Glossary
An alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with water. Mead is considered the oldest fermented drink in human history, predating both beer and wine by thousands of years. Modern mead ranges from dry to sweet, still to sparkling.
Mead predates recorded agriculture. Anthropological evidence suggests that honey-water fermentation occurred naturally when rain diluted wild honey in tree hollows, and early humans discovered the pleasant effects of the resulting liquid. Deliberate mead production dates back at least 7,000 years, with archaeological evidence from Chinese pottery, African fermentation vessels, and references in ancient Hindu Vedic texts. The Norse, Greeks, Romans, and Celts all made mead central to their drinking cultures.
At its simplest, mead is honey dissolved in water and fermented with yeast. A typical ratio is 3 to 4 pounds of honey per gallon of water. The mixture (called "must") is pitched with wine or champagne yeast and fermented in a carboy or fermentation vessel for 4 to 8 weeks. After primary fermentation, the mead is racked (transferred off the sediment) and aged for months to years. Like wine, mead improves significantly with aging.
Modern mead encompasses a remarkable range of styles. Traditional mead is simply honey, water, and yeast, ranging from bone-dry to dessert-sweet depending on how much residual sugar remains after fermentation. Melomel adds fruit (berry meads, apple cyser). Metheglin adds herbs and spices (cinnamon, clove, vanilla). Braggot blends mead with beer ingredients (malt, hops). Pyment blends mead with grape juice, producing a honey-wine hybrid.
After centuries of obscurity, mead is experiencing a significant resurgence. Over 500 meaderies now operate in the United States, and mead halls and taprooms are opening in cities nationwide. The craft mead movement parallels the craft beer revolution of the previous decades, with meadmakers pushing creative boundaries by incorporating exotic honey varieties, unusual fruits, and barrel aging techniques.
Mead's flavor depends entirely on the honey variety used, the sweetness level, and any additions (fruit, spices). Dry traditional mead resembles a light white wine with honey floral character. Sweet mead resembles a dessert wine. Fruit meads take on the character of their added fruits. No two meaderies produce identical products.
Mead is neither wine nor beer; it is its own category. Wine is fermented grape juice. Beer is fermented grain. Mead is fermented honey-water. For regulatory purposes, mead is typically classified alongside wine in the United States.
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