What is Mead?

Jun 17, 2018 | 1 comment

Mead is an alcoholic beverage that is claimed to be the oldest fermented beverages ever. Ranging from 3% up to 15% abv and up, there are many variations of this ancient drink. There are still meads and sparkling meads as well and fruit, spice and a whole range of other flavoring that can be infused into it. Mead has been enjoyed for centuries from nearly every corner of the world.

Anthropologists believe that that mead was possibly first produced around 8000 BC, with beer and wine not too far behind. Some historians believe that mead might likely had been accidentally discovered by a passerby who drank rainfall collected in a hive that had been naturally fermenting. Also the theory that paleolithic hunters filled their water skins with honey partially drained from a beehive, and later, self-perpetuating fermentation resulted. Reusing the skin would have created a resident yeast culture most likely, it’s quite plausible that the sack would have been jammed with fruits such as grapes, figs, apples and even grains eventually. Ancient styles of mead were most likely high alcohol and more concentrated.

There are many versatile styles and variations of modern day mead, from sparkling styles to still mead.