21 6 The Honey-Makers 



three days a working. And then tun it up in barrels, tying 

 at every tap-hole (by a pack thread) a little bag of beaten 

 cloves and mace, to the value of an ounce. 



" It must stand half a year before it is drunk." 



Such was the mead of good Queen Bess. 



We of to-day would like to taste this beverage so agree- 

 able to the royal palate of another age, but Elizabeth's 

 recipe offers difficulties which few will take the trouble 

 to surmount. 



Bevan gives the following recipe for mead, which though 

 it lacks the most attractive ingredients of the queen's drink 

 possesses the advantages of being understandable and 

 simple : — ■ 



" Dissolve an ounce of cream of tartar in five gallons of 

 boiling water; pour the solution off clear upon twenty 

 pounds of fine honey, boil them together, and remove the 

 scum as it rises. Towards the end of the boiling add an 

 ounce of fine hops ; about ten minutes afterwards put the 

 liquor into a tub to cool ; when reduced to a temperature 

 of 70° or 80° Fahrenheit, according to the season, add a slice 

 of bread toasted, and smeared over with a very little yeast ; 

 the smaller the quantity the better, for yeast invariably 

 spoils the flavor of wines, and where there is a sufficiency 

 of extractive matter in the ingredients employed, it should 

 never be introduced : if fermented in wooden vessels none 

 is required. The liquor should now stand in a warm room, 

 and be stirred occasionally. As soon as it begins to carry a 

 bead it should be tunned, and the cask filled up from time 

 to time from the reserve, till the fermentation has nearly 

 subsided. It should now be bunged down, leaving open a 

 small peg-hole ; in a few days this may also be closed, 

 and in about twelve months the wine will be fit to bottle." 



Those impatient to test the result of their brewing may 

 make their mead thus : — 



