Mama's Making Mead!

Mama's making mead in the kitchen!

I have everything I need to make mead! I'm following this website:
StormTheCastle's Fast Cheap Mead Making.

But I'm making something closer to the full version of the recipe (with the spices) near the bottom of this page (Orange Clove Mead):
StormTheCastle's Mead Recipes.

I ganked the clove and pieces of cinnamon bark from a mulling spice mix that I bought a while back. Ah yeah. The only stop I had to make was the farmer's market which conveniently had both the honey and navel orange that I used.

I used an airlock instead of the balloon (thanks Heather!). It is almost as fun to watch as a lava lamp. At the beginning the proto-mead smelled a bit like orange cleaner (not alcoholic), just very potently orange. It has continued to mellow until it smells like a light orange wine just since yesterday afternoon. I love watching the tiny bubbles climb the sides of the jug, like one of those moving light pictures in a chinese restaurant. :^)

It looks like total cost for one gallon of finished mead runs just under $20 if you use very good honey. I could probably have brought it closer to $15 if I hadn't bought a small container of sourwood honey to mix in with it. The big jars are only 44 oz so I needed a little more to finish out the 3.5 pounds (I am going for a sweet mead).





Doesn't it just look horribly redneck? I dream of getting nice equipment, and nifty bottles to put it in when it's done. For now, though... 20 dollars feels dear enough.


I made more of my awesome chicken soup last night. It is still awesome. However, for those using split green peas or brown lentils it needs at least the full hour for cooking. ;^)