I finally found the book where I wrote my Lemon Balm Mead recipe last year. It was around the same time as I started this year. Next week in fact. I had to make some substitutions with what I had. 

Here are my notes. 

Adapted from Practical Self Reliance - Lemon Balm Mead recipe

June 9, 2020

My Lemon Balm Mead

Ingredients:

1 gallon water

1 lemon, sliced (I had an orange)

⅛ cup raisins, chopped

(or, 1 tsp yeast nutrient, I used raisins)

1 cup strongly brewed black tea (I only had vanilla earl grey so it did affect the scent and flavour)

(or 1 ¼ tep tannin powder)

6 cups fresh lemon balm leaves, gently backed

3 lbs honey (about 4 cups) I had 2 cups so I used 1 cup of sugar too

½ packet champagne yeast ( I didn’t use any yeast)

Method:

1. Heat ¾ gallon water in a stockpot to near boiling and remove from heat. 

Add sliced lemon (orange), brewed black tea or tannin powder (vanilla earl grey) and honey (honey/sugar combo).

1. Stir to dissolve honey.

2. Add lemon balm leaves and allow to infuse for 15 minutes. Then strain out the herbs and lemon. (I left it all together for 24 hrs).

3. Poured the strained mixture into a 1 gallon carboy.

4. Add cool water to top up the brew, filling to the neck of the fermenter. 

5. When the mead is at room temperature, add yeast (I used raisins).

6. Cap and allow to ferment for 1-2 months.

7. Sciphon the mead into a clean carboy, leaving any sediment behind. Recap and allow to ferment for another 1-2 months. 

8. Bottle using wine bottles and corks and allow the mead to bottle condition for at least 1 month, preferably longer, before drinking. 

9.  (I had read so many articles about mead taking a year to ferment properly. This was supposed to be a fast or hard ferment because of the nutrition that the raisins add. Because I didn’t add yeast I thought I would allow this to mature for the full year. I also completely forgot to rack it. It lived in the back of a cool dark cupboard until I just racked it this week. 

Some things to keep in mind:

• Fresh lemon balm is best. Dried will make it too tannic and bitter.

• Black tea or tannin powder adds the tannins necessary to balance out the body of the homemade wine. 

• After it was made it smells nothing like lemon balm - the orange and vanilla earl grey were strong - flavorwise who knows how it will taste. 

June 20

• When burping it today it had a slightly rubbery scent. This was odd, and as per usual, sent me down a rabbit hole of inquiry. 

• Apparently it's the results of mercaptans - organic molecules that form from Hydrogen sulphide and ethanol. This occurs in ferments where the yeast isn’t provided with enough assimilable nitrogen. homebrewtalk.com

• The hard ferment also seems to be mostly over - not sure if I should add more raisins to add more nutrition?

It smells amazing now, very sweet and floral but doesn’t taste sweet at all - grownup lemonade.