My. Dad. Is. Amazing.
Let me explain. Years ago, my dad started brewing beer at home, as a hobby of sorts. But the more he brewed, the better he got. Wait, you mean practice actually *does* make perfect? Oh it sure does, B. He got so good in fact, that he even won medals at beer festivals 'n stuff. So yeah. He's the real deal. AND, get this: beer isn't his only specialty. He makes MEAD. For those of you who haven't heard of mead or have never had the pleasure of tasting it's sweet honey goodness, I shall call upon the Gods of Wikipedia to explain:
Mead (pronounced /ˈmiːd/) is an alcoholic beverage, made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast. Its alcoholic content may range from that of a mild ale to that of a strong wine. It may be still, carbonated, or sparkling. It may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Mead is often referred to as "honey wine."[1]
Are your taste buds aroused yet? Cuz I'm about to give mine a cold shower...
ALSO - and this is really freaking cool - Mead has a special meaning for married couples. My pal Wiki says, "The term honeymoon originates from the tradition that the in-laws of the couple were required to supply a month's worth of mead, or honey wine. In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel."[4][5]
Isn't that so cool? This is one wedding tradition that needs to still exist! Eff the bouquet toss! I want a free month's worth of delicious booze!
Just this weekend, I got a special little email from Dad about the mead. I have to copy and paste it here because it was so sweet:
Britt & Mike:
The wedding mead was made today and is comfortably fermenting in the garage fermentation fridge @ 74F degrees! I placed Mithrandir's blessing, "Naur en edraith amin!" upon it, so it's gotten a good start, & I'll watch & nurture it until delivery on 7/31/2010!
Love,
Dad
The wedding mead was made today and is comfortably fermenting in the garage fermentation fridge @ 74F degrees! I placed Mithrandir's blessing, "Naur en edraith amin!" upon it, so it's gotten a good start, & I'll watch & nurture it until delivery on 7/31/2010!
Love,
Dad
I love that this wedding is becoming a family project. Makes a gal smile.
If anyone is interested in the process of how mead is made...or would possibly want to make a batch for your own wedding (which is totally achievable btw), then check out the deets below. I'm sure my dad would be happy to answer any questions by email. Right, Dad? :-)
Mithrandir's Blackberry Meluvor Wedding Mead
| Brewer: | Zachary "Gandalf" Hilgers | Email: | gandalf13@cox.net | |||||
| URL: | http://www.mysmilelabs.com | |||||||
| Beer: | Mithrandir's Blackberry Meluvor Wedding Mead | Style: | Blackberry Melomel (Mead) | |||||
| Type: | Extract | Size: | 6 gallons | |||||
| Color: |
| Bitterness: | 2 IBU | |||||
| OG: | 1.109 | FG: | 1.020 | |||||
| Alcohol: | 11.5% v/v (9.0% w/w) | |||||||
| Water: | 10 gallons of R.O. water from Water & Ice store was boiled 15 minutes with 1 oz of old hops (but not cheesy), and 1 tablespoon each of yeast energizer and yeast nutrient, and 1 Tbsp Irish Moss. | |||||||
| Boil: | 0 minutes | SG 1.109 | 6 gallons | |||||
| 15.0 lb. Mountain Top-brand Arizona Desert Wildflower Honey | ||||||||
| 1 Tbsp Irish Moss added to water and boiled for 15 minutes prior to shutting off heat and adding the honey. | ||||||||
| Hops: | 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfruh (2% AA, 15 min.) | |||||||
| Yeast: | Lalvin D47 used to make a 1 quart starter the day before. For starter, 1 quart water boiled in Ehrlenmeyer flask with 1 cup honey and 1 tsp. each of yeast energizer and nutrient. Starter allowed to cool covered to below 80�F, then rehydrated D47 added to starter and put on stir plate overnight. By next morning of brew day, starter was actively fermenting. Starter was split & pitched between both 6.5 gal glass carboys of cooled must. | |||||||
| Log: | Brew date 8/15/2009. Fermentation in temp-controlled fridge at 75�F began 8/16/2009, and is bubbling away very nicely! | |||||||
Love you, Pop! You rock.
Look out for a future posting on the beer he will be making... Plans are still in the works.
Anyone else serving an offbeat drink at their wedding? Or having it made from scratch?
Are you serving this stuff, sending us rolling home with bottles, hoarding it to yourself, glutting on it and then spraying what's left over each other in a fit of excess and debauchery, what?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteBack when my grandpa was alive, he made moonshine in his basement. Not the same at all, but that's what I thought of. Potent stuff, that moonshine.
Yay for dad's helping out!
To A.S.H.:
ReplyDeleteI hope they won't waste any by spraying it on anyone.
This should be added to the above recipe:
ReplyDeleteMithrandir's Blackberry Meluvor Wedding Mead
Date of batch was 8/15/2009.
My half of this mead is for my daughter Brittany Leigh Hilgers' and her fiancé Mike Hess' wedding, which is in one year, July 31, 2010, in Los Angeles.(See her blog at: http://thebowiebride.blogspot.com/)
This is a mead recipe that Barry Tingleff & I made and split between us.
Total Batch size was 12 gallons, which was split between us at end of brew.
I am going to add blackberries to my 6 gal in the secondary fermenter(at first racking in a few weeks.)
Water was boiled with 1 oz hops, Irish Moss, yeast nutrients, & yeast energizer for 15 minutes.
Then heat turned off, honey added and steeped and stirred to mix thoroughly for 15 minutes.
Then must was run through gravity-fed counter-flow wort chiller into two 6.5 gallon glass carboys.
Yield was 6 gallons each of must.
When I do first racking into secondary fermenter, I will rack on top of approx. 7 lbs. of Vintner's Harvest Blackberry Fruit Wine Base, which comes in a 3 quart can.
There is only blackberries and water in the can, no other added sugars, preservatives, etc.
Adding this fruit should kick off a slight secondary fermentation, but should help keep the rich dark color and fruit flavor from being lost which I believe would occur if it was added in the primary or the boil.
Uncle Z,
ReplyDeleteWell! I surely hope to consume a little of that mead!
my dad made our beer. it was amazing :)
ReplyDeletecongrats on your engagement! your blog is fantastic..love, love the mead addition! can't wait to keep following you guys! annemarie and wes spitznagle
ReplyDeleteMy now-husband and I made our beer. We had "Hoppy Happiness, Ball and Chain Bitter, Honeymoon Wheat and Belgian Bliss."
ReplyDelete