What is Mead (honey wine)?

The fermented beverage known as mead has a long and winding history dating back hundreds of thousands of years. There are many theories about where mead was first discovered and by whom. Some say it was first discovered in Africa, when native tribes stumbled upon a hive of bees that had nested in a hollow tree trunk. When rain found its way into the hive and collected in a stagnant pool, the natural yeasts that live in the air began to consume the sugars in the honey and converted them to alcohol. There is evidence of a fermented beverage made from honey, rice, and fruits dated back to the 7th millennium BCE in China. There is also evidence of mead being made on the Island of Crete, some 8,000 years ago. The ancient Greeks referred to mead as "nectar of the Gods". 

In Norse mythology, Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry was a vat of mead possessed by the gods of Asgard. It was said that drinking this mead would turn the drinker into a poet or scholar, possessing some of the knowledge and wisdom of Kvasir, a man who was born from the combined spittle of the gods, who was said to have been the wisest being in existence at the time. Kvasir was murdered by the dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who drained his blood into two vats before combining it with honey. The tale of how the Mead of Poetry ends up in King Odin's possession is very lengthy, but in short, there was more murder, some bargaining, and some stealing. The mead found its way into the hands of giants, before coming to Odin and its final resting place in two vats in Asgard. 

Mead also has found its history among famous works of literature as well as TV. In Beowolf, Heorot is the Mead-Hall, home to the throne of King Hrothgar, and is a place of light, joy, and merriment. In Chaucer's “Canterbury Tales" mead is mentioned in the Millers Tale, and is described as  a draught of townfolk and used to court a fair lady. In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, mead is described as the cordial, miruvór which is mentioned in the Elvish poem Namárië. When this poem is translated to english, miruvór becomes mead. On TV, mead played a big role as the favorite beverage in the HBO series Game of Thrones. It also made its way into the Netflix series The Witcher, based on the book series written by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski (100% would recommend reading the books). 

The process of making mead is quite simple. All you need is honey, water, and yeast. Obviously there is a bit more to it than that, but just like brewing beer or making wine, there are infinite methods on how to go about achieving your final product. The really fun part about mead is you can do anything with it. 

Most people assume that, because it is made from honey, all meads are going to be sweet. This is not the case. Mead can be fermented on a scale from sweet to dry (not sweet). The more honey you use, the sweeter your final product will be, and the less honey you use, the drier your final product will be. This, coupled with the strain of yeast you use, will determine how high in alcohol your mead will end up being. 

Mead is exciting because you have the opportunity to create different flavor profiles using different brewing methods and flavor enhancers. There as specific names for different styles of meads based on your fermenting process and what you are using to flavor it.

Show Mead -  A plain mead made with no additional flavors, just water, honey, and yeast.

Methiglin - A mead that is flavored with spices and/herbs. 

Melomel - Mead made with fruits or fruit juices.

Pyment - Mead made with grapes. 

Cyser - Mead made with apples. A cyser can also be made with pear, cherry, or peach.

Rhodomel - Mead made with rose. This could be rose petals, hips, or extract.

Braggot - More of a beer style mead made with malt and sometimes hops.

Bochet - Mead made with honey that has been caramelized or burnt before being mixed with water and yeast.

Sack Mead - a mead made with a much higher ratio of honey, resulting in a very sweet and almost viscus drink.

Capsicumel - Mead made with chili peppers.

Rhyzamel - Mead made with root vegetables.

Hydromel - A mead that has been watered down, resulting in a lower ABV. Hydromel is also the French name for mead.

t'ej – Ethiopian mead fermented with gesho, or shiny-leaf buckthorn, that results in an earthy flavor

ydromeli – Greek mead

hydromel – French mead 

aguamiel – Spanish mead

balche – a Mayan ceremonial drink that is prepared with the bark of the balché tree which has mind altering properties. 

chouchen – Mead made specifically in Brittany (France)

miruvór - Elvish (Tolkien)

hidromel – Portugese mead 

idromele – Italian mead 

med – Bulgarian and Ukranian

meddeglyn or myddyglyn – Welsh spiced mead

mede – Dutch mead

medovina – Czech and Slovak mead 

medovukha – Russian mead 

medu – Old High German/Old Saxon/variant of Old English, Mercian and Northumbrian 

medus – Lithuanian and/or Latvian honey 

meis – Eritrean mead 

meodu – Old English, West Saxon 

met – German mead

midus – Lithuanian mead 

miòd – Polish mead 

mjød – Danish and Norwegian mead 

mjöd – Swedish mead 

mõdu – Estonian honey beer 

nabidh – Arabic mead 

sima – Finnish mead