Recipe - Barkshack Ginger Mead

7 pound Light honey
1 One half pound Corn sugar
1 ounce To 6 ounce fresh ginger root
1 One half teaspoon Gypsum
3 teaspoon Yeast nutrient OR...
One fourth ounce Yeast extract
One fourth teaspoon Irish moss powder
1 pound To 6 lbs crushed fruit
3 ounce Lemongrass, or other spices
1 pack Champagne yeast
Three fourths cup Corn sugar (bottling)

Boil 1 One half gallons of water, the honey, corn sugar, grated ginger root,
gypsum, citric acid, irish moss, and yeast nutrient for 15 minutes. Turn
the heat off. If you're going to add fruit (this is entirely optional, as
are the spices) then fish out as much of the ginger root shavings as you
can. Then add your crushed fruit or concentrate and let it steep for 1015
minutes. Some ideas for fruit are: Sour cherries, blackberries,
raspberries, blueberries, chokecherries, rhubarb, grapes, grape
concentrate... go wild here. Pour the entire must (unsparged if fruit is
added) into an open primary fermenter and add about 3 gallons of cold
water. When cooled to 70 to 78 degrees, hydrate and pitch your yeast.
After the specific gravity has fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days, whichever
comes first, rack the brew into a secondary fermenter. Leave the fruit
behind. Age 1 to 1 One half months in the secondary fermenter. Bottle with 3/4
cups priming sugar. If using spices or herbs as a flavoring, add them now
by making a "tea" and adding them at bottling time. The flavors will be
fresher and sharper. Some suggested spices are lemon grass, citrus peel
(just the zest, not the white part), etc. If using cloves, cinnamon, or
hops go lightly on these. Adding flavors in this manner also allows you to
use different flavors in the same batch, since you're just adding a "tea"
to the mead at bottling time. You can bottle two or three flavors at once
this way! This mead should age from 3 months up to a year to allow the
harsh flavors to mellow out. Tasting at 6 months will show approximate
flavor profile. Serve well chilled.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini