Medovukha (медовуха, honey mead)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A 4-litre glass fermentation jar
• •Airlock or clean cloth and loose lid
• •Fine strainer
• •Clean bottles, preferably swing-top or wine bottles
• •Funnel

Instructions

1. 1

   Sanitise everything

   Wash a 4-litre glass jar, spoon, funnel, strainer, and bottles, then sanitise them with boiling water or a no-rinse brewing sanitiser. Mead is generous, but it is not vague about cleanliness. You want honey yeast, not whatever was living in the cupboard.

   If you have an airlock, use it. If not, a clean cloth for the first lively days and a loose lid after that will do, but never seal the jar tight during active fermentation.
2. 2

   Make the syta

   Warm one litre of the water just enough that your finger can sit in it comfortably, then stir in the honey until it loosens completely. Add the remaining cool water. This is syta, honey thinned into drink, and it should smell like flowers after rain, not cooked sugar.

   If your tap water smells of chlorine, boil it first and let it cool fully. Chlorine can slow or stop the yeast.
3. 3

   Add the fruit

   Tip the unwashed raspberries, raisins, lemon zest, and thyme or hops if using into the jar. Pour over the syta and stir with a clean spoon. Add a spoonful of lemon juice, taste, and stop when the sweetness has a small bright edge. The berries bring wild yeast on their skins, so don't rinse away the very thing you're asking to work.

4. 4

   Start the ferment

   Cover the jar with clean cloth and leave it somewhere warm but out of direct sun. Stir with a clean spoon once or twice a day for the first few days, pressing the floating berries back under the liquid. You are looking for little bubbles at the edge, a soft hiss when you stir, and the smell changing from honey jar to berry bread.

   Wild yeast can be stubborn. If nothing bubbles or smells alive after three days, stir in the wine yeast. That is not failure; it is the modern cook keeping the drink moving.
5. 5

   Strain and settle

   When the berries have gone pale and the liquid is actively fizzing, strain into a clean jar, pressing gently but not mashing the fruit into mud. Fit an airlock or cover loosely. Let it ferment until the bubbling slows and the mead tastes sweet first, then faintly sour at the back of the tongue.

6. 6

   Bottle with care

   Pour into clean swing-top bottles or still wine bottles, leaving sediment behind. For a still medovukha, bottle only when bubbling has nearly stopped. For a light sparkle, add no more than 1/2 teaspoon honey per 500ml bottle, close, and check daily until the bottle feels lively when opened.

   Pressure is the step that does not forgive pride. Chill sparkling bottles as soon as they are lively, open over the sink, and never leave sweet active mead sealed at room temperature for weeks.
7. 7

   Age and pour

   Move the bottles to the fridge or a cold cupboard and let the sharp young edges soften. A month is good, three is better. Pour chilled into small glasses: pale gold, honeyed, lightly tart, with raspberry in the nose rather than jam on the tongue.

Chef Tips

• •Raw linden honey gives a high floral note, buckwheat honey makes it darker and more serious. Wildflower honey is lovely and easier to find.
• •Use organic raspberries if you are relying on wild yeast, and don't wash them. If that makes you nervous, use wine yeast and rinse the fruit; that version is a bit more modern and much more predictable.
• •This is alcohol. Label the bottles, keep them away from children, and treat pressure in sealed bottles with respect.
• •If you see fuzzy mold, a rotten smell, or anything that makes your shoulders climb up to your ears, discard the batch. Sour, yeasty, fruity, and gently alcoholic are good smells. Dirty socks and cellar rot are not.

Advance Preparation

• •Primary fermentation usually takes 5 to 10 days, depending on the warmth of your room and the strength of the yeast.
• •After straining, let the medovukha settle and mature for at least 3 to 4 weeks. Three months gives a smoother drink.
• •Make it well before a holiday table. There is no convincing honey to hurry once it has chosen its pace.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 375g)