Cooking for the Sabbats ~ Blueberry Mead Recipe ~ Litha and Midsummer Solstice Sabbat Recipes

Blueberry Mead Recipe

In it’s simplest form, Mead is a wine made from honey, water and yeast. It is the oldest fermented beverage in the world, and was probably discovered by some hapless nit-wit who left his leather honey pouch open over night in the rain. A couple days later, the honey was a little more magical tasting than usual.

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Mead has enjoyed a rich history in Viking culture- fallen warriors were believed to arrive in the halls of Valhalla in the afterlife, where, after a day of hard battling, they feasted on crackled pork at Odin’s table all night long. In the middle of the hall, a giant she-goat stood on her hind legs and nibbled on a pine branch while rich mead poured of our her teats.

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Don’t you just love it already?

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There are many types of mead that can be made by adding various ingredients to the basic recipe of honey, water and yeast.

* Start your mead now for next Midsummer. For best results, mead should ferment about a year, but this mead won an award after only four months!

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Ingridients:
Primary Fermentation:
10 lbs Wildflower Honey

5 lbs Frozen Blueberries

4 gal Water

Wyeast Dry Mead Yeast (3-4 packets)

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Secondary Fermentation:
5 lbs Wildflower Honey

5 lbs Frozen Blueberries

* Procedure:
Boil 3.5 gals of water to eliminate chlorine.

When cooled to 160 degrees F., steep fruit in cheesecloth for 30 min.

Remove bag slowly and let drip till it stops.

Return mixture (called the "must" or "wort" by brewers) to 140 degrees F.,

remove from burner and dissolve honey in it.

Chill to 65 degrees F.

Aerate by stirring and pitch (throw in) large starter of Wyeast Dry Mead yeast

(Four packets is not too many).
Ferment one month in a large five gallon glass jug.

Add honey to primary stirring till it dissolves. Add additional berries.

Ferment another month or two. Rack into a second five-gallon jug.

Ferment another 4-6 months before bottling. (That is, if you can stand it.)

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This award-winning mead recipe is created by Phil Wilcox

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Have a blessed summer solstice!