Sweet Meadiation

We have been wanting to make some mead (honey wine) from our honey ever since I got the bees, but unfortunately our honey crop was way too small and precious this year.

On Friday, I purchased a 20 lb. bucket of honey from Sister Alice, the beekeeper for the Sisters of St. Francis at Assisi Heights. The sisters are rather famous locally for their honey (see recent article).  I  promised to give Sister Alice a bottle of the finished mead.

The honey was frozen and unfiltered, so I let it thaw out overnight, then warmed up the bucket in a sink full of hot water so it would flow more easily. I was all set to strain it through several layers of cheesecloth when I remembered, duh, I had purchased a filter for my own honey!  I set the filter atop a big pot and poured it in--beautiful, sweet, sparkling, golden honey drizzled through.

Then Rog started the mead, adding water and yeast. It is now in a big bucket beginning fermentation. There are a few more steps yet, and it will be a whole year before it is ready.  They say good things come to those who wait. We are patiently waiting for a lot of good things: mead, dandelion wine, elderberry wine, and 8 kinds of cheeses!  (oh, and two calves next spring.)