10 Aug 2023
Outdoors, Brews, & BBQ - let's have a beer and chat about Nature and Mead.
Outdoors, Brews, & BBQ - let’s have a beer and chat about Nature and Mead.
Mead
Bees
Bees produce 10 - 200 pounds of honey a year.
Made from honey, mead is perhaps the world's first intentionally fermented beverage.
It's not a beer which is (grain-based) and it's not a wine (fruit-based): mead is its own thing, a millennia-old merrymaker that can be rustic and simple or delicate and refined. Making mead at home is easy—easier than making beer.
Mead, also called hydromel, particularly when low in alcohol content, its an alcoholic beverage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_drink)made by fermenting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermenting) honey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey) mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit), spices (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice), grains (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain), or hops (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops).
The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_by_volume) to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead
It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.
The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead.
Evidence of mead begins to show up in the archaeological record more clearly, with pottery vessels from northern China (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_China) dating from at least 7000 BCE
The earliest surviving written record of mead is possibly the soma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soma_(drink)) mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda), one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Vedic_religion) and later Hinduism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism) dated around 1700–1100 BCE.
Beers
Schmoojee Strawberry Colada
Sour - Fruited | 5.7% ABV
Imprint Beer Co.
Hatfield, PA
Tasting Notes
It tastes like a strawberry smoothie took a tropical vacation, met an alluring piña colada at a tiki bar, the two fell madly in love, and the next thing you know - bam! Cabana babies with sumptuous berries 'n cream upfront, tangy nectar in the middle, and cool coconut at the close.
Juicy, Thick, Sweet, Fruity, Tropical, Cocktail Inspired
Dr. Lupulin 3x
Imperial IPA | 11.3% ABV
Revision Brewing Company
Sparks, NV
Tasting Notes
This U.S. Open Beer Championships Gold Medal winner delivers flavors of dank kush, overripe cantaloupe, tangy grapefruit, and tropical mango - - and also clocks in at 11.3% ABV!
Citrusy, Dank
Aphrodisia Batch 27
Mead - Pyment | 13% ABV
Superstition Meadery
Prescott, AZ
Rich notes of treacly honey swirl into tannic pops of red grape. Sophisticated whispers of oaky barrel char peek through on the backend, adding sublime depth to the finish.
Sweet, Complex, Boozy
