#i feel like a witch

[maniculum]

Meadmaking

Hey all, Zoe here - the other half of this blog, and I decided to try my hand at posting - particularly my little mead-making project. Even though Mac is the medieval drinks expert, I just like mead as a drink and I feel like a potion-brewing witch when I make it. Beer was the more popular drink during the middle ages, as it was cheaper and more widely available, but I think it's nasty and who doesn't want to feel like Early English royalty?

As I dug into mead-making, I fell into a SUPER deep medieval-mead-making rabbit hole. I'm not a mead expert, and I'd highly recommend Susan Varberg's blog, Medieval Mead & Beer, for a very, very in-depth look at how to make medieval mead. HOWEVER, all that said, I did collect some research and played with it myself. Plus, I made some of my own recipes.

So. Mead. What is it? Fermented honey water, in its most basic form. Honey-wine, it can be called to those who aren't familiar. There's a lot of other names mead has when it's mixed with other things:

Mead – water, honey and yeast

Sack Mead – mead made with extra honey

Short Mead – low honey and low alcohol yeast to be drunk quickly

Hydromel – watered down mead (in period, another word for mead)

Braggot – (period) ale refermented with honey; (modern) malted mead

Melomel – mead made with fruit

Mulsum – mead made with fruit

Cyser – mead made with apples

Metheglin – mead with spices

Pyment, Clar – mead made with grape juice

Hippocras – spiced wine, sweetened (but not fermented) with honey

Botchet — caramelized honey mead

Really, though, when you see it on the shelf, a pumpkin melomel will be marketed as "Pumpkin Mead," so really only the brewmasters get into the weeds on the names. I was really curious as to how the ingredients were sourced in the middle ages - nowadays, brewers get really into where they source their ingredients (there's a bazillion different yeasts you can use!), but after doing some research, turns out the medievals were too!

Honey.

The medievals categorized honey in different ways. The best quality honey was called "life honey" and was the honey that dripped freely from the wax when pierced. Grades of honey diminished as the honey became harder to get out of the hive. The dregs of honey (collected by heating the frame in water to blend the honey but not melt the wax) was given to servants and was not preferred. Honey was also categorized by location - Egyptian honeys were very popular and expensive. Honey from different regions in Spain were considered of different quality - one merchant got particularly fussy when one of his batches was "spoiled" by mixing honey from a better region with that from a worse region. Finally, honey was categorized by flower type. One monetary requested honey made only from lavender. Since hives were highly mobile frames or skeps, it would have been possible for apiarists to move their hives to lavender fields.

Water.

Water is, well, water. Right? Not quite. Medieval recipes do specify using fine, spring water. The water and honey were often boiled together - likely to kill bacteria. However, the wording on "boille" is not super clear. Mead-masters knew that honey shouldn't be boiled (it kills natural yeast), so whether or not the must (the water/honey mix) was boiled in the modern sense or just warmed is unclear. Perhaps the need for "fine, spring, fresh water."

Yeast.

While modern brewers and vintners have a wide variety of yeasts to choose from, medieval brewmasters didn't have as many options. There were a few different options, however. Baking yeast (like a sourdough starter) was one option, while other recipes call for the leftover lees of wine/mead batches. Hops were also used. Of course, yeast is also naturally occurring, so brewers could fairly reliably rely on the natural yeast to kick-start itself.

I'll dump my own mead pics here and then get into the details of a Middle English mead recipe in part two, I guess. I'll talk a bit about the mead-making process, too. Mead is made by mixing honey and water into a must. Then, yeast is added. Modern mead-makers also add yeast nutrients and other additions to ensure their batch doesn't get infected.

A newly made bottle of mead. Notice the cloudy colour characteristic of new mead. As the yeast eats the sugars, they'll create a bottom layer of debris and the mead will clear, as seen below.

After the primary fermentation has occurred (you can tell when the bubbles of gas, telling you the yeast is eating, have stopped), mead-makers will re-reack their mead. This involves moving it from one jug to the next.

At this point, the mead can be put into a closet and age for a while. The best meads have high clarity - that is, they're clear! The example below is only about 2 months old. It has a way to go, but has good clarity already. Notably, the sagas state that the best, oldest, clearest meads were served to Odin and the gods.

Anyway - that's the basics of mead-making. I'll make a part two about older recipes! Sources:

Beekeeping in late medieval Europe: A survey of its ecological settings and social impacts. Llu.s SALES I FAVÀ, Alexandra SAPOZNIK y Mark WHELAN

Trade, taste and ecology: honey in late medieval Europe. Alexandra Sapoznik, Lluís Sales i Favà & Mark Whelan

Of Boyling and Seething: A re-evaluation of these common cooking terms in connection with brewing. Susan Verberg.

#bees #beekeeping #mead #mead-making #mediveal #medieval literature #witches #cottagecore #potions #i feel like a witch #maniculum

[eldritch-bisexual]

I'm an adult woman with adult money and if I want to take my meds from an extravagant purple glass, Iwill.

#I've wanted one of these since FOREVER #i feel like a witch

[assassin-artist]

"Let us go together, my dear Consort eternal."

#ough finally finished it. or at least did enough that i feel like posting it as is lol #my art #my oc #oc art #elden ring #ranni the witch #ranni #lunar princess ranni #ER eloise #digital art #artists on tumblr #illustration #digital painting #the tarnished #tarnished #the armor shes wearing is roughly based off of radahns armor. i say roughly bc i took artistic liberty to make it simpler to draw lol #wlw #sapphic

[anglerflsh]

earth is sky and sky is ground did we finally leave our town?

#[.art] #toh #the owl house #toh spoilers #for the future #something low effort because I wanted to rest my wrist a bit ^^ #luz noceda #luz toh #hunter noceda #hunter toh #gus porter #gus toh #willow park #willow toh #amity blight #amity toh #camila noceda #camila toh #is it funny that this was inspired by an illustration in my manual for witch hunting? I feel like that's funny #anyways. Comet imagery luz noceda etc etc #also the letters next to them are too inspired by 1600s alchemy manuals

[cvndlemoon]

⋆ ˚｡ ⋆ "put me in a movie" ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚

#lana del rey #coquette #girlblogging #girl things #cinnamon girl #femcel #girl interrupted #this is a girlblog #this is what makes us girls #music to watch boys to #feels like sugar in me #put me in a movie #black swan #nina sayers #perfectionist #swan queen #ballerina #angelcore #girlcore #female manipulator #the virgin suicides #lux lisbon #the love witch #jennifers body #i believe in unicorns #buffalo 66 #priscilla presley

[aquisces-arts]

AU where Arlecchino is an immortal witch living in a mansion in the spooky woods and takes in 3 orphans who wandered in...

#arlecchino #house of the hearth #freminet #lyney #lynette #genshin fanart #genshin impact #genshin #digital illustration #illustration #witch au #genshin witch au #god I love found family so much #honestly I have a feeling I am very wrong about their dynamic but it’s ok I like being delulu

[hawkeyequeerce]

I don't know how Terry managed it. There's just nothing on this earth like a Discworld book. I'll be listening to a book I've read countless times over and suddenly, a single line I've never even really noticed before will tear me open. They just reach right inside me and open my ribcage to expose my very heart.

Tonight, it was Hat Full of Sky and Granny Weatherwax saying, "The world is unfair. Be grateful you have friends." On their own, the words are unremarkable. But juxtaposed together, with the context they are operating in....they had tears flowing down my face before I knew what was happening. The world is unfair; sometimes, the wonderful happens when it shouldn't (and/or when you feel you deserve a divinely wrathful torment) because you have friends. The world is unfair. That doesn't just mean that the horrible happens when it shouldn't. It means that the beautiful does too. Be grateful you have friends. They are the hub on which that beauty spins, turning the theft into gold.

A lot of people I've introduced to these books haven't liked them — they find them too silly, or preachy, or nonsensical, or even puerile. I am never upset or really disappointed when they don't like them. To each their own. But I will never understand it. They are baked into my being in a way that few things are and I am better to myself, to other people, and to the world because of it.

Sir Terry, you were a gift nonpareil. Thank you for your words and for shaping my world.

#gnu terry pratchett #in the feels tonight my friends #discworld is a vital part of me and frankly the witches series most of all #it shocks me sometimes how much i can get out of a relisten #even when ive heard and read the book countless times before #theres truly nothing on this earth like a discworld novel #discworld #tiffany aching #granny weatherwax

[ministarfruit]

day 5: hands for holding ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

#minifemslashfeb2024 #witch hat atelier #tongari boushi no atelier #arkco #wha agott #wha coco #I really like these two... #witch hat atelier is a great series and I recommend it to everyone #it is just so darling. so so gorgeous #charming and magical in every way #drawing new things this month feels so fresh and fun!!

[tubbytarchia]

@mcyt-yuri-week Day 5, Rose/Thorns I never stop thinking about SL episode 8 never ever

#gempearl #pearlgem #shinyduo #shiny duo #trafficshipping #I tried to word it a few different ways but I feel like its still so easy to interpret this as negative but noo its positive #because the thorns here are referencing the scarlet persona that Pearl's embraced. being left with nothing but it - the thorns #But it's not that Gem likes her just for her scarlet persona. She likes her for her. Pearl's not just thorns #Gem doesnt really care about the “thorns” or the petalless rose stem. she cares about Pearl. She thinks Pearl's cool (thumbs up emoji) #Pearl changes into her scarlet fit like she has many times before with the purpose of scaring people & leaning into her feared witch thing #but Gem's just like “omg slayyy” and its the best. And to Pearl it's like whoag #Gem never saw how she changed. Never saw her be ostracized and the aftermath #But she thought that the Pearl she did see in SL was cool and so easily accepted her when Pearl herself though herself so unacceptable #she got love from the Mounders and BigB and that warms my heart but Gem being a newcomer immediately embracing Pearl is just #it hits different #whoa jimbo way too many tags hghghgh #mcytyuriweekvalentines #at first I thought about smth like “where the others saw thorns you saw a rose” but I thought it was more fitting this way #I guess you guys be the judge of that haha idk what Im saying #tubby art

[seaquestions]

wanting permission, asking forgiveness. ah. you're so kind to me. (id in alt)

#witch hat atelier #orufrey #olruggio #qifrey #niksartstuffs #i am not immune to gay people. sorry they are like a modern CLAMP pairing to me. #i feel bad drawing wizard yaoi when my real favourite is coco. cocooo my child! niko is a noted main character enjoyer so. i will draw her.

[dizzybizz]

i cant believe its them

#WHY DOES IT FIT SO WELL IM GONNA CRY #when you feel like absolute shit but have an epiphany and force yourself out of bed to immortalize it #my art #witch hat atelier #wha #tongari boushi no atelier #tbna #agott arkrome #tetia #richeh #coco #i wanted to color this but i cant

[lesbicosmos]

this will forever be my all time favourite review of florence's music

#i also feel like florence herself would love this #'promoting lesbianism' real. #i listened to which witch once and boom look at me #obsessed with women #music #florence + the machine #florence welch

[ms-boogie-man]

👇🏼

Angie/Maddie🦇❥✝︎🇺🇸

#solo roba di angie #non solo roba da angie #born a witch #vampire #here i am #2a #1a #fjb #head rub #oh my god #feels so good #ahhh #like ahhhh #omg yes #yes please #love #love that #vampire likes a head rub

[tanukiimo]

bug in the house... what will they do...

#g witch #gundam witch from mercury #the witch from mercury #gundam wfm #suletta mercury #miorine rembran #sulemio #mioletta #i feel like once she gets used to them suletta would be a bug enjoyer #she'd say hi to them like :D

[musubiki]

trying to bully the weird girl who always grabs random shit

#the cat witchs guild #the misc adventures of mochi and lime #mochi #lime #limochi #childhood #art #ocs #original #comic #bullying mochi just ends in him feeling bad because she doesnt realize shes being bullied #young lime wanted to see her get all mad and frustrated but instead shes like (wow such great materials) #(Get off the ground i cant be seen with a little gremlin person walking home)

[basilpaste]

Chapter III: The Thorn

"This one yearns for connections they feel they don't deserve. Even when shown compassion, they hid themself away. They will make for a cautious heart."

ive been thinking about a slay the princess au. i wanted loop to be the witch. which also meant that loop had to be the thorn. and then i fixated on this so hard i finished it in three hours.

#in stars and time #isat #isat fanart #in stars and time fanart #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers #isat au #loop isat #loop in stars and time #slay the princess spoilers #basil paints #cw blood #slay the savior au #<- working title #i thought this took four hours at LEAST to finish i thought this took so much longer. #but no. the app says 2:59! almost exactly three hours! #this is like. half a style mimic??? #i feel like you can see the moment this went from my art to mimicking something else dfgkjsjfgf #anyways as is how things go with the thorn: this is a much less aggressive 'loop' more like. end of twohats fight pinned to ground loop #witch is more your standard loop.