Making Medieval Mead like a Viking
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Published 2020-11-10
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MEAD
ORIGINAL 12TH/13TH CENTURY RECIPE (From Tractatus Manuscript: Folio 20r)
For to make mead. Take 1 gallon of fine honey and to
that 4 gallons of water and heat that water til it be as
“lengh” then dissolve the honey in the water. then set them
over the fire & let them boil and ever scum it as long as
any filth riseth there on. and then take it down off the fire
and let it cool in another vessel till it be as cold as milk
when it cometh from the cow. then take dregs
of the finest ale or else barme and cast it into the water
& the honey. and stir all well together but first look before
thou put thy barme in that the water with the honey be put
in a fair stand & then put in thy barme or else thy
dregs for that is best & stir well together/ and lay straw
or else cloth about the vessel & above if the weather
be cold and so let it stand 3 days & nights if
the weather be cold and if it be hot weather 1 day and
1 night is enough at the full But ever after 1 hour or
2 at the most try thereof and if thou wilt have it swete
take it the sooner from the dregs & if thou wilt have it sharp
let it stand the longer there with. Then draw it from
the dregs as clear as thou may in to another vessel clean & let
it stand 1 night or 2 and then draw it into
another clean vessel and serve it forth.
MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 4 Parts Spring Water
- 1 Part Raw Honey
- Ale Dregs or Dry Ale Yeast
METHOD
1. Heat the water over a high flame until simmering. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey until dissolved. Then set over high heat and boil, removing any scum that rises to the top. After several minutes of boiling remove from the heat and carefully pour mixture into a second vessel.
2. Allow honey and water mixture to cool to 98°F/37°C, then pour in the ale dregs or yeast and stir in. Cover loosely and allow to sit out of direct sunlight for 3 days. (If you want a more alcoholic mead, allow to ferment longer) If you choose to make the mead "eglyn" by adding herbs, add them at this step or during the aging. Either is acceptable.
3. After 3 days, or however long you chose, transfer mead to another vessel, trying to get as little of the yeast which as fallen to the bottom of the mead. Add water to the airlock and affix to the bottle. Then let age for 2 nights (or longer if you want an aged mead). After aging, the mead is ready to drink. (DO NOT SEAL THE BOTTLE)
DISCLAIMER: Tasting history is not liable for any injury, illness, or harm caused from lack of proper sterilization of equipment and sanitation of the alcohol mead making process. Although you may ‘probably be fine’ this statement is not a medical or health inspected guarantee. All parties who partake in creating this without proper sterilization, sanitation, and equipment do so at their own risk. This notice serves as your acknowledgment of the risks involved in the alcohol making process and the decision to re-create the ‘recipe’ involves that you the external party bear all risks and damages to your health and safety.
PHOTO CREDITS
Ancient Chinese Vessel: By Zhangzhugang - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, bit.ly/2HPSIhM
Bell Beakers: By Einsamer Schütze - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, bit.ly/3ea4G1U
Beaker burial: By Miguel Hermoso Cuesta - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, bit.ly/2HT7PqL
Procession of Minoan women: By Zde - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, bit.ly/31WFhnD
Potnia: By User: Marsyas - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, bit.ly/2HPwHjF
Bee Pendant: Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0 bit.ly/3oGsuPV
The Moel y Gerddi roundhouse: By Midnightblueowl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, bit.ly/320hOSr
Silver Cauldron: Rosemania, CC BY 2.0 bit.ly/34G4iFq
#mead #vikings #assassinscreedvalhalla
All Comments (21)
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6 month tasting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvBNqLUuHLI DARN VICTORIANS! I have been taken in by one of the many Victorian fabrications surrounding Anglo-Saxon history. It turns out, the wonderful story about the origin of honeymoons was made up in th 19th century with no historical evidence for it. They got me!
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True story: I met my husband in college because I confessed in my Old English class that I was making Mead in my closet.
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Idea for merch: Literally just a cookbook with all the recipes you've made so far. You could even title it "Tasting History" :)
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I'm an old woman now, but used to be a Viking Age reenactor (living history exhibits, domestic life) and made mead often. One time I decided to "fun it up" by adding citric acid. Result: fizzy mead. Everyone loved it. But I went back to making traditional mead afterwards. I used to serve it with Viking beer, cheese and onion soup.
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"id be much happier with a bellyful of mead" -whiterun guard
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I love that people back then could just feel the mead and be like “ahhh yes, that’s cow degrees celsius”
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I think you might get secondary fermentation happening in that bottle you're keeping - so maybe check by loosening the stopper every week or so - see if you hear a hiss of escaping gas. This secondary fermentation can result in a sparkling wine, or alternatively, it can result in the vessel exploding!
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I tried this recipe 8 months ago, trying a bottle on the short timeline of the original recipe, and it was passable, but I just opened another bottle after letting it age 8 months and the difference was very apparent. The aging terrifically improved the flavor.
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Merch idea: you could make a set of measuring cups that go by Medieval terms so it'll make those recipes easier
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odin: "only a spoonful" odin: pulls out a comically large spoon
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I know that "Boil until it is Lengthy" means to Heat until the water is purified. Old world speech pattern translate loosely as "until it reaches a rolling boil". Yay
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Medieval scholar here: best guess for "as lengh" without doing a lot of research is that "as lengh" is a rolling boil, probably shorthand for something to the effect of "heat the water until it's boiling like it does after you heat it for a long time".
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This guy’s positivity is absolutely incredible. Every problem is met with “and that’s ok”. Like a modern day Mr. Rogers.
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“Lengh” means ready or prepared, my uncle who is a Norwegian - Irish mix uses this word everytime he makes mead for my dad and mom when they are on their anniversary every year.
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This has probably been said in some way already but, “Lengh” literally means length and in this context could be read as “at length” or “for some time” so a rolling boil would probably be the modern day equivalent. I hope this helps.
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In Welsh, the double D is pronounced as a soft "th" (as in "mother"), so meddyglyn is pronounced as if it was spelled methyglyn. It hasn't changed pronunciation too much over time.
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This is the third time I'm making this, and this time I'm getting serious with a batch a month, because what you get out of this recipe after half a year's maturing is a lot better than the sirupy slop you mostly get from the shops. Consistency of white wine with the bouquet of honey, this is IT.
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Merch: Aprons that say either: "Serve It Forth" Or "Go home, parmesan, you're drunk"
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You should have a shirt that say "And so serve it forth" with you holding a plate with medieval trencher full of food
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The aged mead actually will keep fermenting, lots of yeast will be suspended in the liquid (that’s why it smelled yeasty to you) and will slowly keep working on the sugars. Your mead should get ‘drier’ or less sweet and more alcoholic over time. The other flavours will likely mellow too with time.
