The Complete Guide to Making Mead: The Ingredients, Equipment, Processes, and Recipes for Crafting Honey Wine
Mead has a mixed reputation. On the one hand, the honey wine is often thought of as an excessively sweet drink, and on the other hand we have manly Vikings quaffing “horns” of the beverage in their mead halls. The beverage slipped away possibly because of the high cost of honey compared with grapes and grain. Now, amid a resurgence, mead can be found on trendy bar or restaurant listings.
With today’s emphasis on local products and home gardens, now is a perfect time for The Complete Guide to Making Mead (Voyageur Press, Paperback, $24.99, 160 pp). With exceptional-quality photographs, this book carefully leads the reader through all aspects of mead making. Two sections stood out for me. The trouble-shooting chapter appears to provide all the analytical tools needed to perfect the hobby. The section on creating balance detailed strategies for adjusting elements critical for a perfect sensory experience.
Of course, the survey of ingredients added to mead would pique the interest of any commercial brewer. The Complete Guide to Making Mead makes this reviving beverage a pleasant and rewarding hobby. Also, it suggests it is accessible to all of us.
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