NECTAR OF THE GODS

Over recent years, the world of craft brewing and home brewing have expanded and in recent months, I have become part of that trend — with a difference.

Instead of beer, I have taken up the brewing of honey mead.

You have no doubt seen mead portrayed or mentioned in movies and in books. In one of my favorite movies, “The 13th Warrior,” the main character Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, played by Antonio Banderas, turns down an alcoholic drink, which he suspects as being wine or beer, from Herger the Joyous, played by Dennis Storhøi.

Fahdlan explains, “I can taste neither the fermentation of the grape, nor of wheat,” to which Herger responds, laughing as he does, “HONEY! It’s made from honey.”

It’s a line I remember, not only because it’s humor, but also because I’ve been interested in the drink ever since, though it’s also partly because of my Scandinavian heretage and my interest in the ancient Norse cultures.

I tried my first “mead’ when a buddy brought some back from a trip to Ireland a number of years ago. More recently, I would taste what I could at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and began growing more of a taste from it from there.

There was something enticing about the drink, partially due to the historical connection to my ancestory I suspect, but on a base level it just tasted good.

For many it might be comparable to a wine and when refined enough it’s easy to see the comparision, yet it can be so much more and experimentation with it is akin to being a mad Norse scientist.

Mead is the earliest example of alcohol known to man simply because of the ease in which it’s made. The brew was known as far back as 9,000 years and can be traced to China, perhaps even further.

Mead can be traced to China, India, Egypt and throughout Europe. The drink made sense as honey was often used to sweeten things during those times so it was both familiar and readily available.

Being a history nut, the idea of combining both mead and history has been appealing, but I first had to get over the idea

Adventure that I could do this. Fermentation comes uncomfortably into the close to the chemistry I struggled so much with in school. I’ve never been good at these types of things, ancient but the more I looked into this the more I became enamored with the art of idea of trying until finally, I ordered “Make Mead Like a Viking: Traditional fermenting Techniques for Brewing Natural, WildFermented, Honey-Based Wines and honey Beers,” by Jereme Zimmerman The book opened up the world of home brewing mead and provided an Story and PhotoS by Eric JohnSon easily accessible road to making the brew. It simplified the science using a connection to the old world. For all intents and purposes, mead is essentially two main ingredients: water and honey. There’s more to it of course including the use of tannins and acids along with flavoring ingredients, but when you start something with such ease, everything else comes a bit smoother. The process I’m using, gleaned from Zimmerman’s book, is a wild ferment. This is a method where I coax fermentation by using that which I can find in nature. No yeast packets from home brewing stores, though you can use that. Instead, these are yeasts I can find right out my back door. For instance, a one-gallon batch of small mead starts with the aforementioned honey and water at a proportion of more water to honey (think 4:1 or 3:1 depending on the recipe and the degree of sweet you want with an eye to aging). To this wild ferment is added organic raisins, which not only are good for tannins, but also the yeasts they are covered with. If I’m not using a bug or barm (a bit of the “must” taken from fermented mead and used to start the next batch) then small sticks, raspberry leaves (also good for tannins) and clovers can be added for extra yeasty punch. Anywhere between 5-7 and 1-2 days will be needed to get a fermented mead indicated by the foam visible on the surface from the carbonation released as you stir it. I created my first batch in late March and through enough fumbling created something that was drinkable and fermented; however, there were mistakes, as there always is with trying things for the first time.

A good vigorous mix is required at the start, usually about five minutes. You’ll see the foam, but this will not be from a successful ferment. Fermentation will usually be evident anywhere between 3-5 days, but be prepared for it to take a little longer.

What I had created was the small mead i mentioned earlier. This a mead that is made to be drunk soon after fermentation.

I waited two weeks with the mead bubbling along within its carboy, but realized that while drinkable, it was too young. It had a strong bread taste to it. Should you try this, I suggest a month at least for a small mead, but there are meads that should take between six months and a year to age.

The second and third attempts were much better and now I’m moving along with a mead hall (our dining room) occupied by several carboys filled with mead with more added every couple weeks.

Two of these are in for the long haul using recipes that require the long-term aging.

What I’ve discovered is just how fascinating the whole process is, which is amazing considering how impatient I am with most everything and patience is most definitely the key.

The idea that alcohol could be created so easily was never really a consideration, but has quickly turned into a passion. It can be a tad spendy to start, but it is reasonable and many of the items I use can be found at home. I use a three-gallon crock for the initial ferment, which I had to purchase. A number of years ago my mom offered one of her five-gallon crocks and like a fool I turned it down.

You’ll need carboys and bottles, some tubing to transfer from carboy to carboy or carboy to bottle, funnels and strainers, but they are all very doable depending on where you go. You can get things like pumps (though the pump I used didn’t work nearly as well as simply syphoning, but if you share with friends then maybe a pump is the way to go).

The internet can be invaluable and won’t take you long find different paths to your own mead hall. I also highly recommend Zimmerman’s book.

There’s so much to go into and still being new much I’m sure I’ve missed, but perhaps it’s better to just give you a taste, as it were, of the world of home brewing mead. If home brewing is something you have been interested in, then maybe this a good place to start.

The process is simple and rewarding and really, just a lot of fun.

Happy meading!