Makin Nectar

My uncle Clay Daulton, who runs a cattle ranch out in California, "hires" out his fields during the winter to a beekeeper, who needs a place to store his hives until spring, when the almond orchards up the road will pay him to bring his pollenators round. Of course, Clay doesn't get paid in money, he gets paid in honey. Lots of it. So when we dropped round over Christmas, we took a couple of cases off his hands. And like any good Lemming, I'm making alcohol out of it.

Never done mead before so I looked up a few recipes on the net. A historical one from 1669 struck me as fairly simple, though some of the others with citrus in them sounded good, and I dont even know what agrimony _is_. The website also mentioned that you should be careful not to use chlorinated tapwater, as the yeast grows slower on honey and can be more delicate, so the chlorine can put it off its game. Hmmm. where oh where are we going to find a source of unchlorinated water? Oh yeah:

Thus was born the idea for Daulton Ranch Snowmelt Mead. First the snow:

Add a little citrus, for zest:

Stir well:

And for some reason, dropping it back to room temp to pitch the yeast didnt take nearly as long as usual...

We'll let ya know how it comes out.