To brew, you need to be sanitary. Clean and boil all tools and utensils, as the
yeast will react to ANY foreign bacteria, and it could ruin your entire batch. Wash your hands after touching anything that
isn't sanitized, and use bleach or 409 to clean the surfaces. Cleanliness is a MUST, with brewing.
Orange Mead Recipe:
1 Gallon of Water
2 Oranges or 1 pint juice
1/2 package sparkling yeast/ wine yeast
3 pounds dark honey
1 lemon or 1 cup lime juice
1.) Place honey with the water in a two gallon pot over medium flame/heat.
2.) Slice the oranges and lime or if using the juice, take the juice and add
it to the heating honey and water.
3.) Bring the mixture to a very gentle boil, skimming off any surface sludge.
Over the next hour this process should go, and after an hour is up, strain the pieces out if using whole oranges and the lime.
4.) Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water (aprox. 120 degree F, but it
depends on the species used, so read the instructions for them to be specific). And let it cool slightly to room temperature
(aprox. 80 degrees), and add to the cooling two gallon pot.
5.) Cover and wait until fermentation slows, strain out the bottom opaque liquid
(the yeast), drain the clear liquid gently (as to not disturb the setiment at the bottom, if you do it'll make
the mead taste yeasty) into bottles to age the mead, and after two months strain again for any left over sediment (some
leave it in, your choice) and leave in a dark cool place to age for atleast six months.
The differences:
No, not all beer is created equal, nor wine, or brews in general. The different
fermenting processes and other factors. Beer itself is basically the generic term to encompass the fermentation of grains
with malts, and sometimes with hops. And the "dosage," meaning the amount of yeast and sugars added to the second fermentation
makes up the many types and tastes of beer available. To "ferment" is the process of producing alcohol through the yeast consumption
on grain-based sugars. The more the yeast consumes, the higher the alcohol. And yeasts vary with each type of beverage - such
as with wines and meads - one common species is EC-1118 Saccharomyces bayanus.
Ales are distinguished by their top-fermenting with various yeasts, warm temperatures, and
you can tell the difference with the aroma as soon as you open the bottle, and also taste it. Traditionally it was served
either warm or room temperature, with no hops and non-carbonated. A "Pale Ale," is
another term for producing carbon dioxide and alcohol through the consumption of grain-based sugars.
Laugers means
"storage." This is from the genre of bottom-fermenting yeast strains, with much cooler
temperatures, and in ageing them in cool places it has a fresher, sharper taste, with no by-products (or not much, anyway)
left behind.
"Bitter" is a kind of beer, with hops
added in. It was incorportated from the Dutch into brewing.
Black Malt is dark roasted hops at
a high temperature basically. It gives the deep flavours I love, makes the beverage taste "roasted."
A "Copper" is
the vessel used when adding in worts, and other ingredients.
When someone refers to the "Conditioning"
of the beverage, it's the process of maturing the beer, giving natural carbonation, and cold conditioning gives a light or
crisp taste, sometimes a "rounded" flavour, and the warm conditioning gives the beer's flavours, which can range from warm
to a deep roasted.
And after fermenting, typically some brewers "filter"
or pour the beer through a substance that strains the beer, to better clarify it and remove any sediment.
The "B.U's" is the "bittering
Units," to determine how much hops has been added, to better determine the beer's bitterness.
Most of you are wondering what a "hop"
is. It's basically an ingredient added to the beer, it's a plant that the buds are used, it looks like a mini-head of lettuce
or cabbage, and a little goes a long way.
Malt, the key ingredient in beer, is basically the process
of barley being steeped in water (after being dried quickly), germinated over time, and oven baked or kilned to turn the starch
into sugar. But this isn't always available, so we have "extracts" which are ususally syrups or powdered sugars, made of condensed
worts and maltrose, and other dissolved liquids.
Mead is not a beer nor wine. Mead is the fermentation of honey, water, and yeast. That's
basically a very, very basic idea. There's alot of terminology, components, and equipment, but I'll list some good books to
get a start, but there's nothing like learning from another person, and to watch the person brew and carry on the tradition
to another generation. The mead is called the "must" when fermenting. Some meads that contain herbs and spices are referred
to as "medicinal" meads, as they are taken during winter, and contain herbs such as cloves, cinammon, chamomile and even lavender.
If you ferment meads containing fruit for too long, the taste can be altered.
