Home › The Principles of Cookery › Mead, Simple

Mead, Simple

A simple, delicious beverage, seldom made except by the cottager who keeps bees. After disposing of the bulk of the honey-produce, the goodwife economises what remains for the use of the family, thus. Dissolve a pound, or more, of honey in three quarts of water. Boil, skim, and reduce the liquid to half a gallon. Fill the vessel in which it is placed, cover, and let the mead be undisturbed for two or three days, when it is ready for use. The combs, after being drained, are washed in warm water, that nothing shall be lost, and the liquid is strained from the sediment, to be used to enrich the mead or to make the family beer, with the addition of a little yeast. It is kept warm by the fire for a few days to ferment, then bottled.