Mead is becoming more popular as a result of the craft beer and distilling movements, as well as frequent references in popular culture. Furthermore, despite the fact that there are still ten times more breweries in the US than there are meaderies, the industry is steadily expanding. A meadery opens up in the US on average every three days, according to reports from the American Mead Makers Association (AMMA), indicating the start of a potential new trend in the manufacture of artisan mead. Do you truly know anything about mead, aside the fact that it is frequently associated with mediaeval culture, or is it just another fashionable new way to get buzzed?
What Is Mead
Mead is essentially honey wine. It is honey and water that has undergone yeast fermentation, but it can also be flavoured with other fruits, grains, spices, and/or hops. It falls into a separate category of its own, in between wine and beer. It would be sipped similarly to beer, wine, or cider.
Does It Resemble Beer?
No and yes. Mead is similar to wine and different from both wine and beer. Beer is often a little milder than mead. Ken Schramm, the author of The Complete Meadmaker, notes that one similarity between mead and beer is that there are numerous substyles (none of which have been recognised by the U.S. government yet; there is just one "honey wine" category). Mead is incredibly versatile, according to Schramm. Craft beer offered up new creative avenues because it allowed for the blending of various flavours and styles. Mead possesses the same adaptability. The variety of ingredients you can add to it is the same as well: spices, fruits, and vegetables. People may be as inventive as they want with this stuff.
Among these substyles are braggot, which is mead blended with beer or malt and hops; melomel; hydromel; and great mead, which is mead meant to be aged. Melomel is mead with additional fruit. Similar to wine, it comes in a variety of still and sparkling varieties, from crisp and dry to rich and sweet. Breweries are able to produce the braggot substyle of mead, but wineries or, of course, meaderies are the only places where other types of mead are produced. Hops are a natural preservative, thus a "meadmaker," who makes mead in any commercial setting, may decide to include them. Mead and craft beer are often confused, which is a result of its inclusion. Mead can occasionally be found in supermarkets either the wine aisle or the beer aisle. Mead is expected to continue growing in popularity, and as more businesses learn more about it, they'll likely realise that it requires its own area.
Health Factor
Ancient societies equated mead with health and energy, and Greek mythology refers to it as "the drink of the gods." Are those adages still true today? Maybe. Because honey is the main component, mead is thought to provide some health advantages. According to study, honey contains potent antioxidant and antibacterial capabilities, according to Healthline. There isn't enough evidence, though, to prove that fermented honey retains its enchanted qualities.