Mead
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2008-07-10T16:33:44Z
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[[Image:Met Flasche und Glas.jpg|thumb|Mead.]]
'''Mead''' ({{IPAEng|ˈmiːd}}) is a [[fermentation (food)|fermented]] [[alcoholic beverage]] made of [[honey]], [[water]], and [[yeast]]. Meadhing ({{IPA|ˈmɛ.ðɪŋ}}) is the practice of brewing honey. Mead is also colloquially known as "honey [[wine]]". A brewery that deals specifically in mead is called either a [[meadery]] or a mazery.
A mead that also contains [[spices]] (like [[clove]]s, [[cinnamon]] or [[nutmeg]]) or [[herb]]s (such as [[oregano]], [[hops]], or even [[lavender]] or [[chamomile]]) is called a '''metheglin''' ({{IPAEng|mɨˈθɛglɪn}}). The English usage is derived from the Old English ''medu'', from [[Proto-Germanic]] ''meduz''. [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] ''miod / med'', which means "honey" and [[Baltic languages|Baltic]] *''midus'', which means "mead", derive from the same [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root (cf [[Welsh language|Welsh]] medd, [[Old Irish]] mid [[Sanskrit]] madhu).
A mead that contains fruit (such as [[strawberry]], [[blackcurrant]] or even [[rose hips]]) is called a '''melomel''' and was also used as a means of [[food preservation]], keeping summer produce for the winter. A mead that contains specifically grape juice is called a '''pyment'''.
[[Mulled wine|Mulled]] mead is a popular winter holiday drink, where mead is flavored with spices (and sometimes various fruits) and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into it.
==History==
The first known description of mead is in the hymns of the [[Rigveda]],<ref name="Rigveda">[[Rigveda]] Book 5 v. 43:3–4, Book 8 v. 5:6, etc</ref> one of the sacred books of the [[historical Vedic religion]] and (later) [[Hinduism]] dated around [[1700 BC|1700]]–[[1100 BC]]. During the "[[Golden Age]]" of [[Ancient Greece]], mead was said to be the preferred drink.<ref name="Kerenyi">{{cite book| last=Kerenyi | first =Karl| title=Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life | publisher=[[Princeton University]] Press | date=[[1976 in literature|1976]] | pages =35| id=ISBN 0-691-09863-8 }}</ref> [[Aristotle]] ([[384 BC|384]]–[[322 BC]]) discussed mead in his ''[[Meteorology (Aristotle)|Meteorologica]]'' and elsewhere, while [[Pliny the Elder]] (AD [[23]]–[[79]]) called mead ''militites'' in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'' and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead.<ref name="Pliny">{{cite book| last=[[Pliny the Elder]] | title=Natural History XIV | pages=XII:85 etc }}</ref>
Around AD [[550]], the [[Cumbric Language|Cumbric speaking]] [[bard]] [[Taliesin]] wrote the ''{{lang|cy|Kanu y med}}'' or "Song of Mead."<ref name="Book of Taliesin">''[[Book of Taliesin|Llyfr Taliesin]]'' XIX</ref> The legendary drinking, feasting and boasting of warriors in the [[mead hall]] ''[[Heorot]]'' in the [[Anglo-Saxon polytheism|Anglo-Saxon]] epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'' is echoed in the mead hall ''Dyn Eidyn'' now modern day [[Edinburgh]] in the epic poem ''[[Y Gododdin]]'', both dated around AD [[700]]. Mead is still drunk in the modern Celtic nations, [[Welsh language|Welsh]] for mead is ''Medd'', and ''Leanne Meala'' in [[Scottish Gaelic]]. "English Mead" is Britain's oldest brand drink.
Mead was the historical beverage ''par excellence'' and commonly brewed by the [[Germanic tribes]] in [[Northern Europe]]. However, heavy taxation and regulations on the ingredients of alcoholic beverages such as the [[Reinheitsgebot]] or ''Purity Laws'' led to commercially made mead becoming a more obscure beverage up until recently.<ref name="Buhner">{{cite book| last=Buhner| first=Stephen Harrod | title=Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation | publisher=Siris Books | date=[[1998 in literature|1998]] | id=ISBN 0-937381-66-7 }}</ref> Some [[monasteries]] kept up the old traditions of mead-making as a by-product of [[beekeeping]], especially in areas where [[grape]]s could not be grown.
In many parts of [[Europe]] it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. {{Fact|date=August 2007}} Though some believe it is from this practice we get ''honeymoon''<ref name="Gayre">{{cite book| last=Gayre| first=Robert | title=Wassail! In Mazers of Mead | publisher=Brewers Publications — Boulder, CO | date=1986 | id=ISBN 0-937381-00-4 }}, p.22</ref><ref name="Acton">{{cite book| last=Acton| first=Bryan | title=Making Mead | publisher=The Amateur Winemaker | date=1968 | id=SBN 900841-07-9 }}, p.14</ref>, this etymology is not accepted by linguists. <ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=honeymoon Etymonline reference]</ref>
==Spread==
[[Image:Tej.JPG|200px|thumb|Ethiopian mead ([[Tej]]).]]
Mead was also popular in [[Central Europe]] and in the [[Baltic states]]. In [[Polish language|Polish]], mead is called ''{{lang|pl|miód pitny}}'' ({{IPA2|m<sup>j</sup>ut pitnɨ}}), meaning "drinkable honey". In [[Russia]], mead remained popular as [[medovukha]] and [[sbiten]] long after its decline in popularity in the West. Sbiten is often mentioned in the works of [[19th-century]] Russian writers, including [[Gogol]], [[Dostoevsky]] and [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]].
In [[Finland]], a sweet mead called ''{{lang|fi|Sima}}'' ([[cognate]] with [[brewing|zymurgy]]), is still an essential seasonal brew connected with the Finnish [[Walpurgis Night|Vappu]] ([[May Day]]) festival. It is usually spiced by adding both the pulp and rind of a [[lemon]]. During secondary fermentation, [[raisin]]s are added to control the amount of sugars and to act as an indicator of readiness for consumption; they will rise to the top of the bottle when the drink is ready.
[[Ethiopia]]n mead is called ''[[tej]]'' ({{IPA2|ˈtʼədʒ}}) and is usually home-made. It is flavored with the powdered leaves and bark of ''gesho'', a [[Hop (plant)|hops-like]] [[Basic taste#Bitterness|bittering agent]] which is a species of [[buckthorn]]. A sweeter, less-alcoholic version called ''berz'', aged for a shorter time, is also made. The traditional vessel for drinking ''tej'' is a rounded vase-shaped container called a ''berele''.
Mead known as iQhilika is traditionally prepared by the [[Xhosa|amaXhosa]] of [[South Africa]].
==In literature==
Mead features prominently in several of the works of [[Neil Gaiman]]. Early in the novel [[American Gods]], the protagonist drinks a particularly unpleasant round of mead (colorfully described as tasting of "drunken [[diabetic]]'s piss") with his new employer [[Odin|Mr. Wednesday]] to seal their contract. It is also a favourite drink of the title character of Gaiman's celebrated [[The Sandman (Vertigo)|Sandman series]].
In the novel [[The Wolves of Willoughby Chase]] by [[Joan Aiken]] Bonnie and Sylvia are offered metheglin to hearten them for the walk.
Mead is also featured in [[Beowulf]], where the main character fights the evil [[Grendel]] at the mead-hall.
* [[Norse mythology]]: [[Mead of Poetry]]
* [[Greek mythology]]
Mead is also the favorite beverage of the skin-changer Beorn in [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s [[The Hobbit]].
==Varieties==
[[Image:Hromcikova horka11.jpg|200px|thumb|Czech Medovina]]
Mead can have a wide range of flavors, depending on the source of the honey, additives called "adjuncts" or "[[gruit]]" (including fruit and spices), yeast employed during fermentation, and aging procedure. Mead can be difficult to find commercially, though some producers have been successful marketing it. Consumers must bear in mind that some producers have marketed white wine with added honey as mead, often spelling it "meade". This is closer in style to a [[Hypocras]]. Blended varieties of mead can be known by either style represented. For instance, a mead made with cinnamon and apples can be referred to as a cinnamon cyser or as an apple metheglin.
Some meads retain some measure of the sweetness of the original honey, and some can even be considered as dessert wines. Drier meads are also available, and some producers offer sparkling meads, which (like [[champagne (wine)|champagne]]) can make for a delightful celebratory toast. There are a number of faux-meads, which are actually cheap wines with large amounts of honey added, to produce a cloyingly sweet liqueur. It has been said that "a mead that tastes of honey is as good as a wine that still tastes of grape".{{Fact|date=June 2007}}
{{cquote|Take of spring water what quantity you please, and make it more than blood-warm, and dissolve honey in it till 'tis strong enough to bear an [[egg (food)|egg]], the breadth of a [[shilling]]; then boil it gently near an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then put to about nine or ten [[gallon]]s seven or eight large blades of [[nutmeg|mace]], three nutmegs quartered, twenty cloves, three or four sticks of cinnamon, two or three roots of [[ginger]], and a quarter of an [[ounce]] of [[Allspice|Jamaica pepper]]; put these spices into the kettle to the honey and water, a whole lemon, with a sprig of [[Rosa rubiginosa|sweet-briar]] and a sprig of [[rosemary]]; tie the briar and rosemary together, and when they have boiled a little while take them out and throw them away; but let your liquor stand on the spice in a clean [[earthenware|earthen pot]] till the next day; then strain it into a vessel that is fit for it; put the spice in a bag, and hang it in the vessel, stop it, and at three months draw it into bottles. Be sure that 'tis fine when 'tis bottled; after 'tis bottled six weeks 'tis fit to drink.<ref name=Spencer>{{cite book| last=Spencer | first=Edward | title=The Flowing Bowl | date=[[1903 in literature|1903]] | pages=32–33 }}</ref>}}
Historically, meads would have been fermented by wild [[yeast]]s and [[bacteria]] (as noted in the above quoted recipe) residing on the skins of the fruit or within the honey itself. Wild yeasts generally provide inconsistent results, and in modern times various brewing interests have isolated the strains now in use. Certain strains have gradually become associated with certain styles of mead. Mostly, these are strains that are also used in beer or wine production. Several commercial labs, such as White Labs, WYeast, Vierka, and others have gone so far as to develop strains specifically for mead.
Mead can also be distilled to a brandy or liqueur strength. [[Krupnik]] is a sweet Polish liqueur made through just such a process. A simple version of this called "honey jack" can be made by partly freezing a quantity of mead and pouring off the liquid without the ice crystals (a process known as [[freeze distillation]]), the same way [[applejack (beverage)|applejack]] is made from [[cider]].
===Mead variants===
[[Image:Polish mead.jpg|thumb|Polish mead produced in [[Lublin]].]]
*'''Braggot''' — Braggot (also called bracket or brackett). Originally brewed with honey and hops, later with honey and malt — with or without hops added.
*'''Black mead''' — A name sometimes given to the blend of honey and [[blackcurrant]]s.
*'''Capsicumel''' is a mead flavored with chile peppers.
*'''[[Chouchen]]n''' is a kind of mead made in [[Brittany]].
*'''Cyser''' — A blend of honey and [[apple]] juice fermented together; ''see also [[cider]]''.
*'''Czwórniak''' — A Polish mead, made using three units of water for each unit of honey
*'''Dwójniak''' — A Polish mead, made using equal amounts of water and honey
*'''Great mead''' — Any mead that is intended to be aged several years. The designation is meant to distinguish this type of mead from "short mead" (see below).
*'''[[Gverc]]''' or '''[[Medovina]]''' — [[Croatia]]n mead prepared in [[Samobor]] and many other places. The word “gverc” or “gvirc” is from the [[German language|German]] "{{lang|de|Gewürze}}" and refers to various spices added to mead.
*'''Hydromel''' — Hydromel literally means "water-honey" in [[Greek language|Greek]]. It is also the [[French language|French]] name for mead. (Compare with the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''hidromiel'' and ''aquamiel'', [[Italian language|Italian]] ''idromele'' and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''hidromel''). It is also used as a name for a very light or low-alcohol mead.
*'''Medica''' — [[Slovenia]]n variety of Mead.
*'''Medovina''' — [[Czech Republic|Czech]], [[Serbia]]n, [[Croatia]]n, [[Bulgaria]]n, and [[Slovakia|Slovak]] for mead. Commercially available in Czech Republic, Slovakia and presumably other Central and Eastern European countries.
*'''[[Medovukha]]''' — Eastern Slavic variant (honey-based fermented drink)
*'''Melomel''' — Melomel is made from honey and any fruit. Depending on the fruit-base used, certain melomels may also be known by more specific names (see cyser, pyment, morat for examples)
*'''Metheglin''' — Metheglin starts with traditional mead but has herbs and/or spices added. Some of the most common metheglins are ginger, [[tea]], [[Orange (fruit)|orange]] peel, [[nutmeg]], [[coriander]], cinnamon, cloves or [[vanilla]]. Its name indicates that many metheglins were originally employed as [[folk medicine]]s. The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] word for mead is ''{{lang|cy|medd}}'', and the word "metheglin" derives from ''{{lang|cy|meddyglyn}}'', a compound of ''{{lang|cy|meddyg}}'', "healing" + ''{{lang|cy|llyn}}'', "liquor".
*'''[[Morat]]''' — Morat blends honey and [[mulberry|mulberries]].
*'''[[Roman cuisine|Mulsum]]''' — Mulsum is not a true mead, but is unfermented honey blended with a high-alcohol wine.
*'''Omphacomel''' — A mediæval mead recipe that blends honey with [[verjuice]]; could therefore be considered a variety of pyment (''qv'').
*'''Oxymel''' — Another historical mead recipe, blending honey with [[wine]] [[vinegar]].
*'''Pitarrilla''' — [[Maya peoples|Mayan]] drink made from a fermented mixture of wild honey, [[balche tree]] bark and fresh water.
*'''Pyment''' — Pyment blends honey and red or white grapes. Pyment made with white grape juice is sometimes called "white mead."
*'''Półtorak''' — A Polish mead, made using two units of honey for each unit of water
*'''Rhodomel''' — Rhodomel is made from honey, [[rose hip]]s, petals or [[rose oil|rose attar]] and water.
*'''Sack mead''' — This refers to mead that is made with more copious amounts of honey than usual. The finished product retains an extremely high [[relative density|specific gravity]] and elevated levels of sweetness. It derives its name from the [[fortified wine|fortified]] [[dessert wine]] [[Sherry]] (which is sometimes sweetened after fermentation and in England once bore the nickname of "sack").
*'''Short mead''' — Also called "quick mead". A type of mead recipe that is meant to age quickly, for immediate consumption. Because of the techniques used in its creation, short mead shares some qualities found in cider (or even [[light ale]]): primarily that it is [[carbonation|effervescent]], and often has a cidery taste.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} It can also be champagne-like.
*'''Show mead''' — A term which has come to mean "plain" mead: that which has honey and water as a base, with no fruits, spices or extra flavorings. Since honey alone often does not provide enough nourishment for the yeast to carry on its lifecycle, a mead that is devoid of fruit, etc. will sometimes require a special [[yeast nutrient]] and other [[enzyme]]s to produce an acceptable finished product. In most competitions (including all those using the [[BJCP]] style guidelines as well as the [[International Mead Fest]]) the term "traditional mead" is used for this variety.
*'''[[Sima (mead)|Sima]]''' - a quickly-fermented Finnish variety, seasoned with lemon and associated with the festival of [[vappu]].
*'''[[Tej]]''' — Tej is an Ethiopian mead, fermented with wild yeasts (and bacteria), and with the addition of ''[[gesho]]''. Recipes vary from family to family, with some recipes leaning towards ''braggot'' with the inclusion of grains.
*'''Trójniak''' — A Polish mead, made using two units of water for each unit of honey.
==Religious usage==
===Germanic paganism and neopaganism===
In ancient Germanic paganism, mead had an important ritual use. In direct relation to the ancient use of Germanic tribes of mead, mead is now an integral ritual component in [[Ásatrú]] and in [[Germanic Neopaganism]]. It is privately brewed by some adherents for drinking purposes as well as for religiously significant occasions such as [[Germanic Neopaganism#Bl.C3.B3t|blóts]] and [[Germanic Neopaganism#Sumbel|Sumbel]].
===Ethiopia===
Ethiopian mead is traditionally used in funerary rituals.{{Fact|date=April 2007}}
==Festivals==
* '''International Mead Festival''' — Sponsored by the International Mead Association, this festival is held every year on the weekend closest to [[Valentine's Day]] in or near [[Denver]], [[Colorado]]. It claims to be the largest and most prestigious mead festival in the world. Both professional and home-brewed meads are judged.<ref>[http://www.meadfest.com/ International Mead Festival] official website</ref>
* '''Real Ale Festival''' in [[Chicago, Illinois]] includes categories for Mead as well as [[Cider]] and [[Perry]].<ref>[http://realalefestival.com Real Ale Festival] official website</ref>
==See also==
* [[History of alcohol]]
* [[Honey]]
* [[Mead hall]]
* [[Meadher]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
* {{cite book| last=Schramm | first=Ken | title=The Compleat Meadmaker | publisher=Brewers Publications | date=[[2003 in literature|2003]] | id=ISBN 0-937381-82-9 }}
* {{cite book| last=Kerenyi | first=Karl | title=Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life | publisher = [[Princeton University]] Press | date=1976 | id =ISBN 0-691-09863-8 }}
* {{cite book| last=Digby | first=Kenelm | coauthors=Jane Stevenson, Peter Davidson | title=The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened 1669 | publisher=Prospect Books | date=[[1997 in literature|1997]] | id=ISBN 0-907325-76-9}}
* {{cite book| last=Gayre | first=Robert | coauthors=Papazian, Charlie | title=Brewing Mead: Wassail! In Mazers of Mead | publisher=Brewers Publications | date=[[1986 in literature|1986]] | id=ISBN 0-937381-00-4 }}</div>
==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Cookbook}}
*[http://thirsty.eastcowdrybootleggers.us/ East Cowdry Bootleggers] A short history and home-brewing recipes
*[http://www.gotmead.com Gotmead.com] Large searchable mead resource site for making and drinking mead, with recipes, articles, history and a large active forum of mead-makers
*[http://www.talisman.com/mead/index.html Talisman Farm mead info] The home of the Mead Lovers Digest
*[http://www.washingtonwinemaker.com/blog/2007/05/06/a-simple-mead/ A Simple Mead Recipe] The easy way to make a terrific mead
*[http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/brew-1-gallon-of-honey-wine-mead.htm Mead Making Tutorial] How to Make a one gallon batch of mead
{{Alcoholic beverages2|type=fermented}}
[[Category:Beekeeping]]
[[Category:Germanic paganism]]
[[Category:Mead| ]]
[[Category:Slavic cuisine]]
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[[bar:Met]]
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