MEAD

Nectar of the gods, drink of poets, drink of love. These are all terms that have been used to describe mead, the world's first fermented beverage.
Mead is an alcoholic beverage that, in its simplest form, is made by fermenting a mixture of honey and water. It may also be made by adding a grain mash to the honey/water mixture, which is then strained. Meads can contain a wide variety of spices, fruits and hops, depending on tradition, culture and recipe. The alcohol content of mead ranges from 8% to 18%. It can be still, carbonated or naturally sparkling, and can be sweet, semi-sweet or dry. Mead differs from honey-wine, which is wine sweetened with honey.

Mead is considered the world's first fermented beverage, with evidence of its production dating back to around 2000 BC. Mead was a common beverage in Ancient Greece, and Aristotle and Pliny the Elder each included it in their writings. From the Greeks and Romans to the Norse, Beowulf to Shakespeare, mead was celebrated and commonly used in celebrations. Mead followed the expansion of civilization, and was common throughout all of Europe, as well as east into Russia and the Baltics, and south into Africa. Mead became especially common in areas that grapes would not grow.

Each culture had its own name for the beverage, and each culture's mead was unique to the area it was produced, depending on the source of the honey, the quality of the water, the type of yeast used, the aging procedure and the various adjuncts (fruits, spices, etc.) that were used. Originally, mead was fermented by the wild yeasts that came from the honey itself, or from the skins of the fruits that were added. Over time these yeasts were isolated, and today mead is made from strains of yeast that are similar to those that are used for making beer and wine.

Mead's decline in popularity began in the late 14th century, and by the 17th century it was only popular in a few areas of the world, overtaken in most areas by beer and wine. A honey shortage in Europe, advances in wine and beer making and shipping all played a role. When the Normans of France conquered Northern Europe, bringing with them their love of wine, mead's popularity was about finished. It has remained popular in Africa, Poland and the Baltics. It has been making a small resurgence, driven in part by the craft beverage movement and advances in chemistry and technology. There are about 60 meaderies in the U.S. and Canada today.