Ahem, well now I have that out of the way... This has been a weirdly stressful day as my youngest munchkin has gone away with his school for a week long skiing trip and, as my friends know, when stressed I clean and when worried I bake or preserve but now it seems I brew as well. By the end of this week I dread to think of the spotlessly clean state the house will be in, how full the biscuit tin (considering I already filled it to the brim this morning with home made flapjacks according to my God mother's secret recipe) and how many demi-johns will be snuggled into places in the kitchen recesses.
I have not made mead before nor have I made wine from cartons of juice that you can buy in the supermarket but I had a go anyway and will post results when it is time to drink them in a couple of months. There were absolutely loads of recipes for mead so I took a few recipes and mixed them up a bit and this is what I did:
Mead 1 gallon (1 demi-john)
3 X 454g honey
2.5l water
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
100g sultanas
1 tsp yeast (I used the dried active yeast from the supermarket) activated in 2 tablespoons of hand hot water
Sterilised demi-john and sterilised air lock in a bung.
* I gently warmed the honey and water together in a large pan, making sure it did not reach boiling point, until the honey dissolved.
* Add the honey and water mixture to the demi-john with the juice, zest and sultanas.
* When the liquid has cooled to hand hot temperature then add the yeast and top up with water until 3 inches from the top of the demijohn.
Add the airlock with a little water to stop bacteria getting into the mead.
After 30 days wrack it off; siphon into another clean sterilised demi-john. Bottle after a further week and drink after 2 weeks.
Juice carton wine (1 demi-john)
1 tsp dried active yeast
5 X 1l cartons of pure juice ( I made 2 batches, one of red grape juice and one of apple juice )
1 cup of sugar
Sterilised demi-john, sterilised air lock in a bung and a sterilised jug (if using a funnel then sterilise that too)
*put the yeast in the demi-john and add four of the cartons of juice.
* mix 2 tablespoons of boiling water in the sugar so it dissolves and you can pour it into the demijohn.
* top up the demi-john with juice (approximately half of the last carton) until the liquid level is 3 inches from the top of the bottle.
What I ended up with was this:
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| Trying to avoid the same confusion I had with peapod and dandelion wines last year by labelling the demi-johns! |
After 30 days wrack it off being careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom. Do not bottle until the airlock has stopped bubbling or, if you are using a hydrometer, the reading remains under 1.02 for 3 days in a row (i.e. it is stable). Drink after 1 month although if you can leave it for a few months it is supposed to be better.
I decided to do this after watching a few YouTube videos, most specifically this one https://youtu.be/7XO1f_Vjeg0 so you can always take a look at this if you want to make some of your own wine.
I have a feeling this week may continue to be productive in my effort not to worry about my adventuring munchkin and my next pair of socks will soon be finished as the second sock is well underway. Not fretting, not fretting, not fretting.
Hugs from Haggis Land,
Jx
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