Mead

Instructions

Sanitize all of your equipment before you start. If you want a starter culture, mix the fruit juice with the yeast in a 1-quart container fitted with a rubber stopper and airlock. Keep it at room temperature out of direct sun for 1 to 2 days, until it is bubbling.

Heat the water in a pot over medium heat and slowly stir in the honey until it dissolves completely. Mead makers disagree about boiling: it changes the flavor but gives a clearer finished mead. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool to 170°F (76°C).

Stir in the raisins and pour the mixture into your fermentation vessel. Let it cool to room temperature, about 68°F (20°C). If you skipped the starter, rehydrate the yeast now, then add the yeast mixture to the vessel and attach the airlock.

Set the vessel in a cool, dark place at about 68°F (20°C). After about a day the airlock should start releasing bubbles and the raisins will rise to the surface. Do not stir or shake it, since the liquid can climb up and spill out through the airlock. Let it ferment for 4 to 6 weeks.

If you want the mead to clear faster, rack it by siphoning it through a sanitized tube into a second carboy. Leave the sediment behind and avoid splashing, which would add oxygen. Attach an airlock to the second carboy.

Ferment for about 3 more months, until the airlock has stopped bubbling for long stretches (over 30 seconds between bubbles) and the mead is clear enough to read a newspaper through. Rack it once more, but avoid racking more than needed, because too much racking causes oxidation.

Bottle the mead in sterilized bottles with airtight caps or good corks. Only bottle once fermentation is finished, or pressure can build up and burst the bottles. Age the bottled mead for at least 6 months, and longer if you can wait.