MEAD: The Renaissance’s Most Popular Drink is Still Around

Do you remember those long-suffering high school days of English classes dominated by the epic poem Beowulf  way before the action-packed movie came out to end years of awful memories? Written in (now) almost incomprehensible Old English, Beowulf  tells the story of a noble and powerful hero who takes on the Goliath of his day – a nasty-tempered and carnivorous beast named Grendel. Naturally, Beowulf is successful in vanquishing the creepy monster; he and his buddies celebrate heartily and at length, as was customary for the times. At least, they did so until Grendel’s predictably pissed off mother shows up to wreck vengeance upon Beowulf’s and his motley crew of  warriors for the death of her baby boy! Good ol’ Beowulf to the rescue once more against Mommy Dearest, followed by even more hilarity in the mead hall.

According to Time Newsfeed in a recent story, if you want to party like it’s 1066 with a great-tasting brew with a punch, try the favorite of the Beowulf Gang – put some mead in your chalice! While epic heroes had to confine their drinking to the local mead hall, today we need look no further than specialty stores and restaurants for this honey and yeast-based brew that has survived and even thrived since Grendel was a wisp of a lad.

“Just like wine, mead can be as dry as a bone or it can be so sweet it makes your fillings hurt," said Vicky Rowe, who runs www.GotMead.com. and is quoted in the Time story. Until around 1500, mead dominated the Viking booze scene since it took no real artistry to brew; just a vat of water, honey, yeast, and whatever spices were on hand would, in a short time, result in a fermented cask of alcoholic dynamite that could fell even the heartiest man or monster when consumed in quantity. The Norsemen seemed to enjoy just about everything in quantity – hence the root of the term “wine, women and song.” Wouldn’t you if the tasks of the day involved slaying mythical monsters and their moms?

There’s a dark side to even the sweetest honey-laced mead, however: being a for-real “potent potable,” it packs a serious alcoholic wallop that can knock you on your armor-plated behind, depending upon the whims of the brewmeister. Mead’s alcohol content can range from a miserly 12% to a staggering 22%, especially in European areas where such ridiculously strong concoctions are better tolerated. Even the boys in the Renaissance mead halls might have had difficulty handling such a strange brew since their mead was nowhere near as formidable as their monsters. What this means for anyone recovering from an alcohol and/or other drug problem is that those frothy goblets served up at Renaissance Fairs are in no way as harmless as Harry Potter’s butterbeer – now a Disney World staple. Alas, what’s good isn’t always good for you. A shame, really. The notion of partying like an epic hero is so enticing!