Apple Mead (Honey Wine)

You may have heard of mead in some barbaric tale, at a renaissance festival or playing a medieval video game, and wondering "What is this drink they so constantly talk about?", well this is your chance to find out what all the hype is about! Mead is believed to be mich older than medieval times, dating back as far as 7000 BCE in Northern China. It is sweet, easily made, not time consuming and does not require many ingredients. Making it perfect for times when refrigeration, thermometers and all other gadgets weren't even thought of. It is a great drink for colder months as it is to be served warm. A little known fact is that mead actually helped to coin the term "honey moon" in medieval ireland, as the married couple would spend a month hiding out and  drinking honeyed-wine (Mead) following their marriage or elopement. 

Ingredients

2 cups Pure Honey

2 tsp Dry Active Yeast (1 package)
4 cups Pure Apple Juice (you can make your own if you'd like)
1 cup Filtered Water
2 diced Prunes

Hardware

1 Ballon

1 2 Liter bottle

A Large Funnel

Measuring Cup, tsp

Thermometer

Large Mixing Bowl

Sewing Needle or Push Pin (a sharp and pointy object)

Time 4 to 7 hours

Prep 30 minutes

brewing 1 to 2 months

yield 1.8 liters or 61 ounces

Time to get brewing!!!

Clean all apparatuses throughly with hot water and mild soap making sure to rinse and let dry completely
In large mixing bowl fill with hot water and sit the bottle of honey in it to warm up
Heat apple juice to 145 degrees 
Insert funnel into your 2 liter bottle 
Pour honey in first (should be warm enough to go smoothly)
Pour in warm apple juice so that any honey left on the funnel gets incorporated
Cap bottle and shake to mix together honey and apple juice
Add prunes and water (cold) to bottle
Shake to mix it all up
Leave lid off and let the mixture cool until below 100 degrees

• Anything over this will kick start the fermentation process to quickly which can result in a very messy overflow

Add yeast once the liquid has cooled
Stretch balloon over bottle opening
Set aside in a room temperature area that is out of the sun, so preferably a closet or cupboard
Check frequently to make sure the balloon is inflating*
Once the balloon has inflated completely, gently poke a whole with the push pin 
Set back in the room temperature dark area and let sit for 1 to 2 months

• Sometimes you can hear your fermenting mead whistling a catchy tune

Alcohol per volume estimate: 14%
*Keep watching for the next step: The Transfer!*

Serving

Dont serve yet, it is nowhere near being done!
Will end up making 12  5oz glasses (5 oz is recommended for mead since it can be very sweet)

Storing and Reheating 

Store in a room temperature dark area. Check frequently in the beginning to ensure steady fermentation and to make sure the balloon has not popped off.

Nutritional Facts
During the fermentation many of the sugars will be eaten up by the yeast and the nutrition content will drastically change. These will be on our following post.

Cost

Recipe Cost (2 liters): $4.71

Cost Per Serving (5 oz): $0.39

Compared to a popular used product

Product Cost on average(1.5 liters): $11.48

Product Cost on average per serving (5 oz): $1.15

You save on average: per serving $0.76

Tricks
*If fermentation becomes too rapid put into the fridge to slow down the process and to prevent an overflow
-You can tell how strong the fermentation is by smelling the gases coming out of the hole in the balloon