Winning at Mead

Though I've tried (and failed) a couple of times to make strawberry jam, I have been quite successful at making Mead. I found the recipe in The Art of Fermentation, which has many wonderful recipes to keep me busy for several years I think.

Turns out Mead is one of the easiest alcohols to create. Frankly, I'm surprised more high school students aren't making it in their closets.

Step 1: Obtain some raw honey (non-pasteurized) and some non-chlorinated water (such as distilled water.) I got my raw honey from our farmer's market, but I've since discovered they sell it at our grocery store too. The raw honey is necessary because pasteurization kills the natural yeast. If all you can get is the honey inside a plastic bear, you'll either need to cultivate the yeast in the air by leaving your Mead uncovered, thus exposing yourself to a possible fruit fly infestation, or purchase some yeast at your local home brewing store (or the internet.)

Step 2: Mix the honey and water together in a 1 part honey to 4 parts water ratio. I did my mixing in quart size jars so I could try different concentrations. I found that I liked the way the 1:4 ratio tasted the best, but others might prefer more or less sweetness.

From left to right: 1:4 concentration, 1:6 concentration, unknown concentration.

Step 3: Stir the honey and water mixture at least twice a day until it bubbles vigorously. This is how you know the fermentation is occurring.

Step 4: Continue stirring each day until the bubbling stops. The recipe said it would take about 10 days but I think I could have gone longer.

The recipe also mentioned that you could try putting fruit into the mixture to add a different flavor. I tried both plum and blueberry. I was underwhelmed by the results.

The plum left lots of nasty sediment on the bottom. It made the Mead so sour we couldn't drink it.

The blueberry in varying concentrations. The one on the right, with the most blueberries, was again so sour we couldn't drink it.

I was very intrigued by the idea of fruit-flavored Mead because I once tried some in Boulder and it was like heaven on earth. I think the key is to not leave the fruit in very long, and to use very little of it, so you just get a hint of fruit flavor. Otherwise, the fruit itself starts to ferment, which turns the Mead sour.

But, I consider this an overall success, because the 1:4 concentration was so delicious. I've got 4 more jars of raw honey in my pantry waiting to be fermented. I also bought a jar of Orange Blossom Honey to see how that would turn out. My theory is that it will have that nice orange flavor without having to put any fruit into the mix.

I'm waiting to make the next batch because we've currently got cherry wine and apricot wine taking up our fermentation vessels at the moment. Tastings along the way have revealed that the cherry wine is tasting like a cross between a syrah and a merlot. The apricot wine is tasting like a dry chardonnay.

Yay for home brewing!

Strawberry Vanilla Jam Fail

Yesterday I attempted to make a batch of Strawberry Vanilla Jam from Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars. I followed all the directions to the best of my ability, hoping to yield about 4 pints of jam.

I started by chopping about 6 cups of delicious strawberries, cleaning 2 vanilla bean pods, and mixing them with 1 cup of sugar to macerate overnight.

Vanilla beans are surprisingly hard to clean.

Mmmm sugary deliciousness.

I was really excited to have the chance to use my brand, shiny, new preserving pot. Seriously, this thing is the nicest thing I own.

Pot beauty.

I cooked away, adding more sugar and liquid pectin. I have never used liquid pectin before. It has a very odd texture. After adding the pectin, I was to get the concoction up to 220 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 2 minutes. I used my special canning thermometer.

Bubble, bubble.

The problem with this thermometer is that it has a special piece at the bottom which prevents the glass of the thermometer from coming in contact with the bottom of the pot. My preserving pot is wide and the liquid is very shallow to increase surface area so that cooking times are decreased. The metal piece on the bottom of my thermometer prevented the bottom of the thermometer from being fully submerged in the liquid, giving me a cooler readout than the actual temperature.

The result? Something that I can only refer to as Strawberry Vanilla Chew.

Gravity ain't got nothin on this.

I've learned that I need a thermometer that can accurately read the temperature. (Yes, I know. No duh! But I'm new at this, ok?) Next time, I will use my digital thermometer instead.

I've got enough strawberries left over, but I don't have any more vanilla pods. Seriously, those things are expensive. I'm going to try again, with just regular type strawberry jam.

And all hope is not lost for the Strawberry Vanilla Chew. Scott suggests using it as an ingredient in some awesome oatmeal bars. So we'll see how that goes.

I'm Going to Need Some Peaches

And pumpkins, plums, and winter squash, because the wonderful Kevin West of Saving the Season posted an amazing recipe for peach butter which can also be used for the other aforementioned edibles.

Also I just spent $50 on those wonderful jars that he links to. Don't judge.