A RECEIPT TO MAKE GOOD MEATH

Take as many Gallons of water, as you intend to make of Meath; and to every Gallon put a quart of honey, and let it boil till it bear an Egg.  To every Gallon you allow the white of an Egg, which white you must remove and break with your hands, and put into the Kettle, before you put it over the fire.  Before it boileth, there will arise a skum, which must be taken off very clean, as it riseth.  Put to every Gallon two Nutmegs sliced, and when it hath boiled enough, take it off, and set it a cooling in clean wort-vessels:  And when it is as cold as wort, put in a little barm, and work it like Beer, and when it hath done working, stop it up, and let it stand two months.

ANOTHER TO MAKE MEATH

To every quart of honey allow six Wine-quarts of water; half an Ounce of Nutmegs, and the Peel of a Limon, and the meat of two or three, as you make the quantity.  Boil these together, till the scum rise no more; It must stand till it be quite cold, and when you Tun it, you squeese into it the juyce of some Limons, and this will make it ripen quickly.  It will be ready in less then a month.

ANOTHER RECIPE

Take twelve Gallons of water, a handful of Muscovy (which is an herb, that smelleth like Musk), a handful of Sweet-Marjoram, and as much of Sweet-bryar.  Boil all these in the water, till all the strength be out.  Then take it off and strain it out, and being almost cold, sweeten it with honey very strong, more then to bear an Egg, (the meaning of this is, that when there is honey enough to bear an Egg, which will be done by one part of honey to three or four quarts of water:  then you add to it a pretty deal of honey more, at least 1/4 or 1/3 of what you did put in at first to make it bear an Egg:  then it is to be boiled and scummed:  when it is thus strong, you may keep it four years before you drink it.  But at the end of two years you may draw it out into bottles) just above it, else it will not keep very long:  for the more honey the better.  Then set it over the fire till it boils, and scum it very clean.  Then take it from the fire, and let it stand, till it be cold:  then put it into your vessel.  Take Mace, Cloves, Nutmegs, Ginger, of each a quarter of an Ounce:  beat them small, and hang them in your vessel (being stopped close) in a little bag.

Note, when any Meath or Metheglin grows hard or sower with keeping too long, dissolve in it a good quantity of fresh honey, to make it pleasantly Sweet; (but boil it no more, after it hath once fermented, as it did at the first Tunning) and with that it will ferment again, and become very good and pleasant and quick.

TO MAKE METHEGLIN