Cinnamon Mead Wine

We had a successful Mead Wine making workshop this past weekend I promised to post a dynamite Cinnamon Med recipe on the site so here it is:

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 cloves, lightly cracked
• 2 sticks of cinnamon, cracked
• dash of cardamom
• 2 to 4 teaspoons fresh lemon zest (just the thin yellow part, not the white part of the peel)
• 1 quart (3 lbs.) of light colored, raw (unprocessed) honey (get this at a health food store – don’t use a processed honey like “Sue Bee”)
• 1 packet of wine yeast*

Directions

1. Add cloves, cinnamon,cardamon to 3 quarts of water, heat to boiling.
2. Add 1 quart (3 lbs.) of honey to the pot and stir until dissolved.
3. Simmer  15 minutes while skimming the white foam (proteins) off the top.
4. Turn off the heat, add the lemon zest.
5. Allow to cool to room temperature overnight.
6. Make a yeast starter mixture by mixing your yeast with 6 ounces of apple juice, stir and set aside in a 70 F area.
7. The next day pour your honey and water mixture and pour it into your Primary Fermenter keeping the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamon and lemon zest in the mixture..  If there is any left over save it in a capped jar for Step 15.
8. Add 1/2 t of Fermaid K and 1/4 t of DAP to your honey and water mixture and stir.
9. Check the alcohol potential (specific gravity) of the must to confirm it is what you want. The Specific Gravity is typically around  or % Sugar Potential.  Adding 1 C of Sugar will raise the Specific Gravity to about or  about of % Alcohol Potential.  Adjust it if you want a higher alcohol content of your final Mead..
10. Check the pH of the must.  You should be aiming for a pH of 3.8 or 3.9.  Adjust if necessary.
11. Add the apple juice /yeast starter you made the night before to your honey/water mixture and stir.
12. Place Primary Fermenter lid on Primary Fermenter.
13. Insert Airlock into hole in lid and fill airlock 1/2 full with 100 proof alcohol
14. Wait 2 days and add another 1/2 t of Fermaid K and 1/4 t of DAP to the mixture and stir well.
15. At the end of 1 week from starting fermentation pour the must from your Primary Fermenter (2 gallon bucket) into your secondary Fermenter (Glass 1 gallon jug) using a large funnel.  Place a paper towel or coffee filter in the bottom of the funnel to catch the cinnamon sticks, cloves and tiny bits of lemon zest and cardamon in the mixture.
16. Install the cork and airlock in the mouth of the Secondary Fermenter (the gallon jug) and leave sit undisturbed for 3 weeks.
17. After 3 week rack (siphon) the wine off of the Lees (dead yeast at the bottom of the gallon jug) into another clean container.  Clean out your Secondary Fermenter and pour your wine back into it and top it off with either water or with the saved leftover liquid in Step 6.
18. Let it sit and clear for another 4 weeks .  At this time it the wine is clear enough to you liking you can bottle it and then age it for about 6 months.  If it is not clear enough rack it and let it sit another 2 or 3 times.