For a 5 gallon batch Ingredients FERMENTABLES: 6.6 lb. Special Dark LME, 1 lb. Amber DME SPECIALTY GRAINS:  6 oz. Roasted Barley; 8 oz. Dark Chocolate; 8 oz. Caramel 90L HOPS: .5 oz. Warrior Bittering; 1 oz. Fuggle Flavoring YEAST: Safale-04 first hydrated in dry malt and warm water OAK [...]

 When I first got this honey, it tasted like thistle looks – spiny, kind of hairy, very green.  It took a long time to age out (measured in years, not months), but once it did it was just lovely.  When it finally came of age, it was the best mead [...]

This recipe is my own invention. I had mesquite honey, and was trying to match it with complimentary spices; it happened to correspond with teaching at a Middle Eastern- themed event.  This was the first mead I entered in competitions, and was a huge success everywhere I took it.  It definitely [...]