Rosehip Mead Recipe – How to Make Rosehip Mead

This rosehip mead recipe combines the flavour of the rosehips with that of honey and it’s a perfect match.  A straightforward easy recipe.

Rosehip Mead RecipeThose of us of a certain age will remember the rosehip syrup that used to be given to children.  A vitamin C source after they’d been forced to swallow their cod liver oil. It was almost worth swallowing the truly awful cod liver oil for the sweet rosehip.

Often rosehips can be found in wild hedgerows. Do remember when foraging not to trespass onto private land, take no more than you will use and never completely strip a plant – leave some for the birds. Avoid foraging from the side of busy roads because of pollution.

Ingredients for Rosehip Mead Recipe

  • 3lb Rosehips
  • 3 to 3½lbs Honey
  • 2 lemons
  • Wine or Mead Yeast
  • Yeast Nutrient
  • Water

Method for Rosehip Mead Recipe

  1. Start the yeast 2 days ahead if possible. Take a sterilised jar and add a tablespoon of honey. Pour on a ¼ pint to ½ pint of boiling water and stir to mix. When cooled to 20°C or below, add the yeast and yeast nutrient. Keep covered but not airtight, a muslin cover affixed with a rubber band or string is ideal.
  2. Wash the rosehips in cold water, remove any stalks etc. Put into a large pan with 4 pints of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Mash the softened rosehips – an old fashioned potato masher is good for this or a hand blender.
  3. Put the honey into a fermenting bin or lidded wine bucket and strain the rosehip liquid through a jelly bag or muslin cloth onto it whilst still hot. Stir the honey until dissolved.
  4. Add the juice of the lemons.
  5. Allow to cool to 20°C and then add the prepared yeast starter.
  6. A fierce fermentation should begin quickly. After a few days to a week the rate will have slowed and the must can be poured into a demijohn and topped up to the gallon with cooled boiled water prior to fitting the air-lock.
  7. Keep in a warm place until fermentation stops
  8. Move the demijohn into a cool place and when ready to drink, rack off into bottles.

Mead improves with age and is best stored for at least a year prior to drinking. Some of the best meads mature for 7 years prior to drinking.

See Also How to Make Mead

Mead Recipes

Posted in Mead & Honey Wine Recipes
7 comments on “Rosehip Mead Recipe – How to Make Rosehip Mead
  1. Mary A. Schmitzer says:

    Ok… I believe this recipe is as close to the Alaskan Frontier Rose Hip Mead Eve Kilcher makes. I picked some Rose Hip from our field and am giving this a try. I can’t wait. I will flavor it with a fruit.

  2. Moira says:

    I am led to believe that rosehips are best picked after the first frost. How true is this?

    • John Harrison says:

      I’ve not heard that or read anything about rosehips improving after a frost – but I could well be wrong.

  3. lucy says:

    Hi Moira! I’ve always been told that too. Rosehips soften after the frost and it is easier to work with them, but I have got the same effect by freezing them and then defrosting (this was coincidental – I just wasn’t ready to use them straight away and froze them).

  4. Luchia Feman says:

    hi there, I’ve picked my rose hips, have a massive, beautiful rosebush that’s about 75 years old. I am going to make mead, however wondering how much mead yeast and how much nutrient yeast

    • John Harrison says:

      If your yeast is in a small sealed sachet, use the whole sachet – otherwise about a teaspoon is plenty to get things going.

      For the yeast nutrient, a teaspoon is about right unless the packet says different

  5. Will Shirley says:

    A BASIC MEAD RECIPE

    Ingredients: Honey- 15 lbs… (1 gallon + 3 lbs)
    Water- 4 gallons (warm)
    Yeast- 1 packet white wine or champagne yeast
    Raisins- 1 handful (approx. ¼ cup)
    Process: Dissolve yeast in small glass of warm water to which you’ve added 1 tablespoon of honey and set aside. Pour honey into 5 gallon glass carboy. (food grade plastic carboy may be substituted) To make the honey pour easier you may set the honey container(s) into a sink of hot water. Pouring is less likely to spill if you hold the container a few inches above the opening of the carboy which causes the honey to form a narrow funnel shape. If you use an actual funnel it should be wide and deep as the honey will tend to stick to the inside and occasionally clog the spout. A small funnel will therefor fill up rapidly and you have a good shot at spilling the honey, making a sticky mess and slowing down the whole project. In most cases no funnel need be used once you find the correct height to pour from, depending on the viscosity of the honey.
    To get all the honey out of the container(s) you add warm water to the container(s), swirl around and pour the mix into the carboy until the liquid reaches slightly above the shoulder of the carboy. You leave about 5” of space above the mixture to contain the foam which will form while fermentation is happening. When all the honey is in the carboy a sterile rod is used to stir the mixture. A stainless steel rod is suggested. Note that the honey will not all dissolve and there will be a layer of honey at the bottom of the carboy. This is not a problem as the yeast will settle onto the honey and consume the excess. The glass of yeast/honey mix should by this time be frothing and smelling distinctly of yeast. Stir lightly and pour the mix into the carboy. Toss in the raisins. This will prevent too much foam from developing during the fermentation as the raisins float on the surface. To close the carboy you may use a “bubbler” device or more easily, 3-4 layers of plastic wrap held in place with a tight rubber band. As air pressure builds in the mix the rubber band will allow some to escape without allowing bacteria or other contaminants to enter the carboy. Set the carboy aside for approximately 3 months in a protected area like a corner of the kitchen, next to a radiator, under a table or such like. It should be protected from cold drafts and if needed, a large towel or blanket may be wrapped around the carboy. During fermentation you will see foam develop on top of the mix, the raisins will swirl about and dance in lazy circles through the mixture. As fermentation ends the raisins tend to settle on the surface and fill with gas. When fermentation is finished the tiny bubbles will stop forming and this usually takes 1-3 months. After fermentation is complete you siphon off into bottles or into a charcoal lined oak keg for aging, followed by bottling. Bottled mead will age and clarify over time. After 7 years the mead will begin to lose quality and there is no real improvement in flavor. In other words it is a good idea to consume within 5 years.

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