As old as time

[Reeves]

What is Mead
 In essence, mead is defined as yeast-fermented honey water. Now if one should do an imaginative
 thing such as add fruit to the honey water, the resulting fermentation is technically called a melomel.
With the addition of grapes, you have a melomel called pyment. Becoming intrigued? Well, hold on,
there's more. A mead infused with herbs and/or spices is called a metheglin. Honey and apple juice
combine to ferment and make cyser. Finally, a spiced pyment (melomel) is called hippocras.
    Getting back to simple mead and present-day palates, one is likely to find that haphazardly
fermented honey water is not to one's liking. Traditionally, mead has been and still is a fermented
beverage brewed with the ratio of 1 gallon of water to 2 1/2 -4 pounds of honey, often resulting in a
prolonged fermentation and an intoxicatingly sweet and very enjoyable honey winelike beverage.
As the amount of honey is increased, more of the sugar content of the mead "wort" will not ferment
due to the fact that higher alcohol levels inhibit yeast fermentation.
   If you can find commercially made mead, it's likely to be sweet, old and stale, smelling like wet
cardboard or old garbage. Rare is the find of freshly made mead in good "health."  But, finding a
commercially made mead in your neighborhood store is improbable. To locate a commercially made
"spiced" or "fruit" mead was impossible up until the early 1990's, when meads began to catch the
fancy of some small breweries and brewpubs. Sometimes you may be fortunate enough to sample some
at a local small brewery. And what a treat it is.
   It's another kind of "Relax. Don't worry."

[Reeves]

Mead, Honeymoons and Love

Who would have thought that the bees, the moon and the magical brews of man could combine to add to the bliss, luster and memories of weddings?
      Mead is a beverage of love. The drinking of mead has been held responsible for fertility and the birth of sons. This is where the tradition of the honeymoon got its start. If mead were consumed for one month (one moon) after a wedding, then in nine months a son would be born and the mead maker congratulated. The custom of drinking mead at weddings and for one month after initiated our present-day custom of the honeymoon.
     Interestingly, mead drinking developed quite a reputation for its ability to increase the chances of bearing sons. So much so that a special drinking cup, called the Mazer Cup, was handed down from generation to generation. The couple who drank from the cup would bear sons to carry on the family name and increase the male birth rate, important in the days of constant war.
     Fact or folly? Scientists have been doing animal experiments and have found they can increase the chances of bearing males by altering the body's pH. It is known that the acidity or alkalinity of the female body during conception can influence the sex of the newborn. Blood sugar levels do alter pH.
     Mead is indeed a noble drink. For more than 5,000 years. Virgil, Plato, Plutarch, Zeus, Venus, Jupiter, Odysseus, Circe, the Argonaut, Beowulf, Aphrodite, Bacchus, Odin, Valhalla, the Sanskrit Rig-Veda, Thor, King Arthur, Queen Elizabeth I, the French, Greeks, Mayans, Africans, English, Irish, Swedes, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, present-day homebrewers and even the Australian Aborigines all likened part of their enjoyment of life to mead.
     Centuries ago the making of mead was art, regulated by custom and statutes. The brewing of mead was not done by just anyone. Certain individuals were trained and held in the highest esteem for turning honey into the magic of mead.
    Today every homebrewer has the know-how to become a dignitary and the maker of mead for those special occasions or for any occasion. The stronger versions keep for years, as does a good marriage.
    And as for having sons, you will have to experiment on your own.

[Reeves]

I wish I had good water here , as I would love to make it again....

Years ago I made a couple "batches" of Mead. I also used Raspberries to flavor it. The taste was like Gingerale with a subtle Raspberry flavor.

After aging about a year, I was out one hot summer day, under the shade of several huge Spruce trees, watching my Pheasants interact.
The wife was fetching (good girl !) glasses of this brew from heaven.
After about 4 of these I stood up. It was a different world !