Three bottles of golden mead are showcased in see-through glass bottles. They sit outdoors in bright sunlight, with an out-of-focus tree branch in the background — The golden nectar of mead
*Image: Getty Images / Alissa Sanderson*

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.

A medieval painting of a beekeeper, with black ink on yellow parchment. A top, the words “sic nos non nobis mellificamus apes”. A black-robed clergyman holds honeycomb next to a hive as bees fly towards tall flowers. The bottom text reads “All plants yeild honey as you see to the industrious Chymick Bee” — Image: Eco Artware

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

Honey, the fundamental sugar in mead, is the most expensive commonly-used fermentable ingredient in modern alcohol production. Over the centuries, this nectar of the gods fell into obscurity but recently began a modern drinking renaissance. One small business is on a mission to revive the ancient beverage for the many who haven’t tasted or even heard of the amazing wine made from honey. Watch more from Superstition Meadery and see more of their process: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmfq…

Dylan and his twin brother Cole had breakout roles on Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Growing up, Dylan brewed mead secretly in his parent’s garage then continued in his dorm room at NYU. On this installment of Forbes’ Here’s How, Dylan explains how he chased his passion for brewing and turned it into his successful business, All-Wise Meadery, in the heart of Brooklyn.

How to make Viking Mead with traditional ingredients. Wild Yeast, Raw Honey and Meadowsweet.

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.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA-SZX2Xzl0p7pJy2fHeN-Q

Beginner Mead Making – How to Easily Make My “First Mead” at Home. How to Mead for Beginners Honey Mead. Simple, Quick Mead you can Make at Home Today. How to Make your First Mead with our quick and easy mead recipe for beginners. How to Make Mead at home, Make your FIRST Mead simply and easily. Oh, just because this first mead recipe is quick and easy doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good. It’s in my top 5 favorite mead recipes of all time! Mead does not have to be difficult. Making Mead was something done in the home until fairly recently! We show you s quick and simple recipe for making your first mead. Yes, in this video we show you how to make your very first mead. You don’t need a lot of equipment, but, honey is expensive, so you want to ensure you do this right so as to not waste it and the money needed. This is part one of a two part series on How to Make your First Mead. Try our simple mead recipe today!

Today I am showing you how to make mead, or as it is also known honey wine. The mead I ended up making turned out to have an alcohol percentage of around 11%, and took about 1 month in total. Mead is extremely simple to make, doesn’t require heating, or complex additions and timings. It’s just a matter of doing the right steps in the right order. Ingredients:

It’s a good rule of thumb to use 3 lbs of honey per gallon of water. Additionally 1 tsp of yeast nutrient was used as well as two camden tablets.

Simple delicious meed recipe. 4 gallon batch.

Tasting a Blueberry Mead (Mjød) that is made with wild yeast, raw honey and blueberries from a local forrest.

There are many mead recipes but at its heart all you need is honey, water and yeast and within a few weeks you’ll have made mead The honey to water ratio will determine the ABV but generally its 3lbs (1.36kg) per gallon (4.5l) for a mead of around 14% You don’t need much equipment and its relatively cheap to start brewing I used the glass bottle I bought some cider in with a rubber bung and airlock; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001V28KR…

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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