Beer Forum

OK, so last night I am re-reading a favorite book of mine, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and came across an interesting passage concerning Metheglin. While I have heard of this honey-based libation, I have never tried it. To quote the passage:

"Metheglin," Stanchion informed me. "Try it and you can thank me later. Where I'm from, they say a man will come back from the dead to get a drink of it."

I tipped an imaginary hat to him, "At your service."

"Yours and your family's," he replied politely.

I took a drink from the tall tankard to give myself a chance to collect my wits, and something wonderful happened in my mouth: cool spring honey, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, pressed grape, burnt apple, sweet pear, and clear well water. That is all I have to say of metheglin. If you haven't tried it, then i am sorry I cannot describe it properly. If you have, you don't need me to remind you what it is like.

So basically... How hard is it to make, and does anyone have a recipe that sonds like the nectar described above?

That's just mead made with spices. I'm about to kick off a cinnamon mead which would be called a metheglin. It's not very difficult at all. Search this place for mead info and recipes or check out GotMead.

Thanks! I shall endeavor to make one of these I think...

Tea bags in a lot of recipes? Why tea?

If you want to try one, check out the Juniper Mountain Honey Wine from Redstone Meadery.

According to Redstone's website (http://www.redstonemeadery.com/store/catalog/Where-to-Buy-sp-11.html) you should be able to get it in the Chattanooga area.

fulkrum78 wrote:Thanks! I shall endeavor to make one of these I think...

Tea bags in a lot of recipes? Why tea?

The tea adds tannic acid. Many mead recipes call for the addition of something called "acid blend". This is needed to balance the ph of the must to get into the right range for the yeast and for flavor balance.

The metheglin I have working right now doesn't use either but makes up for it with the addition of oranges and limes. Take a look at the Ancient Orange recipe on the gotmead site.

This reminds me that I need to go taste the stuff to see if it is anywhere close to ready. I had forgotten all about it until this topic came up in chat last night. I will report back after I find it and try a glass.

Wayne

How much of a pain is it to make? And how long do you need to let it sit?

Great site Bug, thanks!

You can also make a standard mead and "dry hop" the spices afterward. Ken Schramm metioned this with the vanilla bean in the recipe he gave on the Mead episode of the Jamil Show. The last metheglin I made, I took a 5 gallon batch of Orange Blossom mead, racked 2 gallons onto oak cubes, racked another 2 gallons onto the spice mix(cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla bean, and cloves), and bottled the last gallon straight. I think I left the spices and oak in there for 4-6 weeks.