Mani Trad Mead

"The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani" by John Charles Dollman - Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline) (1909). Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas. London : Harrap. This illustration facing page 8. Digitized by the Internet Archive and available from http://www.archive.org/details/mythsofthenorsem00gueruoft Some simple image processing by User:Haukurth. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Wolves_Pursuing_Sol_and_Mani.jpg#mediaviewer/File:The_Wolves_Pursuing_Sol_and_Mani.jpg
“The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani” by John Charles Dollman (1909). Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

After finishing up the Luna Bochet yesterday, I still had some honey (not caramelized) and some chaga/sumac tea left over, so I thought I’d make up a quick traditional mead. Since today is the full moon, I thought I would name this batch after Mani, who is the Norse personification of the Moon.

I have been fascinated with Mani for some time, since I started studying the old Norse stories, mostly because Mani is male. Most other traditions depict the moon as female, which has become so familiar to me over the years that the idea of a male moon seemed strange. Interestingly, Mani’s sister, Sol, is the personification of the Sun, again going against what I had gotten used to in most other traditions with a male sun and a female moon.

The last of my honey bucket was quite crystalized, so I began by melting the honey a bit under some gentle heat, so that it would dissolve more quickly:

Maine Wildflower honey liquifying under gentle heat.
Maine Wildflower honey liquifying under gentle heat.

Once it was liquefied, I added the remaining chaga/sumac tea, then added a bit more water and honey, to get myself up to an 17.5% initial alcohol potential:

Honey, chaga/sumac tea, and water, mixed to a 17.5% initial alcohol potential.
Honey, chaga/sumac tea, and water, mixed to a 17.5% initial alcohol potential.

As I stirred, I could see symbols and shapes coalescing and dissolving in the thin layer of foam on top of the must. These swirls look almost like animations, and there are stories hidden within them.

Once the mixture was complete, I pitched the yeast, poured it into the carboy, shook it up, and now I have a batch of wonderful traditional mead, which has become my favorite kind of mead over the past few years:

Máni Trad Mead. This should be another great one!
Máni Trad Mead. This should be another great one!

Hail Mani on this night of the full moon!