Article

Make a Spiced Metheglin

Herbs drying in bunches in country kitchens. Air redolent of spice. Jars of honey lined up in farmer’s markets — like crisp fall apples and pumpkin pies, these things punctuate fall’s colorful days and frosty nights. Come November, old-time winemakers used to venture into the cellar to blow dust off the bottles of last year’s metheglins. Similar to sack meads, metheglins get their complex flavors from a combination of honey and herbs or spices. Metheglins cater to sophisticated tastes in the dining room as well as in the kitchen.

Metheglins get their name from the Welsh word “meddyglyn,” which means “physician.” In medieval times, spiced meads were believed to have medicinal powers. No doubt, those who sipped them did feel better. When the Tudors brought some Welsh customs to England in the sixteenth century, metheglin referred to plain and spiced meads.

Honey-based wines were also common in ancient Scandinavia, Gaul, Teutonic Europe and Greece. Meads were the beverage of choice in northern countries where grapevines do not flourish. By the fourteenth century, spiced ale and pyment (grape melomel) became more popular. Eventually, mead, once the most common drink of England, lost ground to ales, beer and grape wines.

Metheglins deserve to make a comeback. Once you’ve brewed your own batch, you may decide your kitchen isn’t complete without them.

A Few Tips

Fresh honey is best for making metheglins. If possible, buy raw unprocessed honey from a local beekeeper and use it quickly; the quality of honey deteriorates over time. Otherwise, you can find unprocessed honey at natural food stores or your local home winemaking or homebrew supply shops.

Because honey is low in nitrogen — and nitrogen is required for a vigorous fermentation — yeast nutrient must be added to metheglins. Traditionalists first boil the honey with water to coagulate the proteins and beeswax residue. Then they skim off the foam. Boiling kills wild yeasts in the honey and ensures that the wine yeast you choose will flavor the metheglin.

This process usually produces a fine, clear mead. Some critics say that boiling also removes some of the honey’s aroma and flavor. They suggest bringing the honey-water mixture to a temperature of 160° F, holding this temperature for five minutes, and then rapidly cooling the mixture to room temperature. Still others avoid heat completely, and use sulfites to sanitize the must and clarify the mead by repeated racking prior to bottling.

Your water is also important. Old recipes call for rainwater, which once was pure but today often contains pollutants. Some spring water has a high sodium content, as does softened water. Your safest bet is to use tap water, but if your water supply is extremely hard or extremely soft, use distilled water.

Metheglins also need an added acid component — either a commercial acid blend (which you can buy at a home winemaking shop) or citrus juice for tartness. The acid level of a finished metheglin should be between 0.5 and 0.7 percent, a figure you can measure with a simple kit. The acid can be added at the beginning or at the end of fermentation. If you are a novice, follow the recipes closely at first. As you gain experience, you can adjust the flavors and the acidity at the end of the process.

You’ll need three major ingredients in addition to honey, water and herbs or spices: yeast, yeast nutrient and the acid blend. Some good yeast strains for honey wines include Montrachet (Red Star Davis # 522), California Champagne (Red Star Davis # 505), Pasteur Champagne (Wyeast 3021) and  Prise de Mousse (Lalvin’s EC-1118). The yeast nutrient contains ammonium compounds, trace elements and vitamins. Since commercial yeast nutrients vary, use the amount recommended by the supplier. The acid component provides good wine flavor, helps create a good environment for yeast growth and has a slight preservative action.

Some of the best herbs for metheglins appear on the herb chart, but you may also use others. Be sure to check the properties of the herb before you use it and use culinary herbs rather than medicinal herbs. If you have any questions you should refer to an herbal dictionary. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t make methleglin with it.

The amount of the herbs used in metheglins depends on the nature of the mead and how you plan to use it. If you are in doubt, start by making a fairly strong “tea” from the herb and then make this tea into a metheglin. For cooking metheglins, make the tea slightly stronger. Depending on growing conditions, fresh herbs vary widely in the strength of their flavors. Dried herbs have more concentrated flavors than fresh ones.

Royal Metheglin    

We’re not sure if the metheglin served to royalty was any better than a peasant’s variety, but we’re sure the spices make this mead fit for a king. Makes one gallon.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) honey
  • 3 tsp. (15 g) fresh rosemary leaves
  • 3 tsp. (15 g) fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 tsp. (15 g) orange zest
  • 3 tsp. (15 g) lemon zest
  • 3 fresh sage leaves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) dried hyssop
  • 4 allspice berries
  • 6 cloves
  • 3 tsp. (15 g) fresh ginger, chopped
  • 2 bags Earl Grey tea
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) acid blend
  • 1-1/2 cups (360 mL)
  • orange juice
  • 1 package Montrachet yeast (5 to 7 g)
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) yeast nutrient
  • 1/4 tsp. (about 1 g) grape tannin
  • 1 campden tablet

Step by Step    

oil the honey in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) in a large non-reactive pot for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off the foam. When the foam stops rising, add herbs and spices. Cool and transfer to a two-gallon plastic container. Brew the tea by steeping in a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Add the tea to the honey mixture along with the acid, the pectic enzyme and water to make a gallon. Add the campden tablet and let the mixture sit, well-covered, for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter by combining the yeast and yeast nutrient with tepid orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, let stand until bubbly (1 to 3 hours), then add to the must. Add tannin and allow the mixture to ferment. Rack after the most vigorous fermentation and siphon the wine into a one-gallon, airlocked fermenter. Rack into another airlocked fermenter in 3 months and again in 6 months. Rack again before bottling, about one year after fermentation started. Bottle and cork. Store in a cool cellar for 6 months before using.

Fall Spice Metheglin

Makes one gallon of mead.

Ingredients

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 tsp. (2.5 g) ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. (2.5 g) ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. (2.5 g) ground allspice
  • 1 large orange, juiced
  • 2 lbs. (900 g) clover honey
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) acid blend
  • 1 package Montrachet yeast (5 to 7 g)
  • 1-1/2 cups (360 mL) orange juice
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) yeast nutrient
  • 1/4 tsp. (1 g) grape tannin
  • 1 campden tablet

Step by Step

Put the spices and juice of the orange into a two-gallon plastic container. Boil the honey in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) in a large non-reactive pot for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off the foam. Pour the honey-water mixture over the spices and juice. Cool. Add the acid, the pectic enzyme and water to make a gallon. Add the campden tablet and let the mixture sit, well-covered, for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast and yeast nutrient with the tepid orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously and let stand until bubbly (1 to 3 hours), then add to the must. Allow the mixture to ferment. Rack after the most vigorous fermentation and siphon the wine into a one-gallon, airlocked fermenter. Rack into another airlocked fermenter in 3 months and again in 6 months. Rack again right before bottling, one year after fermentation started. Bottle and cork the finished metheglin. Store for 6 months.

Rocky Mountain Red Metheglin

We found that hummingbirds loved Celestial Seasonings’ Red Zinger tea. Once we tasted this metheglin, we know why! Makes one gallon of mead.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) orange blossom honey
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/8 tsp. (about 1/2 g) ground cloves
  • 2 tsp. (10 g) fresh grated orange zest
  • 2 large oranges, juiced
  • 8 Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea bags
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp. (5 g) acid blend
  • 1-1/2 cups (360 mL) orange juice
  • 1 tsp. (5 grams) yeast nutrient
  • 1 pkg. Montrachet yeast (5 to 7 g)
  • 1/4 tsp. (1 g) grape tannin

Step by Step

Boil the honey in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) in a large  pot for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off the foam. Add the cinnamon, cloves, orange zest and juice. Let cool and transfer the honey-water mixture to a two-gallon plastic container. Brew the tea by steeping in 2 cups of boiling water. Add the tea to the honey and spices. Add acid, pectic enzyme and water to make one gallon. Add campden tablet and let sit, well-covered, for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast and yeast nutrient with the tepid orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously and let stand until bubbly (1 to 3 hours), then add to the must.

Add the tannin. Allow to ferment. Rack after the most vigorous fermentation into a one gallon, airlocked fermenter. Rack into another airlocked fermenter in 3 months and again in 6 months. Rack again just before bottling, about a year after fermentation started. Bottle and cork and store for 6 months in a cool cellar.

Pattie Vargas and Rich Gulling are the authors of several books, including “Making Wild Wines and Meads: 125 Unusual Recipes Using Herbs, Fruit, Flowers and More” (Storey Books, 1999). The three metheglin recipes in this article first appeared in that book.

Issue: November 2000