Make Mead Like a Viking: Traditional Techniques for Brewing Natural, Wild-Fermented, Honey-Based Wines and Beers

A complete, practical, and entertaining guide to using the best ingredients and minimal equipment to create flavorful brewsincluding wildcrafted meads, bragots, tej, grog, honey beers, and more!   "A great guide . . . full of practical information and fascinating lore."Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation  Ancient societies brewed flavorful and healing meads, ales, and wines for millennia using only intuition, storytelling, and knowledge passed down through generationsno fancy, expensive equipment or degrees in chemistry needed. In Make Mead Like a Viking, homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described Appalachian Yeti Viking Jereme Zimmerman summons the bryggjemann of the ancient Norse to demonstrate how homebrewing meadarguably the worlds oldest fermented alcoholic beveragecan be not only uncomplicated but fun.  Inside, readers will learn techniques for brewing: Sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meads Melomels (fruit meads) Metheglins (spiced meads) Ethiopian tej (honey wine) Flower and herbal meads Bragots Honey beers Country wines Viking grog And there's more for aspiring Vikings to explore, including: The importance of local and unpasteurized honey for both flavor and health benefits What modern homebrewing practices, materials, and chemicals workbut arent necessary How to grow and harvest herbs and collect wild botanicals for use in healing, nutritious, and magical meads, beers, and wines How to use botanicals other than hops for flavoring and preserving mead, ancient ales, and gruits The rituals, mysticism, and communion with nature that were integral components of ancient brewing Whether youve been intimidated by modern homebrewings cost or seeming complexity in the past or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Zimmermans welcoming style and spirit will usher you into exciting new territory. Grounded in history and mythology, butlike Odins ever-seeking eyefocusing continually on the future of self-sufficient food culture, Make Mead Like a Viking is a practical and entertaining guide for the ages. "Adventurous mead makers or brewers who want to move beyond the basics will find plenty to savor here."Library Journal