subject: Mead: The History of Brewing [print this page] Mead: The History of Brewing Mead: The History of Brewing
Mead is an ancient beverage that has enjoyed varying degrees of popularity. No one really knows how long man has been making mead, and while it is common knowledge that wine has been around for thousands of years, what is often glossed over is that mead has been around just as long. Amongst mazers and vinters there is a long standing unresolved (unresolvable) debate about which came first, wine or mead. Personally I think they both probably developed at about the same time.
Beer brewers also like to get in on the fray once and a while claiming beer is the earliest of beverages. This I think is unlikely. While beer is ancient, and we know that they were making beer long before recorded history begins, I think it is likely that beer was developed at a much later stage in human history.
Both mead and wine are ridiculously simple to make and are closely related. Wine requires simply fruit juice (usually grapes), and yeast. Mead requires water honey and yeast. Both could easily be discovered by pure accident. Early man leaves some fruit in a hollowed rock in his cave and promptly forgets about it, or he puts some honey in said hollowed rock and some water gets in and he promptly forgets about it. Several months later food or water supply is low and the early man discovers the forgotten mess. It would probably smell off to early man, but a desperate person would try it rather than die. After drinking much of it the cave man would have discovered the more infamous qualities of alcohol and probably quite enjoyed him.
The reason this could not happen as easily with beer as it would have with wine and mead is simply that beer requires additional processing. Beer is simply processed grains, water and yeast, not all that much more complicated then either mead or wine, however the processing of the grains is the trick. I believe that beer would most likely have been developed at the same time that agriculture was taking off. As the early farmer began growing grains it would have been easier to see some processed grains being left to get wet and forgotten about in order for beer to ferment naturally.
Now you may be asking yourself if it is so simple why don't more people make beer wine and mead at home? Well that is a good question, my answer to that would be, yes why aren't you making a batch right now?To be honest though its not that simple, as history progressed making alcoholic beverages became more complex and refined. Wild yeasts are unpredictable, refined cultured yeasts work much better. In the end though really making beer wine or mead really is simple, and I think everyone who enjoys these beverages should at least attempt it once.
