Denard Brewing

Better brewing through science.

Fidnemed Short Metheglin (6 day mead!)


This is a very fast fermenting beer replacement. This mead is deliciously drinkable 6 days from pitch. I know that is hard to believe, but trust me on this. It's too delicious not to try. It's also great for pleasing your beer drinking friends. 

This is a short (low ABV), easy-drinking mead for those all day BBQs. This mead is good still or carbonated, so it's your choice. As a bonus, it's drinkable straight out of the fermenter after it hits FG! Cloudy or clear doesn't matter.  If it's cloudy, think wheat beer, shut up, and drink it. 

Short meads are always ready faster, but are a bit lacking in body or honey flavor. This recipe gets around that by flavoring with a herbal/hop tea. I have a hop tea I enjoy called Fidnemed Nighttime tea. You can order it from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com. It is flavored with the following: Lemon Balm, Hibiscus flowers, Skullcap, Passionflower, Whole Cascade Hops flowers, Valerian root, and Lavender flowers. Yep, whole hop cones. Everything else compliments and adds implied sweetness, but the star is the hops. They make it very beer-like, but there is a strong orange blossom honey presence that lets you know it's mead. 

Fidnemed Short Metheglin - 1 gallon
1. Make 1 quart of Fidnemed Nighttime tea at double strength. I add about a cup of loose tea to 1 quart of boiling water and let it stand until it is cool enough to touch. 
2. Add 1.5 lbs of orange blossom honey to a sanitized 1 gallon carboy. 
3. Add 1 TBSP (~10 grams) of Fermaid O. 
4. Add 1/8 tsp KHCO3. 
5. Add tea strained off spices and mix  honey thoroughly while it is a little bit warm. 
6. Add cold water to one gallon. 
7. Pitch a smack pack of Wyeast 1388. 
7. Ferment until 1.000; ~5 days. 
8. Cold crash as soon as you hit 1.000. Generally, overnight is enough to clear it. You can also just skip to the next step if you don't care about cloudiness. 
9. Bottle with or without carbonation tabs. Your choice. 
10. If carbonating, drink at 1-2 weeks from bottling. If not, anytime after bottling is fine. I have been known to drink it straight out of the fermenter after cold crashing on Day 6. Just sayin'. 

Enjoy!

Variations:?

1. Add 2 ounces of Caramel 20L to the Fidnemed tea and steep 20-30 minutes before straining. This small addition of caramel malt removes some of the tartness and improves mouthfeel.

by denardb on Oct. 4, 2015, 10:35 p.m.