Making Rose Petal Mead August 16, 2014

 Josh and I made mead on Saturday.  He has the mead/beer making knowledge, and I have the honey.  We're just doing it for fun.  Of course we hope it will be delicious, but it is mostly just for fun and the pleasure of doing something together - talk about two peoples' interests intersecting perfectly!

This is me pulling the petals off the roses.  I picked these early in the morning before Josh and Amy arrived because in this heat the roses become dessicated pretty quickly.

 The rose petals.  We also added a few sprigs of mint as well.  I find it both mystifying and humorous how much emphasis is placed on sterilizing all the equipment very very carefully.  Then after all that sterilization we dump a bunch of dirty plant material into the liquid. 

 We only made a half batch of mead because we wanted a trial run before we "went for it".  This is a half gallon of water and half gallon jug of honey, so this pot was adequate for the job.  In the photo above and below we have added the honey to the boiling water.  This is called "must".

 Above, the team watching the must cook.

 Above, the must is poured into the primary fermentation vessel, or as I like to call it, the bucket, which has a couple of chilled gallons of water inside already.

 Above, we have already added the yeast and vigorously  stirred it.  Then we put on the lid with that little thing (don't know the name of it) on top that rises and falls when the fermentation begins and gases begin to form.

 Above, Josh with the honey and the secondary fermentation vessel, or as I like to call it, the big bottle.  In about two weeks we will transfer the mead from the primary vessel into this vessel.