Understanding the Differences Between Beer and Mead

What Is Mead?

Mead is an ancient alcoholic beverage that dates back thousands of years. Often referred to as "honey wine," mead is created through the fermentation of honey with water. Mead is not considered to be wine, beer, or cider. Instead of using grapes like you do for wine or grain like you would for beer, honey is used to make mead. As different is as beer is from wine, mead is a completely different category. The yeast converts the sugars in the honey into alcohol, resulting in the creation of mead.

Is Mead Sweet?

Mead can vary widely in sweetness levels, and it's not universally sweet. The sweetness of mead depends on several factors, including the amount of honey used in the fermentation process, the type of yeast used, and whether additional sugars or flavorings are added. One of the biggest misconception is that mead is going to be sweet because it's made with honey.

Most people don't realize that honey is one of the most fermentable sugars. Honey a very, very simple sugar. It can completely ferment dry.

If you're making a beer for example, you typically can't completely ferment a beer dry, so beers are going to be much sweeter than most meads are simply because of the sugars that are left behind.

The reason you need hops in beer is to balance the sweetness out. If you want mead to be sweet, you actually have to stop the east from eating through all the sugar in order to leave some residual sugar behind.

So yes, mead can be sweet, but not all meads are sweet.

FAQs About Mead

Below you will find some frequently asked questions and answers about mead.

Is Mead Beer?

No. Mead is not beer. Mead and beer are distinct alcoholic beverages with different primary ingredients and production processes. Mead is fermented with honey whereas beer is fermented with grains. 

Is Mead Wine?

No. Mead is not considered wine. Mead is fermented with honey whereas wine is fermented with grapes. The process of making mead is similar to winemaking in that yeast is added to the honey and water mixture to convert the sugars into alcohol.

Is Mead Sweet?

Sometimes. The sweetness of a mead depends on how much sugar is left behind during the fermentation process.

The sweetness of mead can vary widely, and it depends on several factors, including the amount of honey used in the fermentation process, the type of yeast employed, and whether additional sugars or flavorings are added.