Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 18%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage’s fermentable sugar is derived from honey.

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mead

From its ancient history to its new popularity.

Ever wonder what mighty potion Vikings fortified themselves with as they crisscrossed the oceans? Or what Aristotle was swigging from his goblet? The answer lies with the humble honeybee—and the drink it has helped produce for millenia.https://4c6b43e393a382b33bd784f5d9c95f78.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Possibly the ancestor of all alcoholic beverages, mead has enjoyed audiences across history, from humble working folk to soldiers and pirates and even royalty. And while its popularity waned in recent centuries, the modern era has seen a resurgence in this ancient, golden-hued drink.

1. Mead Exists in Its Own Distinct Category

While often referred to as a honey wine, that’s not entirely accurate. Made with honey, water, and yeast, rather than fruit, mead resides in its own category of alcoholic beverage. Even the meads that are flavored with a variety of fruit are not considered wines.

2. It’s Possibly the Oldest Alcoholic Beverage on Earth

Chinese pottery vessels dating from 7000 B.C.E. suggest evidence of mead fermentation that predates both wine and beer. The first batch of mead was probably a chance discovery: Early foragers likely drank the contents of a rainwater-flooded beehive that had fermented naturally with the help of airborne yeast. Once knowledge of mead production was in place, it spread globally, and was popular with Vikings, Mayans, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans alike.

3. The Golden Elixir Was Considered the Drink of the Gods

Referred to as “nectar of the gods” by ancient Greeks, mead was believed to be dew sent from the heavens and collected by bees. Many European cultures considered bees to be the gods’ messengers, and mead was thus associated with immortality and other magical powers, such as divine strength and wit. For this reason, mead continued to factor heavily in Greek ceremonies even after its eventual decline in drinking popularity.

4. Under the Weather? Take a Glass of Mead.

Today’s physicians are unlikely to write a prescription for mead, but certain kinds made with herbs or spices were used as medicine in early England. Infusing herbs into a sweet mead made them more palatable, and different varieties were thought to improve digestion, help with depression and alleviate good old-fashioned hypochondria. These types of spiced, herbal meads are called metheglin, derived from the Welsh word for medicine.

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Videos

I am a mead maker and all around brewer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I have been making mead for multiple years now and I have lots of experience in making great meads and terrible meads. You can expect to see videos of me making different meads, lots of mead experimentations, mead myth busters, mead tournaments and a ton of awesome content! You don’t want to miss out on the videos to come. Subscribe now to learn how to make your brews better.
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Basic mead recipe

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/basic-mead-201058

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 to 18 pounds of grade-A honey
• 4 1/2 gallons of tap or bottled water
• 8 grams (1/4 ounce) of freeze-dried wine, champagne, or dedicated mead yeast

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The Mead Institute (USA)

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