There are a couple of ways of doing this. You'll have to play around and see what works.
Open Air - Mix your yeast into your honey and water. Add water to make up a total of 2L. Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth and let sit for 4-5 days in a warm place. After 4-5 days pour honey/water into 2L bottle and fill to within 2 inches of the bottom of the neck. Check for CO2 buildup for a day or two. See Bottle Fermentation

Bottle Fermentation- Pour your honey/water mixture into the soda bottle. Add the yeast and bring the column of water up to within 2 inches of the bottom of the neck of the soda bottle. Check your 2L every day if it feels hard open the cap carefully and vent the CO2. Recap and continue to check until there is no pressure buildup in the bottle (usually 4-6 days).

Part 2 is next

[akooser]

Finishing - After the CO2 production slows down as in the bottle isn't hard any more. Seal the top and let it sit for a week. You will want to burp the bottle once a day. After a week it will be drinkingable. This will produce a dry, non-sparkling mead. But for better tasting mead.... see next step

Bottling - You will need some bomber beer bottle (not the screw off cap kind). Clean these bottles really well. If you want you can sanitize them with sodium bisulfite. You will also need a bottle capper and caps. Pour your mead into the bottle and fill to within 1 inch of the top and then cap with a clean bottle cap. Let sit for 1-3 months or longer.

[Deleted]

I'll let you know in 3 months!

[tombowings]

If you want it to sparkle, boil and dissolve 1 tsp of sugar in a 1/4 cup of water per gallon meed. Poor and mix in the meed before bottling.

If you want it a little sweater, add in 1/2 cup of everclear or other high alcoholic substance per gallon of meed after the 3rd day (earlier for sweater, later for drier). That should be enough to kill off any active yeast, leaving a portion of the honey unfermented.



I'm glad there are so many other homebrewers here. That's pretty cool.

[aldarron]

Lets see.

I reccomed you experiment on the honey amount. 5#'s per gallon will either get you more alcohol or more sweet depending on fermentation time. Maybe just go with 4#'s for you first batch, since honey is expensive.

I use the hazelnuts to avoid using a tea bag for the tannen. I'm not keen on any but natural fruit additives, but then I'm an archaeologist and want authentic tasting stuff.

Letting it set for 2-5 days? Actually I let it set for 2-5 months! Absolutely unrefridgerated!!!! This is booz we are talking about. Refridgeration will kill your yeast. As the yeast works it creates sediment on the bottom. When it looks like the sediment buildup has stopped, you are close to maximum alcohol, but the chances are it will continue to ferment a little even after you bottle it.

[Deleted]

Aldarron, I went with your recipe. I poured the mixture into the carboy this morning, with a (vented cap, don't know the technical name).

So, if I'm following you right it should sit for a couple of days then be bottled to sit for ~3 months? Or is it the other way around?

[tombowings]

Wait 3 months, then bottle. You don't want them to explode on you.

[Deleted]

Ah, thanks. Good to know. I'd hate to have to explain to my landlords why there is fermented honey-water all over the ceiling and walls ...

[DeBracy]

You know you're gonna have to call it Owlbeer, right?

[aldarron]

May 17, 2011 13:05:44 GMT -6 tombowings said:

Wait 3 months, then bottle. You don't want them to explode on you.

Righto. I posted the original recipe as I first came across it, but, as mentioned, I don't bring it all the way to boiling and I let it ferment months.

Okay, from the point of first putting the brew into the Carboy which in my notes puts you on step 6:

6) Put the Carboy in a dark, moderate temperature place where it will remain undisturbed. Set the carboy on newspapers or in a bowl to catch the run off.

7) Sprinkle on (aka pitch) the yeast and stir very gently. Let sit for ten minutes.

8) Put the lock on the carboy.
Racking
Your wine will appear cloudy due to the yeast in the wine. After about 3 months or so, the wine will begin to clear as the yeast settles to the bottom of the jar as sediment. Once cleared, you should syphon the wine from the jar into a second jar, being careful not to transfer the sediment. This is known as racking. Again, fit a bung and airlock and leave the wine to continue fermenting. Your wine will still contain some yeast and this will multiply and your wine will again turn cloudy. After about 3 months, the wine should have cleared again and you should rack the wine a second time. You can now bottle the wine.

Bottling
Before bottling, ensure that your wine has completely finished fermenting. If the wine continues to ferment in the sealed bottles, then the gases produced by the fermenting will cause the bottles to explode. The racking will help prevent continued fermentation by removing the yeast.

As mentioned, I use mason jars, but everyone else I know uses wine bottles with corks.

Have fun!