Spiced Mead - aka Metheglin

My wife and I broke open a bottle of our spiced Mead - just to see how it's doing as it ages. It's a little early for this particular batch. We brewed it in September 2007 and split it into two 2.5 gallon batches. One batch we spiced, the other batch is natural. A spiced Mead is also known as a metheglin. We brewed this one and then spiced it to be ready for Christmas 2008. This is one very smooth metheglin! As you can see it is a beautiful golden color, and very clear. We brewed the 5 gallon batch using the following recipe:

16.5 lbs clover honey

1 cup Demerrara sugar

1 package Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast

We heated 2 gallons of water up so that it was just under boiling - about 180 degrees, and added the honey and sugar. We "cooked" it at this temp for about 15 minutes, then cooled it off in an ice bath. We then poured the must into a fermenter and added the yeast. It sat in the primary for about 2 months, and then we racked it to a secondary. It sat in the secondary until May 5, and then we separated it into two 2.5 gallon batches and spiced 1 batch. We wanted a holiday mead, so we picked some holiday spices. In a nylon hop bag, we put 2 crushed cinnamon sticks, a crushed nutmeg nut, 21 crushed allspice seeds, and a crushed vanilla bean. We pulled the spice bag after about 3 weeks, and then bottled it. It's been bottled since May26, so we couldn't wait any longer and had to try it. This is a very sweet mead (which is how we like it) and has just the right amount of spices. As smooth and tasty as it is now, I can't imagine it could get any better by Christmas - but I know it will. If you have any questions about how we made this, just post a comment, and I will respond. Mead is truly the nectar of the Gods!