Make medicinal turmeric mead

Make medicinal turmeric mead for the unparalleled benefits of your own unpasteurised and natural homemade alcohol. Raw honey astonishingly actually lowers fasting blood glucose for diabetics.

Brewing a beautiful mead is really only feasible for beekeepers. Natural honey is not often commercially available; once processed it's spoiled. If this strikes a note why not consider becoming an apiarist? It has been the hobby of a lifetime. Folklore has it that you will live long in the land^[1].

• Lowering blood glucose
  

There are serious doubts about commercial alcohol. Even a single glass of wine significantly increases the risk of breast cancer, for example. Yet the Blue Zone folk on Ikaria drink oodles of mead and live long and healthy lives; one in three reaches into their nineties full of vigour and ten times as many score a century. 

• How much alcohol causes cancer?
  

Scientists reporting in the scientific journal Nutrients state that curcumin, one of the active ingredients in turmeric and ginger also delays the onset of the full-blooded disease in those suffering from prediabetes^[2]. It prevents the death of the beta cells in the pancreas and enhances their function.

Pure synthetic curcumin has a low bioavailability as compared to that from freshly-crushed turmeric as it is insoluble in water. The miscibility of the nutrient from the roots is further enhanced by piperine, the phytochemical in black pepper; hence you'll find it below in the ingredients for this medicinal turmeric tonic.

You may have difficulty convincing your family, friends and doctor that this turmeric mead is actually medicine; but in moderation it actually is. Obviously make certain that any alcohol remains the serf in the house, not the master.

The mead bag

The mead bag keeps the solids together; it's weighted down by river pebbles or glass marbles to keep it below the surface of the liquid. Made of muslin with a tie, make it slightly narrower than the mouth of the carboy; otherwise getting it out is messy.

That's not really important with small, wide-mouthed carboys but certainly once you get to 18L and more use a long narrow bag for the solids.

Go for it

1. You must have a wide-mouthed carboy. We recommend starting any new recipe with one of the smaller ones; in this instance 8L. Use sterilising powder to kill any foreign bugs and rinse thoroughly.
   
2. Chlorinated water from the utility will destroy the yeast; rather use boiled from rain or a spring.
3. Label the carboy clearly with details such as starting date, amount of honey and turmeric; initial pH, SG and ambient temperature.
   
4. Make a tea to give some astringency by boiling the rooibos or other herb with 100ml of water for 10 minutes. If you are anxious about the plastic nanoparticles from the bag then just snip it and tip out the contents; more about that later.
5. Weigh a jug and measure out the honey, pouring it into the carboy. You could use some natural comb but first prick each cell so the yeast can get to the sugars. You may also utilise some of your gleanings; more below.
   
6. Add half a teaspoon of the Vin13 yeast to a cup of warm but not hot sterilised rainwater.
   
7. Fill the carboy to about a half with the boiled, cooled rainwater. Place on edge with the lid tightly screwed on and rock it back and forth vigorously for a full ten minutes to aerate the must; get as much of the honey as possible to dissolve. During the first day or two you want the yeast to grow rapidly which requires oxygen.
   
8. Place the grated turmeric and ginger into the bag; and the peppercorns and star anise. Add the sterilised river pebbles or marbles. Lower it gently into the must so the pebbles won't smash into the glass bottom. 
9. Add the chunk of natural comb with fresh pollen; it acts as a yeast nutrient. 
10. Add the boiled tea which will have cooled somewhat.
11. Fill the carboy to about 10cm from the top with more boiled rainwater. Aim for an overall temperature around 20^oC.
12. If you want to accurately know the alcohol content at the end of the fermentation, then find a sterilised soup ladle to get all the honey dissolved with a homogeneous must. Using a wine-thief suck up some of the liquid, pour it into a measuring cylinder and read the initial specific gravity with a hydrometer. Measure the pH with a strip (4.0, that's perfect). Taste a little before pouring back into the carboy.
13. Stir the yeast and water in the cup with a teaspoon and pour the mixture into the well-aerated carboy.
14. Screw on the lid tightly and fit the air trap. Fermentation should begin within 24 hours. 
15. Once fermentation is strong, add some warm sterilised rainwater to the must. Don't overfill the carboy or it may bubble over and make an awful mess. 
    
16. Once the vigorous phase of fermentation is over, fill the carboy with more sterilised rainwater. Test the pH again and adjust using calcium carbonate or bicarb.  

After 6 weeks

After 6 weeks or when fermentation has completely stopped, remove the bag and syphon off the must into demijohns, leaving only a very small space above the liquid; it's best to have air traps as fermentation may again begin. Any oxygen after the first two days of fermentation will encourage aerobic acetobacter species; you will end up with vinegar.

Add the juice from one lemon if it's too sweet.

Using the wine thief, taste the must and measure the pH again; adjust if necessary with calcium carbonate.

• Basic mead equipment
  

After 3 months

After 3 months again syphon off the must, trying to avoid the sediment. If it is completely clear, you could bottle but generally it's best to wait longer, even up to a year.

Keep testing the pH and adjust if necessary with an alkaline agent such as food grade calcium carbonate.

Acidity

The pH range you want is 3,5 to 4,5. Add 1.25ml of bicarb or tartaric acid per 0,5 adjustment on 5 litres in small tranches; it may bubble over. You could use lemon juice if it is too high.

After mixing the powder in, recheck the pH. I usually do my adjustments before fermentation but often have needed to do it again at racking.

The sediment

Do not toss the sediment at the bottom of the carboy and demijohns; store it in another bottle, adding more from other brews. The resulting blend is sometimes particularly good.

Sources of honey

You can only make a fine mead that will contribute to health by using unprocessed honey; but it's expensive. Each 750ml bottle of mead contains about 250 grams of prime honey.

1. The usual best source of natural honey for making medicinal turmeric mead is straight from the bottling tank; unwarmed and rich in pollen.
2. Most beekeepers will have some wild, fresh honey comb for one reason or another; prick each cell.
3. Gleanings from decapping can make a great contribution; but choose only the best wax and make sure there are no dead bees or other gross impurities. Dissolve out the honey with warm water around 30^oC; use a potato masher and strain off the comb.

iMpandamel mead

In South Africa this medicinal turmeric mead would be called an "iMpandamel" meaning it was made from a root.

After about a week it's not a bad idea to check the pH to make sure it stays in the ideal working range of the yeast; 3.8 - 4.5. It was bang in the middle; perfect. And a wee small sip proved superbly good.

If your mead sticks

Sometimes a mead either seems reluctant to start fermenting or may suddenly stop midway through the process. Consider three things.

• pH
• Temperature
• Yeast nutrients
  

Plastic in the human brain

Plastic nanoparticles can cross the blood-brain barrier; there is disturbing research proving that teabags release literally billions of these tiny bits; should they be deposited in the cerebrum, the chance of dementia goes up nearly ten times.

Those determined to reach their nineties with all their marbles intact will use only loose tea when they make medicinal turmeric mead; and for their favourite daily beverage too of course.

• How much plastic is in the human brain?

For the same reason I cannot bring myself to advise using the "no-rinse" sterilisers currently in vogue. The research is overwhelming that the chemicals in our food are prime causes of the chronic degenerative diseases including cancer.

Curcumin

Curcumin from the turmeric and ginger is the magic phytonutrient we are looking for to turn this into a tonic. It has long been used in herbal medicine; today there is much research confirming what the ancients instinctively knew.

• Does turmeric help with inflammation?
  

It's not difficult to grow turmeric; it will stand mild frosts. In general any fresh herb or spice is far better than that which has been dried and exposed to air; oxygen is the great enemy.

The plant has beautiful hidden purple and white flowers that grow along the stem.

• How to grow turmeric: a lesson in patience
  

Make medicinal turmeric mead

Make medicinal turmeric mead to delay the onset of diabetes.

Whilst I have been brewing for decades this is my first venture into making medicinal turmeric mead. It will be several months before I can show off some pictures and vouch for this tonic; but I'm optimistic being a lover of natural honey and greatly impressed by the research behind the spice.

More usually the turmeric goes into our Eggs Hilton Breakfast; with other spices and young broad beans for their dopamine. I have a tremor in my right hand, only controlled by enjoying these important legumes daily.

Broad beans are the only source of pharmaceutical amounts of L-dopa. For the majority of patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease it is more effective than the medicine.

• My journey with broad beans

Enjoyed young there is no need to ruin them by skinning off the tough outer layers; they are known as favas in Europe.

• Stop compromising fava beans
  

I often bottle mead early when it's still cloudy; the increased friendly yeast cell content makes it an important probiotic for a happy tum.

• The happy tum
  

Health, honey and herbs

There is anecdotal evidence that beekeepers live long and healthy lives. It carries no weight scientifically but neither the good wife nor I have any chronic diseases, nor take any medicines; we're on our 77th orbit of the sun. What a glorious journey it's been. If you make medicinal turmeric mead you could join us, working towards another active fulfilling decade.

• Health span years: 76
• Morbidity years: 0

What is health span?

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