So I'm part of the Society for Creative Anachronism and have a few projects on the go currently. I will be detailing my progress in this blog as I progress. Currently I've already made a maille coif. My current projects are small mead, gruit, (I love brewing!) A maille hauberk. A gambeson and a bow and arrows. The project that I'm currently working on is a batch of small mead.
So here's the modified recipe that I've used. This is based on the original medival (well Elizabethan actually but close enough)
1 kg Honey
7 1/3 l water
1/2 tsp Ale yeast
1 1/4 Tbsp Ginger
3/5 Tbsp Orange peel
14 or so resealable bottles (I used old Grolsch bottles but you can use pop bottles with twist tops too.)
Cheese cloth
Fermenting bucket (must be food grade, and not metallic. I use an ice cream bucket)
So combine the honey with the water in a stock pot. Heat the mixture up carefully watching it, as if it boils over it happens fast. Keep a rolling boil going and spoon off the scum from the top when the total volume is reduced to about 5.56 litres then it's time to add orange zest. Zest 3/5 Tbsp of orange peel carefully avoiding the white part of the peel into a few layers of cheese cloth. Tie the cheese cloth and place in the pot. Continue to boil for 15 minutes (this is the last 15 minutes of the reduction) grate the ginger and add to an additional cheese cloth. Add the ginger at the last minute of the boil. The reduction should take 2 to 3 hours depending. Don't forget to continually remove the scum from the top. It should be clear by the time the mixture has been reduced. Transfer the mixture (including the two cheese cloths) to your primary fermenter. Cover the fermenter with a clean tea towel and allow mixture to cool. Once the mixture has cooled to luke warm take a hydrometer reading. Make note of your initial reading as this will give you your approximate final alcohol content. Pitch the yeast into the fermenter and cover with the tea towel again. Check every day until the specific gravity has lowered to approximately 1.004 +- 0.0005. At this point transfer the mixture to the bottles. I usually syphon the mixture to do this most effectively although you do want some of the yeast to transfer to the bottle to carbonate your mead. After 3 or 4 days refrigerate your mead. It will be drinkable in a week, but will taste better if you age it a bit longer.
One thing to keep in mind is sterilise all your utensils and containers. I use a steriliser that I obtained from my local brew supply store.
Step 1. Add honey and water to stock pot and bring to a boil.
Step 2 - with 15 minutes to go add the orange peel wrapped in cheese cloth to the mixture.
Step 3 - zest orange peel and add to a few layers of cheese cloth and tie off the cloth.
Step 4 - at the last minute of boil add the orange peel to the pot.
Step 5 - Transfer the mixture to the fermenter (in this case an ice cream tub)
Step 6 - Once the mixture is luke warm sprinkle the yeast into the mixture.
Step 7 - After 24 hours push the cheese cloths down into the mixture to get the yeast off of them and take a specific gravity reading. In the case of this batch mine was 1.054. Make sure to note this reading some where as you will need it later.