The Meading of Life

“Mead is the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage, known since Babylonian times. Wine made from fermented honey, rather than grapes, mead was the nectar of the gods on Mt. Olympus, the celebrated drink of poets, lovers and kings. It has long been touted as an elixir of health, fertility and longevity. The Scandinavian word for honeymoon is derived, in part, from an ancient Northern European custom in which newlyweds, for the first month of their married life, drank a daily cup of honeyed wine called mead. But despite its rich history, mead is not well known in modern times. Many people assume that mead must be very sweet, but this is not necessarily the case. Like any other wine, the flavor is determined by a variety of factors, from the quality of the initial ingredients to the handling at every step along the way. The honey base makes mead a natural for blending with a variety of fruits and other wines.” (www.honeymoonmead.net)

If one’s never tasted mead or fermented anything, then I encourage you all to give it a try. Watching the activity of an active fermentation is very cool and exciting. Your first 1 gallon batch will run you about $25 and each batch there after will be the cost of honey, yeast and water or about $10. Mead, I believe, pairs well with a light salad, fish or chicken, not all mead is sweet and can be served up dry. Of course it also goes well as a compliment to deserts or just as an after dinner aperitif.

Equipment can be found at any local homebrew shop (LHBS) or online, to find you nearest LHBS, check out the Beer Fly directory by clicking on your state and then navigating to homebrew shops.

Here’s the list:
1 gal jug $4.95
Airlock $1.10 (go 3 piece easier to clean)
Beer Bottle Brush $2.95
Iodophor $4 (no rinse sanitizer)
1 stopper that fits jug with a hole in it $1

As for your ingredient list:
D47 Yeast $1.10
Honey (3lbs) $8 (this should put you in the neighborhood of 9% ABV)
1 gal spring water $1

Here’s the process (takes about an hour, not including cleanup).
1. Wash and rinse all equipment that will ever come in contact with your must (mead before fermentation), use the iodophor to sanitize everything. THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT! if you don’t you could get off flavors from bacteria. You will mix up iodophor  (per the instructions) and water in a bucket and use this as your sanitizer solution for this batch.
2. Warm the honey using a double boiler concept. Put the entire jar of honey into a pot of water and bring up the temp. DO NOT boil. Your goal is to make it easy to blend and soften the honey.
3. While waiting on step 2, follow the instructions on the yeast package to re-hydrate the yeast.
4. In a larger pot or plastic bucket, mix 3/4 gallon of water with your 3lbs of honey and mix well with a sanitized metal spoon.
5. Check temp on the must if under 83ºF then pitch your yeast slurry
6. Stir it all up but don’t be super aggressive this time. Our goal is to aerate the must creating an environment for the yeast to grow.
7. Dump the bucket contents into your 1 gal glass jug
8. Fill your airlock to the line on the side with sanitized water solution, attach airlock to the rubber stopper and then attach to your jug.
9. Place jug in a dark spot/corner that is in the neighborhood of 68-70ºF. A basement closet usually is the best.
10. Wait 2 weeks. Then siphon the mead into a clean sanitize bucket, leave behind the stuff on the bottom of the jug post primary fermentation, clean & sanitize your 1 gal jug and then siphon mead back into jug, reattach clean & sanitized airlock/stopper and age the mead for at least a month, longer is better. When you’ve aged it and are ready to bottle I suggest you use swing top Grolsch style beer bottles. Mead can age anywhere from 3 months to 10 years. Then Enjoy!

For more information on this topic check out the following websites:
Hightest’s Honey Haven
Got Mead
Home Brew Talk | Mead Forum

For an all around great book on the subject, purchase:
The Compleat Meadmaker

Happy Fermenting!

Yslexdia

Well, I thought I’d briefly share a Friday funny, if you’ve got some time there are more to be found here: Snorg Tees.

Today is the Day

In probably one of the first times in my adult life the amount of pride and honor I feel to be an American is today. I given much thought to trying to remember the last time I’ve ever been truly moved by something we as a nation have done. Again, today is the day. I’m not some flag waving nationalist either. This was my sixth election to participate in and I never thought that in my life I’d ever participate in such a historically memorable election. The right to vote as a democracy, is part of what being an American is all about and for the longest time I believed that my vote didn’t really count. Especially the last two elections and the shadiness that surrounded the outcome. I admit it and nor did I think I was alone. To endure the last eight years, with major advances in the reduction of civil liberties, a war that has torn and divided this country into two separatist ideologies, and left it in one of the greatest financial crises of historical proportions, means that we need a new direction. Today is the day that we begin down that path.

Recently, I’ve really begun to reevaluate it means to be to be American. I’ve discussed the lack of voice in our country mostly through the means of art. Where is  the music and visual arts of this generation, who, if not, should be angry? Myself included. Dissonance brings about the revolution of change. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution define the intent of our Founding Fathers, yet the verbose leaves room for interpretation by all. I believe that the ability to speak your mind free from condementation, equality from race, sex and sexuality, and the freedom to dream and create your own destiny without interference are the basis for all things American. I might even treat myself to a hot dog today too.

Many may think that we all “drank the Koolaid,” but in acutality the work has just begun. The integrity of the President is one that I’ve never thought such a politician could possess. Today is the day that the work begins, turning this Nation around into a direction that works for all is a major undertaking. I honestly believe that Change has Come.

 

Pura Vida.

Palin Joke

Sarah Palin was seated next to a little girl on an airplane. She turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to Sarah, ‘What would you like to talk about?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Sarah. ‘How about What Changes I Should Make To America and she smiles.

‘OK, ‘ she said. ‘That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’

Sarah, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’

To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to change America when you don’t know shit?’

A Roadblock To My Art

As an artist the need to create is a need. It’s not a want, or an i’d like to, its something that has to happen. Now with that said, just like anything in life, there are roadblocks, that come and go. Mostly all are self afflicted, it’s the overcoming that helps to take the work to a new level. I find myself in this matrix of confusion. I haven’t shot anything really in months. There’s excuses I can make, that are probably quasi valid, but in the end, there’s no excuse for not making an image. This dark period in my work depicts a feeling of a plateau and a complete lack of direction. Of course my head is filled with numerous ideas, but none of them are ‘local’. Therefore I keep creating these scenarios in my head to only drive myself more crazy. I feel inadequate as a shooter right now, and my eyes are not ’seeing’ much of anything these days. I feel like i’ve let myself down and my compass is spinning out of control. Here’s what I do know. I’m a storyteller and always have been, that’s a trait, yet working as a photojournalist is working for peanuts. I now have a mountain of student debt and I couldn’t even work as a photojournalist because it won’t even cover the bills. Maybe I’m just being down right now. As a human and as an artist I believe this is my dukka. Based on a Buddhist ideology: “The first noble truth of the Buddha is that people experience dukka, a feeling of dissatisfaction or suffering, a feeling that something is wrong. We feel this dissatisfaction because we’re not in tune with our true nature, our basic goodness. And we aren’t going to be fundamentally, spiritually content until we get in tune” (The Sun, 01/2005, issue 349, Pg 7). I can sit here, try to extrapolate what in the hell is going on, or I can pick up a camera and take a walk.

Human Veal

A veal pen is roughly 8′ deep, 4′ wide and 4′ high. Typically Holstein bull calves arrive weighing around 100lbs and leave 14-16 weeks later weighing somewhere around 320-370 lbs. The placement of the solid-sided open-front boxed pen is typically placed facing south to allow the low winter sun to penetrate into the hutch and the open end allows for natural ventilation.

I mention this because a veal pen isn’t much different than my cube at work. Really. I sit in a 6′ deep by 6′ wide box that too is about 4′ high. I started here somewhere around 175lbs. and am now in the neighborhood of 195 lbs. Granted it’s been more time than the 14-16 weeks the calves get and I do have the luxury of being able to get up and move around a bit during the day. The other interesting fact is that I too have a window, yet I am not facing the south and unlike a Holstein bull, I don’t get fresh air, I get OSHA approved forced circulated air. I’m really not comparing my life to that of a piece of veal, but there are similarities though.

I’d just call this food for thought.

Something Found

Have been busy breaking down ‘the space’ for the pending move next weekend. Which has consumed so much of my time, that I’ve neglected my writing. In the process of boxing and cleaning, I came across this buried in a bag of mine, it’s handwritten and not dated.

 

The drowning in my mind,
rattles around,
ricocheting off the neurons,
trying to make sense of it all
with unfulfilled answers,
LOST,
Nowhere to go
TRAPPED,
between the nonsense,
and the lack of direction.
Yet with each breath,
and every exhale,
a little bit escapes,
making the day a little less confusing,
after all life is a struggle.