Here are the original recipies, I'll post my altered recipe later.
Viking Mead Recipe
The original as found at
http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/vikingrecipes.pdf
Mead (Honey Wine)
- 5 gallon recipe
8-10 lbs pure raw honey (for light, delicate Mead)
(or) 12-13 " " " " (for medium sweet Mead)
(or) 15-16 " " " " (for very sweet or alcoholic Mead)
4-5 gallons purified spring water (not distilled)
3 tsp. yeast nutrient (or 5 tablets)
1 tsp. acid blend (combination malic/citric acid)
5-7 oz. sliced fresh ginger root (1 finger's length)
1/4 tsp. fresh rosemary (optional, as desired)
5-6 whole cloves (optional, as desired)
1-2 vanilla beans (optional, as desired)
cinnamon/nutmeg (optional, as desired)
lime/orange peels (optional, as desired)
crushed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes, etc.)
1 tsp. Irish Moss (to clarify Mead)
1/2 tsp. clear gelatin (to clarify Mead)
1 spotted newt's tail (optional, as desired
1 packet yeast (champagne or ale yeast)
Heat spring water 10-15 minutes till boiling. Stir in honey, yeast nutrients, acid blend, and
spices (rosemary, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon peel).
Boil for another 10- 15 minutes, (overcooking removes too much honey flavor), skimming off
foam as needed (2 to 3 times during last 15 minutes). After 15 minutes, add Irish Moss or
clear gelatin to clarify.
After last skimming, turn off heat, add crushed fruit, and let steep 15-30 minutes while
allowing mead to cool and clarify. After mead begins to clear, strain off fruit with hand
skimmer and pour mead through strainer funnel into 5 gallon glass carboy jug.
Let cool to room temperature about 24 hours.
After 24 hours, warm up 1 cup of mead in microwave, stir in 1 packet "Red Star" Champagne,
Montrechet, or Epernet yeast (or Ale yeast in order to make mead ale), and let sit for 5-15
minutes to allow yeast to begin to work.
Add this mead/yeast mixture to carboy jug and swirl around to aerate, thereby adding oxygen
to mead/yeast mixture.
Place run-off tube in stopper of bottle, with other end of tube in large bowl or bottle to capture
"blow-off" froth. Let mead sit undisturbed 7 days in cool, dark area. After initial violent
fermenting slows down and mead begins to settle, rack off (siphon off) good mead into clean
sterilized jug, leaving all sediment in bottom of first jug. Attach airlock to this secondary
carboy.
After 4-6 months, mead will clear. During this time, if more sediment forms on
bottom, good mead can be racked off again to another clean sterilized jug.
When bottling, in order to add carbonation, add either 1/4 tsp. white table sugar per 12 oz
bottle, or stir in 1/2 to 1 lb raw honey per 5 gallons mead (by first dissolving honey with a
small amount of mead or pure water in microwave).
Celtic Druid Honey Mead
Original Recipe -
http://www.food.com/recipe/celtic-druids-honey-mead-meade-metheglin-216215
2 ounces gingerroot
2 lemons, juice and rind of, thinly pared peel
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
8 pints water
3 lbs flower honey or 3 lbs light honey
1 ounce mead, wine or 1 ounce baker's yeast
Directions:
1EQUIPEMENT:.
2Very large Pan - to hold 12 pints; Thermometer; 8 pint Fermentation Jar; Airlock; Bottles.
3Bruise the ginger by folding it in to a clean cloth and hitting it with a hammer to release its flavour.
4Tie the bruised ginger, cloves, cinnamon stick and the lemon peel in a muslin cloth and put it into a 12-pint pan.
5Add the water and lemon juice and bring it to the boil.
6Allow to cool to 50C/122°F.
7Meanwhile, stand the honey in a warm place and allow to come to the same temperature.
8Add the honey to the lemon and ginger water and mix.
9Allow to cool to 21C/70F and then remove the muslin bag with the ginger and lemon peel in it.
10Crumble the yeast into the honey water and mix lightly.
11Pour the liquid into an 8-pint fermentation jar, it should reach about three quarters full, and fit the airlock.
12Leave until all fermentation has finished, racking if necessary.
13Leave for another 1-2 weeks before bottling and storing.
14The mead can be drunk after 4-6 months, but is best if kept for several years!