"Viking Cherry" (Traditional Honey-Mead With Cherry Juice) Honig Klause Heidenau 6% ABV

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Make a hibiscus tea with 1.5 gallons of water. Bring to a boil then turn off and allow hibiscus to steep for 30 minutes. Allow your mead to age in the bottles for at least a few months, or even up to a year, to develop its full flavor profile. Once it has aged, pour a glass, and enjoy your homemade Viking mead! In Old Norse, mead was often referred to as “mjöðr” or “mjød.” Norse mead, or Viking Mead, is a term used to describe the traditional mead brewed and consumed by the Vikings, which was typically made from fermented honey, water, yeast, and sometimes additional flavorings such as herbs, spices, or fruits. The mead played an important role in Norse mythology and was believed to have divine origins, particularly in the story of the Mead of Poetry. What role did mead play in Viking celebrations? The original Viking blod mead recipe used the hibiscus flower to add essential tannins, flavors, and colors to the plain mead. This beautiful flowering shrub creates sweet and tart flavors that are perfectly balanced for the palate. It also offers various health benefits that can help lower high blood pressure and cholesterol or treat heart diseases. You can adapt the quantities in this recipe to match the capacity of your demijohn or carboy. I use a five litre glass carboy which is large enough to make four and a half litres of mead.

The halls dedicated to Viking Mid were the main venues for socializing, eating, and drinking. Simply put, these takeaways were created for drinking. How did they get the Viking ingredients in antiquity? These toasts served to express gratitude, seek protection, or request guidance from the divine realm. Mead, with its mythical and divine associations, was the perfect conduit for these ritualistic expressions of devotion and reverence. The Drinking Horn: A Symbol of Viking Mead Culture But the reality is that the Vikings did not know what yeast was and that yeast was needed to make mead. They collected honey and fruits and collected yeast from their meadows. Allow the must to cool to around 70°F (21°C). You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath. Once cooled, carefully pour the must into your sanitized fermenting vessel using a funnel. Sanitize all of your brewing equipment using a sanitizer like Star San or Iodophor, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Good sanitation is crucial to prevent any unwanted bacteria or wild yeast from spoiling your mead.Traditional flavorings and additives included raspberries, elderberries, cherries, hawthorn berries, crabapple, rowan berries, and wildflowers including violets, dandelions, cover, and rose hips. For preserving effects and added flavoring, they also used cumin, pepper, cardamom, and hops. If you’re new to making mead or fermented beverages, a couple tips to remember is to only use the petals and not the greens (to avoid bitterness) and only forage from pesticide-free areas. If you tried some of the mead before you bottled it, you would notice that it has mellowed out and now tastes less alcoholic than before. Beware though, if you used mead yeast and the same quantity of honey as in the recipe it will be slightly stronger than wine, around 15% ABV. This connection to Norse mythology, coupled with the revival of mead making and a growing interest in Viking culture, ensures that the legacy of Viking mead remains alive and well in modern times. Viking Mead Q&A What is Viking Mead? When you see that the mead is almost level with the top of the bottle, pinch the tube closed before removing it from the bottle and placing it in the next one. This should leave approximately two centimetres (an inch) of empty space at the top of the bottle. Continue until you have filled all the bottles. A type of mead that is made from honey which has been caramelised. This yields a dark, clear mead which has a rich, complex flavour. Braggot

Put the hibiscus flowers into half-gallon boiling water to make hibiscus tea. Let it steep for at least 30 minutes. The story begins with the creation of Kvasir, the wisest of all beings, born from the saliva of the Æsir and Vanir gods as a symbol of their truce after a great war. Kvasir traveled the world, sharing his wisdom with mankind. Drinking horns were not only functional but also held symbolic significance in Viking society. They represented the wealth and status of their owners, as well as the hospitality and generosity of the host during feasts. Leave them to warm up for about half an hour. This step ensures that the honey is as runny as possible and helps the ingredients mix together as smoothly as possible during the next step. Half fill the demijohn with water before pouring in the honey Step 3: Thoroughly mix the water and honey I usually move the fermenter into the kitchen the night before I will be bottling and place it on the work surface. This allows any residue which has been disturbed to settle down to the bottom of the carboy. Wrap the carboy with a towel to prevent it from being exposed to the light, which may cause off flavours.The mead recipe is one of the oldest recipes written by Archbishop Olaus Magnus in 1520. He wrote that it can be drunk for up to 8 days, but the longer it is kept, the better and purer it will be. If this is your first mead experience, I would suggest going with a more simple brew, keeping the more complex varieties (flavors, so many to choose from!) for after your first bottle.

This Viking blod mead recipe uses the complete ingredients (yes, including hops) and adds some spirits to give your mead a new twist. You can use vodka and other neutral spirits that do not have too much flavor, as it may affect the taste of your mead. This recipe will make more than one gallon of fortified mead with at least 20% alcohol content. Mead Ingredients Viking festivals and mead tasting events have become increasingly popular around the world, providing opportunities for people to immerse themselves in the history, culture, and flavors of the Viking Age. At its core, Viking mead was a simple concoction made by diluting honey with water and fermenting it to produce alcohol. The Vikings primarily used honey, water, and yeast to create this cherished beverage, frequently incorporating additional flavorings to enrich the taste and develop unique mead variations. These supplementary ingredients encompassed a range of fruits, such as berries or apples; herbs like heather or yarrow; and spices such as cinnamon or cloves. Some mead recipes even featured hops, contributing a mild bitterness and aiding in the mead’s preservation. What is Viking Blood Mead?At the heart of these feasts was the consumption of mead, which flowed freely, symbolizing the host’s generosity and wealth. This is a term that has gone on to have many different meanings in various cultures, but it is believed that the first grog was a mead with additional ingredients – namely bog myrtle, juniper and grape wine. Thankfully, our meads have become a bit more sophisticated since then! Hydromel Lower the other end of the siphon tube into one of the bottles until it touches the bottom. Pump the auto-siphon twice to start the flow of mead into the bottle. In a large pot or brewing kettle, heat the water to around 100°F (38°C). Remove the pot from the heat source and gently stir in the honey until it’s completely dissolved. This mixture is called the “must.”

Many have expressed to me the idea that Vikings could not have made this mead. Well, they’re right, since it came about 200 years after they were no longer Vikings, but their reason is the secondary ingredient of cherries. They claim cherries were not in Scandinavia at that time. Well, this claim assumes that the term “Viking Blood” originated in Scandinavia. We have no proof either way, but, if we go off the premise that it didn’t, then… a cherry mead is quite possible and likely. However, cherries were grown in Denmark in that time. As a matter of fact, Denmark is known for making THE BEST CHERRY WINE in the world… and t his article hints at cherries being grown there in 1305. In some rituals, mead was also consumed by the participants as a means of achieving a heightened state of consciousness, enabling them to communicate with the gods or their ancestors. Remember, brewing mead is an art, and experimenting with different ingredients and techniques will help you create a unique and delicious mead that reflects your personal taste and pays homage to the Viking tradition. Cheers! Shop Viking Jewelry Mead was an important element in Viking religious ceremonies and offerings, used to honor the gods and seek their favor.Bottle your mead and wait! Using smaller bottles allows for more testing as you wait months/years. Try a bottle at six months, one year, and two years. You’ll be amazed at the difference as the strong alcohol presence mellows and other flavors emerge. Sounds a lot more intimidating than it actually is, Viking blood mead is mead brewed with cherries or berries to give it a pinkish/red colour. How Do You Drink Mead? Serve slightly chilled in a wine glass as an aperitif or over ice with fruits at room temperature in a Portwine glass. It is excellent as dessert wine, or for a winter warmer, heat the liquid without boiling and serve in a mug. Viking mead, made from fermented honey, held deep cultural and religious significance to the Vikings. It features prominently in Norse mythology as the “Nectar of the Gods.”