Metheglin (Spiced Mead)

You will need

• Honey1.4 kg
• Root ginger, bruised25 g
• Cinnamon stick1
• Cloves3
• Wine or mead yeast1 sachet
• Staggered nutrientsee method
• Waterto 4.5 L

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. A metheglin is a mead with spices — an old winter warmer. Do NOT boil the honey; warm it just enough to dissolve into the water.

2. 2

   Add the bruised ginger, cinnamon and cloves; top to 4.5 L (reading ~1.100 for a medium mead).

3. 3

   As with any mead, honey is nitrogen-poor, so feed the yeast STAGGERED nutrient — a dose at pitching, another a day or two in, a third a few days later — or it finishes harsh.

4. 4

   Ferment slowly and steadily; taste and strain out the spices once the warmth is where you want it.

5. 5

   Rack as it clears; mead is slow. Bulk-age at least six months.

6. 6

   A spiced, warming honey wine, transformed by a year in the bottle.