Virginia RenFest and Mead

Virginia has its own renaissance festival located at the Lake Anna Winery. Its on the small side, but for a winery, this festival should be a major attraction. They have several food vendors, lots of games for the children and some nicely priced crafts and clothing.

It was so hot when we went, we skipped the wine tasting, so there is no review on the wines at the Lake Anna Winery.

But I bought a kit for making mead, along with 2 pounds of honey. The term “honeymoon” has been associated with drinking mead during the month long celebration following a wedding in pagan times.

I cooked the stuff up last night, and it takes about a week to complete its fermentation. I’m looking forward to finding out how this goes. I will be sure to update with the results.

The making of the mead seemed pretty simple. I took a gallon of distilled water, brewed a tea made from cinnamon, spice seeds and dried blueberries. I added 2 pounds of honey to the rest of the distilled water, and shook it hard for about 5 minutes until the honey was completely dissolved in the water. Once the tea cooled, I added that to the water jug and then added the yeast. I took a piece of filtering cloth and tied it around the top to allow the gas to escape, and set it in a dark place to ferment for a week. I am supposed to do a sample taste on Thursday or Friday to see if its at the right sweetness/dryness, and when its right, I am supposed to cap it and put it in the fridge.

If it turns out well, this can be a fun distraction for me and I will try to experiment with other recipes.