Quick Finnish Lemon Mead (Sima)
This quick Finnish sima gives you a lightly sweet, lemony home brew with almost no equipment: a pot, a soda bottle and a funnel. Traditional mead-style sima can feel like a project, but this version takes only as long as boiling the water on day one and about five minutes of bottling on day two. The small two litre batch also makes it an easy, low-risk way to learn the method.
Instructions
Boil 1 to 2 litres of water. While it heats, wash a 3 litre container and squeeze the juice from the lemon into a glass.
Measure out 1 litre of the hot water and set it aside for the sima. Use the rest to rinse the container so it is sterile.
Put the brown sugar and lemon juice into the container. Pour in the 1 litre of hot water and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Stir in 1 litre of cold water. Add a very small amount of yeast, no more than ¼ teaspoon, and let the container stand overnight.
The next day, wash a 2 litre soda bottle and rinse it with boiling water. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the bottle, plus a few raisins if you like.
Use a funnel to pour the sima into the bottle. Leave it in a dark place at room temperature for 2 days.
Move the bottle to the refrigerator. The sima is ready once it has chilled.
Make it personal.
Custom engraved cutting boards, utensils, and kitchen accessories. Great gifts for anyone who cooks.
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