DISCLAIMER: I am the legal age to drink. I do not condone underage drinking.
A couple of years ago I started experimenting with homemade brews. I found Mead was the easiest to make, since it supposedly required few special ingredients, that you could only get at a brewing supply shop. My successes with it were still not always guaranteed though. I once made a batch that tasted fine to my father and me. But my aunt claimed it didn’t taste right to her.
Mead is basically just honey and water (called hydromel in its unfermented state), with yeast. More recently I got one of those little books you see by the check out at most supermarkets. It had recipes supposedly gotten from (or inspired by?) Biblical times. One recipe was for “Honey Wine”. To make it you simply add honey to dry white wine. That’s it.
Well, I finally made it, and it seems to be a hit with everyone. Even my aunt seems to like it. I just have one question though. Is Honey + Wine technically Mead? I have heard of it done before after all. The Polish have a wine that has honey added to it. And if Honey + Wine is not Mead, then what is it? Remember there is no extra fermentation after the honey is added to the wine.
IIRC, true mead had no other sugars or starches other than the honey. Thus, no grapes and no wine. However, you might try adding some spices next time you brew up some mead. Here’s a recipe I got off www.godecookery.com :
18 liters water
8 kg. honey
1 package champagne yeast
1/2 cup ale or beer
crust of one roll
1 tsp. hops
4 gr. cardamom
1 1/2 gr. cloves
Mix water & honey; boil on low heat until reduced to 9 liters. Remove from burner and cool. Completely dissolve the yeast in the ale or beer. Remove the crust from the roll, soak in the beer yeast and put into mead. Add hops. Remove roll 1 hour after fermentation begins. Strain mead and pour into a keg. Add the spices wrapped in cheesecloth. Seal keg well and store in cold place (on ice or vault) for 12 days. Bottle, seal, tar (gum or wax) and store in cold place.
Ready to serve in 2 months.
Another recipe from the same source sounds more like the honey-wine you asked about. This one has spices in it, though.
Clarree
1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet white wine
1 -2 cups honey
1 tbs. each cinnamon, galingale (or substitute ginger), & cardamom
1 tsp. white pepper
cheesecloth
Bring the wine and honey to a boil; reduce heat & skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. A good Clarree aged for a year or more is exquisite!
I honestly don’t know what wine with honey would be called. If it had spices and honey it could be called mulled. Mead made with grapes is called ‘pyment’. True mead has three ingredients, Honey, water and yeast. A mead with spices is called a Methyglyn, a mead with fruits added is a melomel which is further classified into the aforementioned pyments and cysers (mead with apple juice which can be further distinguished as a Hypocras which is a spiced cyser). Mead with hops or malted barley is called a Braggot, a sweet strong mead is called a “Sack” mead. More information than you asked for I’m sure but I brew the stuff so I’m pretty fond of it. ;>
