The Cracked Pot

Mead

I think I may have finally found my calling.

For a very long time I’ve been interested in the beer and wine making process, and I love to seize the means of production by the balls, but let’s face it: homemade wine and beer can be downright awful. There’s no way I could make wine or beer better than the pros. However, there is a third and oft overlooked option: mead.

In it’s simplest form, Mead is a wine made from honey, water and yeast. It is the oldest fermented beverage in the world, and was probably discovered by some hapless nit-wit who left his leather honey pouch open over night in the rain. A couple days later, the honey was a little more magical tasting than usual.

Mead has enjoyed a rich history in Viking culture- fallen warriors were believed to arrive in the halls of Valhalla in the afterlife, where, after a day of hard battling, they feasted on crackled pork at Odin’s table all night long. In the middle of the hall, a giant she-goat stood on her hind legs and nibbled on a pine branch while rich mead poured of our her teats.

Don’t you just love it already?

There are many types of mead that can be made by adding various ingredients to the basic recipe of honey, water and yeast. For instance:

• Sack Mead- is sweet mead made with extra honey
• Methyglin- is made with herbs and spices (the word “medicine” comes from Methyglin, as mead was used to administer medicinal herbs)
• Melomel- is mead with any fruit except apple or grapes (often berries)
• Pyment- is mead with grapes
• Cyser- is mead with apples/apple cider
• Braggot- is mead with grain (think mead-beer)

And the list goes on.

So what does it taste like? Sherry, only bone dry and swimming in alcohol. It has a rich mouth-feel with a very aromatic honey nose. It’s definitely a cold evening/warm hearth drink!

For Vancouverites, you can sample a few different meads at Burgoo (restaurant) on Main Street, or swing by Liberty Wine Merchants on Granville Island to pick up a bottle. There are currently only two commercial meaderies in BC, and they’re brand spanking new: Tugwell Creek in Victoria and Middle Mountain on Hornby Island.

Since this will be my first attempt at making mead, I’ve consulted the masters at gotmead.com for an overview of the process and some recipe tips, and I’ll be making the blueberry mead recipe from Dave’spicks.com, a melomel with a bit of hops in the mix.

Stay tuned…

Tags: honey, mead

1 Comment to Mead

Leave a comment