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Rocky Mountain Red Metheglin

1 Gallon

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) orange blossom honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/8 tsp. (about 1/2 g) ground cloves
• 2 tsp. (10 g) fresh grated orange zest
• 2 large oranges, juiced
• 8 Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea bags
• 1 tsp. (5 g) pectic enzyme
• 1 tsp. (5 g) acid blend
• 1-1/2 cups (360 mL) orange juice
• 1 tsp. (5 grams) yeast nutrient
• 1 pkg. Montrachet yeast (5 to 7 g)
• 1/4 tsp. (1 g) grape tannin

Step by Step:

Boil the honey in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) in a large  pot for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off the foam. Add the cinnamon, cloves, orange zest and juice. Let cool and transfer the honey-water mixture to a two-gallon plastic container. Brew the tea by steeping in 2 cups of boiling water. Add the tea to the honey and spices. Add acid, pectic enzyme and water to make one gallon. Add campden tablet and let sit, well-covered, for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast and yeast nutrient with the tepid orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously and let stand until bubbly (1 to 3 hours), then add to the must.

Add the tannin. Allow to ferment. Rack after the most vigorous fermentation into a one gallon, airlocked fermenter. Rack into another airlocked fermenter in 3 months and again in 6 months. Rack again just before bottling, about a year after fermentation started. Bottle and cork and store for 6 months in a cool cellar.