Whether you harvest it non-alcoholic or leave it to become boozy over several months, home-brewed mead is a millennia-old tradition
Mead, which dates back to 5000 BC, is thought to be the world’s oldest fermented drink. There’s speculation it was discovered by accident in the hollow of a tree, where a little honey and some rainwater that had collected, stagnated and fermented spontaneously.
Mead is made from water and honey, and ferments thanks to the endogenous yeasts that occur naturally in honey. The taste is honeyed and lightly alcoholic – people often think of mead as a highly alcoholic drink, but it doesn’t have to be. It depends on the length of time it is left to ferment.
Here are two of our favourite versions: a sweet, young, fizzy and non-alcoholic mead that’s like Ethiopian tej, and a drier, more alcoholic mead that requires a little longer to ferment.
from Lifestyle | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Tpanji