So, What is Mead?

Looking back over the last year, I never properly explained what mead is (aside from a poor description in The Beginning).  From a very simple perspective, mead is the result of honey, water, and yeast left to ferment until alcohol has been created.  On a more technical note, I like to think mead is any alcohol beverage where more than 50% of the fermented sugars originate from the honey.  Beer, likewise would be a beverage fermented from greater than 50% cereal grains (typically malted barley or wheat), wine is from greater than 50% grape juice, and cider is from greater than 50% apple juice.  Well what happens if we decide to mix them up, and we want to make a mead + beer combination, or a mead + cider combination.

In the mead world this is simple.  Many variants of mead exist, just as many beer types exist.  Here is a short example of that list.  Note, for the purposes of my definition, at least half of the fermented sugar for all of these types should come from honey.

Meads are generally categorized as having three different alcohol strengths as follows.  Note, these distinctions can be combined with all of the later definitions, e.g. cyser of hydromel strength, or metheglin of standard strength.

• Hydromel (or session): This is a low alcohol mead, often served carbonated similar to beer.  It will have a final alcohol by volume (ABV) level of 3.5 - 7.5%.  
• Standard Mead: This is a mead of table wine strength, that is, 7.5 - 14% ABV.
• Sack Mead: This is a mead of high alcohol content, greater than 14% ABV.

There are two categories of mead where honey is the only fermentable.

• Traditional Mead: These are meads fermented with honey, water, yeast, and yeast nutrients.
• Show Mead: This category defines those meads fermented only from honey, water, and yeast.  These meads do NOT have additional nutrients added to the must to improve fermentation.  They often will take a long time to completely ferment as nothing is there to help the yeast, and may take even longer aging to smooth out the flavors produced during a relatively stressful ferment.

The following are the types of fruit meads available.  A general mead from fruit and honey is classified as a melomel, but specific names have been given to many of these combinations.

• Melomel: This is a mead fermented with fruit.
• Pyment: This mead is fermented from honey and grape juice.
• Cyser: Pronounced sizer, this is produced from honey and apple juice.
• Morat: Mead from honey and mulberries.
• Capsicumel: Mead fermented from honey and chili peppers.

Then there are the metheglins, grouped as such for convenience, even though some are stretching it.

• Metheglin: Mead made from honey and a combination of spices, added either during or post fermentation.
• Rhodomel: Mead fermented from honey and rose petals.
• Braggot, bracket, or brackett: Originally, this was a mead fermented from honey with hops added, but this category has evolved to include meads fermented with malted grains in addition to the honey.

The following two meads really do not seem to fit any of the above categories as I have outlined them, but are worth mentioning as mead types.

• Bochet: This is a mead fermented from caramelized honey.  
• Acerglyn: This mead is from a combination of honey and maple syrup.

I also want to mention three traditional Polish meads you may find perusing the shelves of a liquor store.  Poland is one of the few remaining locations where mead has maintained its popularity since the Middle Ages, and three distinct polish styles are provided here. 

• Dwojniak: A Polish mead made using equal parts honey and water.  This will typically result in a high ABV, sweet mead.
• Poltorak: A Polish mead made with two parts water to one part honey.
• Czworniak: A Polish mead made with three parts water and one part honey.

Lastly, I don't want to leave off Tej, an Ethiopian variety of mead fermented with honey and gesho.

If I left off any meads, and I most certainly have, let me know in the comments section.  Considering the number of fruits and spices available, the mead combinations are truly endless.