Yarrow Beer

Origin: Ancient      Period: Traditional

Though generally called a 'beer', this is actually a hedgerow mead flavoured with yarrow plants. This is a traditional recipe of the middle ages, where yarrow was used as a bittering and flavouring ingredient.

Ingredients:

180g dried yarrow
5l of unchlorinated water
3cm piece of root ginger, bruised
0.5kg honey (needs to be reasonable but doesn't have to be too good)
0.5kg demerara sugar
juice and rind of 1 lemon
25g cream of tartar
2 tsp yeast nutrient
Yeast (Epernay II is good but champagne yeast would also work)

Method:

Preparation

As with most of the other mead recipes presented on this site, this recipe has been gauged to make 5l of mead. Only a basic listing of ingredients is given, and for a brewing method please see this page for a step-by-step guide. Also see this page for a list of the equipment you'll need.

Place the yarrow in a large pot along with the bruised ginger and the lemon rind (ensure there's no pith). Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the honey and sugar a little at a time until it dissolves then turn off the heat, add the yeast nutrient and allow to cool slightly before straining. Add the lemon juice and when the mixture reaches about 37°C add the yeast. At this point you can return to following the instructions given in the basic extract brewing page to make your mead. This is a relatively 'short' mead which will be ready to drink in about a week. As a result it will not keep long, but it makes an excellently refreshing and thirst-quenching drink.

Read: Recipe Articles and Reviews

More Brewing recipes...

More Drinks recipes...

More Traditional recipes...

More recipes using Wild Foods...

Are any of the terms used here unfamiliar, do you want to translate from British to American cookery terms? If so then this Glossary of US and UK Cookery Terms will help you.

Need to convert any units on this site?

As a guide 1 US cup of flour = 4 1/2 oz = 140g (this applies to breadcrumbs, ground almonds etc
1 US cup of butter/margarine or sugar = 7 oz = 200g

For temperature conversions (Celsius, gas mark, Farenheit) go to the Temperature conversion page.
For mass conversions (grammes, cups, spoons, ounces etc) go to the Mass/Weight conversion page.
For temperature conversions (litres, cups, spoons, fluid ounces etc) go to the Volume conversion page.
You can also see more cookery terms and meanings as well as ingredient descriptions at the Cooks' glossary