Telba (Ethiopian Flaxseed Drink) Ingredients: 140g flaxseed 1.

5l water 2 tbsp honey Heat a cast-iron pan over low heat. Add the flaxseed and toast, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes, or until nicely coloured, but not burned. Turn the seeds onto a plate and allow to cool. Once cooled, turn the flaxseeds into a coffee grinder and render to a powder. Sift the ground seeds into a bowl then stir in the water. Whisk briefly then set aside for about 20 minutes to allow the solids to settle. Stir in the honey then turn into a pitcher and chill thoroughly before serving

Kvass (Russian rye bread drink) Kvass is a fermented bread drink very popular in Belarusia and Russia. It's very low in alcohol and typically sold as a soft drink. Ingredients 250g rye bread, sliced very thinly 100g sugar 20g active, dry, yeast 2l water, boiling raisins, to taste (about 2 tsp) Place the bread in a baking dish then put in an oven pre-heated to 150C and bake for abut 20

minutes, or until the bread is dark brown and crisp. Transfer the bread to a bowl, pour the boiling water over the top then cover and set aside in a warm spot for about 4 hours. At the end of this time dissolve the yeast in about 200ml lukewarm and stir-in the sugar, mixing well. After the four hours is up strain the bread mixture through a colander lined with muslin or cheesecloth, retaining the liquid. Stir the yeast mixture into this liquid then cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place to prove for about 10 hours. Strain through cheesecloth once more then transfer the liquid into clean bottles. Add about 2 raisins to each bottle, cork and set aside in a cool day for 3 days to mature. In Russia this is a classic soft drink it's also used as an ingredient in many soup recipes.

Beer from Sugar 775g coarse brown sugar 35g hops 20l water 7g fresh yeast small piece of toast Preparation Combine the sugar, hops and water in a large steel pan. Bring to a boil and cook for 45 minutes then strain the liquid into a sterile container (a brewer's bucket is good), cover and allow to cool to lukewarm. When the mixture has cooled to about 40C spread the yeast on the toast and float this on the

top of the liquid. Cover the bucket with a cloth and place in a warm draft-free spot for seven days to top ferment. Strain the liquid after 3 days then pour the mixture into clean bottles to about 1.5 cm of the top. Cap the bottles and place these on their sides in a warm and draft-free spot. The sugar beer will be ready to drink in about 5 days, but will keep quite well for an entire summer.

Traditional Country Herb Beer 1 handful young nettle tops 1 hndful dandelion flowers 675g sugar 2 tbsp freshly-grated ginger 2 lemons, sliced 15g yeast Add the nettles to a pan. Cover with 4.5l water, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Strain into a bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, add the dandelion flowers to a pan, cover with 4.5l water and boil for 10 minutes before straining into the bowl with the nettle liquid. Stir-in the sugar and ginger and mix well to combine. Transfer to a fermenting bucket, arrange the lemon slices on top and scatter the yeast over everything. Cover and allow to stand over night then strain the liquid, bottle and store in a cool, dark, place for at least 3 weeks before consuming.

Root Beer 4l of unchlorinated water 350ml molasses Yeast (eg 1762 Belgian Strong Ale) 15g hops (any good bittering hop 15g dried burdock root 15g yellow dock root 15g Sarsaparilla root 15g dandelion root 15g sassafras 15g spikenard root Wash the herbs and bruise them thoroughly in a pestle and mortar. Place in a pot, cover with the water and gradually bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Strain into a larger pot then add the molasses and allow to cool to lukewarm. When the mixture has cooled to about 40C add the yeast (about 20g) and stir to combine. Cover the pot with a cloth and place in a warm draftfree spot to prove. After about 2 hours pour the mixture into clean bottles to about 1.5 cm of the top. Cap the bottles and place these on their sides in a warm and draft-free spot. The root beer will be ready to drink in about 10 days, but will keep quite well for an entire summer.

Red Clover Mead 2l red clover flowers 5l of unchlorinated water 1.5kg honey (needs to be reasonable but doesn't have to be too good) juice and thinly-peeled rind of 2 lemons juice and thinly-peeled rind of 2 oranges 2 tsp yeast nutrient

Yeast (Epernay II is good but champagne yeast would also work) Prepare the flowers by picking fully-emerged ones and place in a large pot. Add the water and bring to the boil then add the honey a little at a time until it dissolves. Simmer for 15 minutes then turn off the heat, add the yeast nutrient the lemon and orange juice and peel then allow to cool. When it reaches about 37C add the yeast, cover and leave for three days. After three days strain the contents and add a new yeast starter culture. At this point you can return to following the instructions given in the basic extract brewing page to make your mead. Again, this is not a 'short' mead, and you can follow the recipe given for my 'standard' basic mead exactly. As a wine-like mead, once bottled, this preparation needs to be left to mature in the bottle for at least a three months. As with making ale sterility is an essential prerequisite for making mead. The usual sterilizing agent is metabisulphite which can be obtained in powder or tablet form. The usual sterilization strength is 60g in 500ml lukewarm water. Sanitise containers by swirling sulphite solution over all the inside surfaces. Sanitise things like your spoon and thermometer by dipping them into a container of sulphite solution. There's no need to rinse off the sulphite, it's a commonly used ingredient in wine and won't affect the taste of your mead. If you are using liquid yeast then you will need to prepare it beforehand. Skip this section if you are using dried yeast. The yeast culture needs to be prepared 23 days before it's needed. Most liquid yeasts come in a packet. First burst the blister bubble in this to release the yeast cells into a sugar solution where they will begin to multiply. Once the packet has swelled to about an inch think, open the packet and pitch (pour) the yeast into a sterilized 1l container half-filled with water, into which about 3 tablespoons of sugar have been dissolved. Shake the container

well to aerate, and loosen the lid slightly to let some air escape. Before doing anything else prepare your yeast. If using dried yeast boil some water and pour 200ml into a shallow dish, stirring-in 2 tbsp of honey. Cover with aluminium foil and allow to cool naturally to just below 37C. Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the surface of the water and allow to rehydrate for ten minutes. At the end of this time gently stir the yeast and set aside in a warm place for at least 2 hours. Measure the volume of water you need by filling your demijohn (or cider jar if you're using one of those) full of water (should be about 3.3l) and pour into your stainless steel brewing pot. Bring this to a rolling boil and take off the heat. Begin stirring-in the honey. Next add the acid blend (which gives the finished mead a subtle fruitiness and balanced taste) and the yeast nutrient (honey is a fairly sterile environment and does not contain the amino acids that the yeast need to thrive. Yeast blend simply helps the yeast develop more quickly). Be careful when adding the honey to make sure that it dissolves quickly and does not burn on the base of your pot. Also be careful that the mixture does not boil over and scald you. Cover the pot with some clean foil and allow to cool naturally to about 37C. Place a sterile funnel in your demijohn and pour-in the honey mixture (this is known as must). Stir your yeast starter mixture and pout this into the demijohn. Swirl this to mix the ingredients then close this with a bung and a fermentation airlock. Set the demijohn in a warm place and wait. Within the next 24 hours, the airlock should be bubbling rapidly and foam should be forming on top of the liquid. These are all signs that you have a batch of mead in progress. [Honey because of its low sugar content is essentially sterile. If you are willing to stir for a very long time then it is possible to add honey

immediately to cold water. First warm your honey by placing the jars in warm water. Pour the honey into your water and begin stirring to dissolve. This will take a very long time, much longer than you think. It is important that all the honey has dissolved or you will start killing-off the yeast. This is more troublesome that the boiling method, but may give you a finer mead as the volatile compounds which give speciality honeys their distinctive flavours are not lost during a boiling process.] Place in a cool dark place and monitor each day to check on progress. Over the next few weeks the bubbling will slow down and a layer of sediment (mostly dormant yeast cells) will build up on the bottom of the demijohn. When this sediment layer gets to somewhere 23 cm deep it is time to rack your mead (racking being the process of siphoning the liquid off the sediment). This step is important as leaving your developing mead on the sediment too long can taint its flavour. Sterilize a fresh demijohn and place this on the floor. Put your original demijohn on a counter, take of its bung and place your siphoning tube into this and hold it there. Exhale to empty your lungs and place the free end of the tube in your mouth. Suck until the tube is completely full of liquid, then quickly stick a clean finger over the mouth-end and lower it into the container. If you've done it right, the mead will be flowing up the tube out of the demijohn and down the tube into the other vessel. Stop siphoning when the volume of liquid in the original demijohn is low and sediment starts flowing up the tube. You are now ready for the second stage of fermentation. This stage should be anaerobic (have as little oxygen present as possible). During racking make sure to disturb the liquid as little as possible and when the racking is done carefully top-up the demijohn with fresh water to that it is full up to the neck. Sterilize a bung, and plug the neck of the demijohn with this and a fermentation lock. During the slower period of

fermentation, your mead should be exposed to as little oxygen as possible. Continue to check on your demijohn each day. If the layer of sediment builds up to the original level it was before racking, rack it again. If the level of liquid falls below the neck of the demijohn, top it up with water. If a week or two goes by and you don't see any bubbles in the airlock, then fermentation is over. However, don't be too impatient as this can take between two and six months. At this stage it is best to bottle your mead and let it age. This can be done in the demijohn itself if you have a tight-fitting cork (simply rack the mead into a sterile demijohn, top-up with water, add a cork and pound it in with a rubber mallet). Store the demijohn in a dark place until you're ready to drink. Alternatively you can rack the mead into sterilized flip-top bottles (like Grolsch bottles) which can be purchased at brewing supply shops or you can use screw-cap bottles and even wine bottles (if you have good fresh corks for them). Your first batch of mead is now ready for drinking. Enjoy...

Heather Ale 20l of unchlorinated water 1.8 kg pale malt extract 350g caramel malt 120g roasted barley 1 kg Maris Otter pale malt 250g Munich malt 30g Pacific Gem bittering hop 30g Kent Goldings finishing hops 30g Hallertaur Mittlefrueh finishing hops

250g fresh heather tips (also for finishing) Yeast (eg Wyeast 1318 London Ale III style or 1728 Scottish Ale) For bottling add 200ml malt extract If you are using liquid yeast then you will need to prepare it beforehand. Skip this section if you are using dried yeast. The yeast culture needs to be prepared 23 days before it's needed. Most liquid yeasts come in a packet. First burst the blister bubble in this to release the yeast cells into a sugar solution where they will begin to multiply. Once the packet has swelled to about an inch think, open the packet and pitch (pour) the yeast into a sterilized 1l container half-filled with water, into which about 3 tablespoons of sugar have been dissolved. Shake the container well to aerate, and loosen the lid slightly to let some air escape. Place your large stainless steel pot on a high heat and add 11l of water. Put your crushed malt grains in a muslin bag, tie this off and add to the water. Bring the water to the boil and remove the muslin bag just before it reaches boiling point (about 80C). At this point take the pot off the heat and stir-in your malt extract. This may be easier if the can of syrup has been sitting in warm water before hand. Whilst adding the syrup, stir vigourously to ensure that the sugars do not burn on the bottom of the pan. Once the syrup has been added and dissolved return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil. At this point add the bittering hops. Turn the heat down so that the wort (as the liquid is now called) is on a rolling boil rather than a rapid one (you need to be careful here as too much heat can extract tannins from the hops and can caramelize the sugars within the wort, which will foul the taste of your beer). Be careful near this boiling liquid as the sugars in the wort will make if very hot and sticky.

After 55 minutes of boiling add the finishing hops. After boiling for a further five minutes (60 minutes' boil in total) remove the pot from the heat and strain off the hops (leaving them in longer will make the beer too bitter). Leave the pot to sit for 30 minutes for the wort to settle and cool. You will now need a completely sterilized fermentation barrel or bucket into which 9l of cold water should be poured. Now carefully pour the word through the strainer and sterilized filter combination into the barrel or bucket. Splashing is good here as it helps aerate the wort. Next the yeast solution should be prepared. If using dried yeast place about 80ml of warm water (3640C) in a shallow dish (it is best to boil the water and allow it to cool naturally in a covered dish. Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the surface of the water and allow to rehydrate for ten minutes. At the end of this time gently stir the yeast and add to the wort. If using liquid yeast add a tablespoon of corn sugar and shake the bottle again to aerate the solution. Once the yeast has been added to the wort (do not add until the temperature has cooled to 24C), stir vigourously with a sterilized longhandled spoon to aerate. At this point take a hydrometer reading and record the Specific Gravity (known at this point as the Original Gravity). Affix the lid (or bung) and fermentation airlock. This should normally be active (bubbling) in 24 hours. Place the fermentation vessel in a dark place at between 1824C and leave to ferment. Beer will normally ferment and clear normally within 1014 days (as a rule of thumb beer needs 1 week's fermentation time per 1.5kg of malt extract sugar used. If the fermentation airlock has reduced its bubbling rate to more than once per minute the beer is ready to be

bottled, however, if it is still bubbling rapidly the beer needs more time to ferment. The next stage is to rack and prime the beer. Place your racking tube into the fermentation barrel/bucket and rack (decant) the beer into a sterile bucket (known as a bottling bucket). I'm making a traditional (low carbonation) ale here. As a result the priming sugar mix is 120g of demerara (or any brown cane sugar) dissolved in 200ml boiling water (for a fizzier beer double the amount of sugar and water). This is allowed to cool slightly and poured into the bottling bucket (don't aerate this time). Finally, clean and sterilize your siphon and use this to begin filling your bottles. You need about 3cm of head space, which you should get when you remove the siphon (to prevent the bottle over-flowing get a bottle-filler end-piece for your siphon hose). Cap the bottles and store the beer at or slightly above 18C in a dark place for about three weeks to finish conditioning. This allows the beer to carbonate naturally (though for a traditional ale this is only between 1.52.0 volumes of CO2 (a lager would be between 2.2 2.7 volumes of CO2). You can now open your first bottle of homebrewed beer and enjoy the fruit of your labours. If you wish to make a more authentic Medieval ale then do not add hops to your ale (though you may add the finishing hops to add flavour if you wish).

Horehound Beer

Ingredients:

900g horehound leaves 240g ginger 120g coriander seed 2 kg malt extract 1kg sugar 20l of unchlorinated water Yeast (eg 1762 Belgian Strong Ale) See above (Heather Ale) for brewing method. Begin by boiling the horehound, ginger and coriander seeds in half the water for 15 minutes then add the malt extract and stir till dissolved. Strain and pour onto the sugar and saccharine. Add the remaining water then continue as with the basic extract brewing recipe. The very high sugar content here will give you a high alcohol content, but as a result it will take about twice as long to ferment. Follow the instructions given in the basic extract brewing page to make your beer. In this case add the molasses to the malt extract (this is why there is less malt than usual in the recipe).

Nettle Ale 1 5l pot full of nettle leaves 1.8 kg pale malt extract 350g caramel malt 250g Munich malt 2kg heather honey 30g Pacific Gem bittering hop 30g Kent Goldings finishing hops 30g Hallertaur Mittlefrueh finishing hops Yeast (eg Wyeast 1318 London Ale III style or 1728 Scottish Ale) See above (Heather Ale) for basic ale brewing.

This gives a light beer that is made quite quickly. The recipe is included to show that just about anything that can be made into an infusion can also be turned into beer. First you should create a nettle infusion. Wash the nettle leaves, add sufficient water to cover and boil for 30 minutes. Strain into a large pot, top up to 10l and add the honey. Slowly bring to the boil yo ensure that all the honey dissolves. After this step follow the instructions given in the basic extract brewing page to make your beer. As the sugar content of this beer is very high fermentation is quick. In fact you should strain the liquid after about two weeks and bottle. It can be consumed immediately.