USE GLASS CONTAINER OR CROCK ONLY-DO NOT USE METAL AT ANY TIME

4 qts. dandelion blossoms (yellow flowers only), 4 qts. water-boil and pour over blossoms. Let stand 2 days, then strain through cheese cloth. 3 1/2 lbs. sugar-add to juice and heat on stove stirring constantly. (Use wooden spoon) continue to stir until sugar is melted. Place in crock. Add to crock: 1 lb. Raisins, 2 oranges (sliced), 2 lemons (sliced), 1 yeast cake-mixed with lukewarm water.

After 14 days strain twice through cheesecloth. Bottle and cork. Allow 6 months to a year to age.

GRAPE WINE

4 quarts of grapes (any type), 4 quarts of water.
Mash grapes and strain. Add to water and boil stirring while mixture boils. Bottle in sterilized bottles for up to 6 months. There are enough yeasts in the grape skins to produce fermentation. The amount of yeast differs from types though with purple grapes having the most and white grapes the least. Therefore, purple grapes make sweet wines and drier wines are made, generally, as the color decreases from purple to white.

OLD WORLD MEDIEVAL MEAD (HONEY WINE)

1 gallon of water, 4 cups of honey, 3 chopped nutmegs, pulp of 1 large or 2 small lemons.

Boil water, honey, and nutmegs for 30 minutes or until white froth ceases to rise. Skim off froth as it boils. Allow to cool for 24 hours. Squeeze out the juice or 1 large lemon, then add the remainder of the lemon. Stir mixture for 2 minutes. Strain and pour into quart bottles with screw on type caps. Place on snugly but not too tightly. Keep in a cool place where it won't do any damage if the caps pop off from the expanding liquids and gasses. Allow to stand for about a month. If you open the bottles daily and release the pressure, you shouldn't have any trouble with the caps popping off.

Nutmeg is the most widely used spice or flavoring agent in mead. Spicing it is largely a matter of choice though. Some people use ginger while others use cinnamon. Some even use combinations of spices and flavors. Spices and flavors I've heard of being used are mint, vanilla, eggs, lemon, anise, brandy, clove, allspice, and some very peculiar combinations which I won't bother to list. All I can say is, there's no accounting for taste sometimes.

Until fairly modern times (about the 16th Century) mead was the alcoholic drink of choice and not, as most people assume, wine or beer. The term, honeymoon, comes from this period when it was the custom to have a 30 day celebration period after a wedding. During this time mead was drunk in copious amounts.

Honey has always had a great deal of myth and legend surrounding it. Related to its ceremonial usage in weddings of the olden days was its associated folklore that honey was conducive to fertility.

Domesticating bees and hunting for wild bees (called beelining) goes back at least as far as the Egyptians. We know this because hieroglyphics indicate their interest and knowledge of this science (for more information see Dutch-way publication on bees and beelining). So, as far back as written history goes man has used the bee for pollinating plants and for making honey for our own consumption.

BLUEBERRY HONEY WINE

15 pounds of honey, 10 pounds of blueberries, 4 teaspoons of acidic blend, 3 teaspoons of yeast nutrient, 1/4 teaspoon of tannin, 2 packs of champagne yeast.

Mash and heat blueberries to 100 degrees and maintain for 20 minutes. Strain and rinse thoroughly to remove skins. Boil 3 gallons of water. Add honey and blueberry juice and all remaining ingredients. Cool after 10 minutes and transfer to a primary and fermenter which will bring it all to 5 gallons. Add yeast. Rack to a secondary fermenter after 3 weeks. rack again a week later. After 4 months this is ready to be bottled.

GERMAN OKTOBERFEST BEER

4 pounds of malt extract, 3 pounds of amber kicker, 1/2 pound of crystal malt, 1 1/2 pounds of honey, 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, 3/4 cup of corn sugar, 4 ounces of hops, liquid ale yeast, 3/4 cup of corn sugar for prime.

Add malt extracts, honey, crystal malt, and 3/4 cup of corn sugar to a large kettle with water. Bring mixture to a boil, leaving crystal malt in while boiling. Boil for 15 minutes. Add 3 ounces of hops. Boil for a final 5 minutes and then turn off heat. Allow to cool, then transfer to a primary fermenter, and pitch yeast. Ferment for a week. Prime with 3/4 cup of corn sugar and bottle.

BLUEBERRY PILSNER BEER

1 can of Danish malt extracts, 1 pound of laaglander dry malt, 1 pound of clover honey, 3 pounds of blueberries, 3/4 ounce of hops, 2 packs of lager or pilsner yeast, 1 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Add malt extracts, honey, and blueberries. Bring to a boil for 75 minutes. Turn off heat and cool. Transfer to a secondary fermenter and add hops. Allow to ferment for about 10 to 12 days at about 60 degrees. Prime with corn sugar and bottle.

CREAMY ALE

3 1/2 pounds of gold malt extract, 1 1/2 pounds of dry malt extract, 2 ounces of hop pellets, dry yeast, 1/2 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Boil 4 gallons of water and pour into a sanitized container. refrigerate overnight. The next day add extracts to 1 1/2 gallons of water and bring to a boil. Add hops and boil for 1 hour. After boiling turn off heat and pour mixture into the container with the 4 gallons of pre boiled and refrigerated water. Pitch yeast and ferment for about a week. Rack to a keg or other non reactive container and prime with 1/2 cup of corn sugar. Store for 2 weeks at room temperature and then store in cooler place (like a basement or root cellar) for a month.

MAPLE WEISS BEER

6 1/2 pounds of wheat malt extract, 2 pounds of corn sugar, 2 pounds of maple syrup (dark preferable), 4 ounces of malto-dextrin, 1 ounce of hops, liquid Weizen yeast, 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Bring 2 gallons of water to a boil. Add malt extract and bring water to a roiling boil. Add maple syrup, malto-dextrin, and corn sugar. Boil for 15 minutes stirring constantly. Add hops and boil for another 15 minutes. Cool, then transfer to a primary fermenter. Bring up to 5 gallons and pitch yeast. Ferment for about a week. Prime with 3/4 cup of corn sugar and bottle.

DARK AS COFFEE LAGER

3 pounds of dark malt extract (hopped), 3 pounds of light malt extract (hopped), lager yeast, 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Mix malt extracts and water to a total volume of 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. Let ferment for 3 to 5 days at room temperature and rack to a secondary fermentation container. Allow to ferment for about 2 months at 60 degrees. prime with 3/4 cup of corn sugar and bottle. Allow to stand at 60 degrees for another 4 to 6 months.

DUNKELBIER

6 pounds of 2 row malt, 2 pounds of crystal malt, 1 pound of Munich or Bavarian malt, 1 cup of dry amber malt extract, 1 1/2 ounce of German hop pellets, #2205 Bavarian lager yeast, 1 cup of dry amber malt extract for priming.

Infusion malt grains at 160 degrees for 1 hour. Mash out at 168 degrees for 10 minutes. Sparge. Add malt extract and 1 ounce of German hops and boil for 40 minutes. Add remainder of German hops and boil for another 10 minutes. Cool and transfer to a primary fermenter and pitch yeast. When fermentation is finished prime with 1 cup of dry amber malt extract and then bottle.

PALE ALE

4 pounds of pale malt extract, 8 ounces of crystal malt, 4 ounces of black patent malt, 7 cups of corn sugar, 1 1/2 ounces of hop pellets, ale yeast, 1/4 teaspoon of corn sugar for priming.

Bring 2 gallons of spring water to a boil. Crush crystal malt. Add crystal malt, black patent malt, and malt extract. Boil for 15 minutes then add corn sugar and hops while stirring well. Boil for 45 minutes more and turn off heat. Strain hot wort through cheese cloth or strainer into the primary fermenter. Add cold water until the adjusted beginning gravity reads at around 1.056. Pitch yeast when wort cools to around 80 degrees. Stir well with a whisk to aerate the wort and dissolve the dry yeast. Ferment at room temperature for about 2 weeks. Prime each bottle with a scant 1/4 teaspoon of corn sugar and place mixture in sterilized bottles.

ENGLISH ALE

5 1/2 pounds of malt extract, 1 ounce of hops, 1 ounce of leaf hops, 1 teaspoon of water crystals, 1 Irish moss ale yeast, 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Bring 1 1/2 gallons of water, 1 teaspoon of water crystals and malt extracts to a boil. Add Irish moss and boil for 20 minutes. Add 1/2 ounce of hops. Boil for another 15 minutes. Then add the last 1/2 ounce of hops. Boil 3 more minutes and turn off heat. Transfer to primary fermenter and bring up to 5 gallons. Pitch yeast when cool. Ferment for about 2 weeks. Then prime sterilized bottles with 3/4 cup of corn sugar.

DUTCH ALE

6 1/2 pounds of Dutch amber malt extract, 2 ounces of water salts, 2 ounces of hops, 1 teaspoon of Irish moss, #1098 liquid ale yeast, 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Add extract to 1 1/2 gallons of water and bring to a boil. Add 1 ounce of hops, water salts and hops. Boil for 25 minutes and add 1/2 ounce of hops. Turn off heat 1 minute later. Cool brew pot in cold water quickly and strain into the primary fermenter which is filled with 3 1/2 gallons of cold water. Aerate wort thoroughly and pitch yeast when cool enough. Rack to carboy after 10 days. Bottle in sterilized bottles with 3/4 cup of corn sugar after a week in a secondary fermenter.

OLD-FASHIONED HONEY BEER

5 1/2 pounds of light malt extract, 2 1/2 pounds of honey, 1 1/2 pounds of crystal malt, 6 hops, 3/4 ounce of German hops, 2 sticks of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of Irish moss, 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient, yeast, 1/2 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Heat malt crystal and water to 180 degrees. Strain it into a boiling kettle. Add malt extract and plain hops to kettle and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 1/2 hour and then add the Irish moss. Fifteen minutes afterwards add the cinnamon and yeast nutrient. Boil for another 10 minutes then add the honey and 1/2 of the German hops. Cool with a wort chiller then strain into a carboy and then pitch the yeast. Rack to the secondary fermenter after 2 weeks. Allow to ferment for about another month and a half. Prime with 1/2 cup of corn sugar and place into sterilized bottles.

MEDIUM DARK ALE

10 pounds of malt, 3/4 pound of light crystal malt, 1/2 pound of chocolate malt, 2 ounces of black malt, 1 ounce of brewer hops, 1/2 ounce of Cascade hops, 1 ounce of German hops, 3/4 ounce of oak chips, yeast, 1 cup of corn sugar for priming.

Mash the grains at 150 degrees for 3/4 of and hour. Draw off the thin mash and boil and return to strike at 170 degrees. Add the chocolate and black malt at mash out. Sparge then bring the wort to a boil and add the brewer hops. Boil for another 45 minutes. then add the cascade hops and oak chips. Boil again for another 20 minutes and turn off the heat. Add the German hops. Cool and transfer to a primary fermenter and pitch the yeast. Ferment for a week at room temperature. Prime with a cup of corn sugar and bottle.

Copyright © 1996 AJS