Top 4 British Meads

Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co. specializes in crafting both meads and beers, offering a variety of innovative flavors. They emphasize the use of local ingredients, particularly honey, to create unique and high-quality beverages. The producer is known for its sustainable practices and community engagement, hosting events and workshops to educate consumers about mead and beer production.Expand

Gosnells of London is a modern London-based mead producer credited with redefining mead as a contemporary, food-friendly and refreshing drink. Founded in 2014 by Tom Gosnell, the company set out to move mead away from its traditional, heavy image and reposition it alongside craft beer and cider. Gosnells produces its meads using only fermented honey, water and yeast, without added sugars or sulphites, resulting in clean, dry and naturally expressive drinks. The range includes lightly sparkling meads in cans and bottles, with styles that highlight citrus freshness, floral honey character or subtle botanical and hop influences. Production takes place in London in small batches, with a strong emphasis on ingredient integrity and balance rather than sweetness. Naturally gluten-free and lower in sugar than many comparable drinks, Gosnells meads are designed to pair well with food and suit modern drinking occasions. Today, Gosnells of London is widely regarded as a key reference point for contemporary mead, combining ancient fermentation traditions with a distinctly modern sensibility.Expand

Braggot is an ancient mead variety - a cross between mead and beer. Some classify it as beer with mead, while others call it mead with hops and grains. It was already familiar in the Middle Ages, and it probably originated in the British Isles. Braggot was even mentioned in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, but it is almost impossible to pinpoint the exact place and time when it first appeared. Braggot is a versatile drink usually made with equal amounts of malt and honey, though the exact proportions may vary. Color, alcohol content, the final profile of the brew heavily depend on the base ingredient. Their color can range from golden to dark brown, while the alcohol content typically falls between 7 and 13% ABV. Their character should include grain and honey notes, while the sweetness needs to be balanced with subtle bitterness from the hops. Although braggot is still rare, some (mainly craft) breweries have it as a seasonal label. Expand

Metheglin is an ancient mead variety that was typically flavored with herbs and spices. The first written evidence of the name stems from the 16th-century Wales, but the drink was probably a mainstay in other regions as well. The honey-base of metheglin could have been spiced with many ingredients, but it usually included various herbs and plants such as fennel, marjoram, ferns, rosemary, liverwort, borage, and many more. Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg were also sometimes added. Metheglin was more expensive to produce than cider and beer, and it somewhat fell out of fashion. These days, people brew it at home, and a few producers make a contemporary version of this old beverage, though they often label it merely as mead or spiced mead. Nowadays, it is mostly made with spices, and it is commonly enjoyed during Christmastime. Expand

Lindisfarne is a type of mead from Northumberland, Northeast England. It is produced at St. Aidan's Winery on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, located just off the coast of England. The base of the drink is made with fermented honey and fermented grape juice. It is enriched with herbs, adjusted with fresh water sourced from the local well, and then fortified with alcohol. This mead has a long and rich history that is mainly associated with the Middle Ages and Aidan of Lindisfarne, the founder of the Lindisfarne island monastery. Commercial production started in 1962. This mead is classified as a pyment—a type of mead made with fermented honey and grapes. Expand