Tuesday, September 2, 2014

sweet victory!


That, my friends, is homebrew blackberry mead. (Also evidence that I need to write about knitting. But that's a different post.) I couldn't resist breaking into it this evening and trying it out, and I am pleased to report that it is quite drinkable. (This is my first brewing experience! That's a good bar to aim for.)

This was low-tech wild-fermented brew; I mixed three cups of honey with twelve cups of water in a bucket, then added a quart of foraged blackberries. I left it alone, stirring occasionally, for a few days, until the wild yeasts had gotten a chance to colonize it and start it frothing up. Then it went into a jug with an airlock to do its thing, and it has been there for... a month? six weeks?

It's still sweet at this point, just slightly fizzy, and the honey flavor comes to the fore first with the blackberries arriving as an aftertaste. I am so proud of myself.