SACK

Just 4 u

Many, out of curiosity, want to try making sack, once a favourite English drink,
mentioned by Shakespeare and earlier writers. It can be made as follows:

Ingredients:
Three or four fennel roots 2 gallons water
3 or 4 sprays of rue 4 lbs. honey
Yeast; yeast nutrient

Method:
Wash the roots and leaves and boil them in the water for 45 minutes. Do not be
tempted to add more fennel or you will get an unpleasantly strong flavour. Then pour the
liquor through a nylon sieve and add the honey. Boil the whole for nearly two hours,
skimming off any froth or scum which arises. Allow the liquor to cool to 70 degrees F.,
then add your chosen yeast and yeast nutrient, and put into cask or fermenting jars and fit
traps. Sack, like most meads, may be a little slow to ferment and mature, and it is
important not to omit the yeast nutrient, or this will be aggravated. Rack after four
months if the sack has cleared, if not, delay racking until it has. It is fit for drinking after a
year.