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The short answer
Mead is fermented honey and water. Wine is fermented grape juice. Beer is brewed from malted grain. Mead is made the way wine is made and is usually as strong as wine, which is why its other name is honey wine and why United States rules class it as a wine. What sets it apart is the flavor of honey and the absence of grape tannin.
Mead, wine, beer and cider compared
| Mead | Grape wine | Beer | Hard cider | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar comes from | Honey | Grapes | Malted grain | Apples |
| How it is made | Honey diluted with water, then fermented | Grapes crushed, juice fermented | Grain mashed and boiled with hops, then fermented | Apples pressed, juice fermented |
| Typical strength | 11% to 14% ABV (range 3.5% to 18%+) | 11% to 15% ABV | 4% to 7% ABV | 5% to 8% ABV |
| Tannin | Almost none | Low in whites, high in reds | Low | Low to moderate |
| Flavor driven by | The flowers behind the honey | Grape variety and vineyard | Malt, hops and yeast | Apple variety |
| Dry to sweet | Both, by choice | Both, by choice | Mostly dry to malty | Both, by choice |
| Gluten | None (except braggot) | None | Yes, unless made gluten-free | None |
| Bubbles | Usually still; some sparkling | Usually still; some sparkling | Carbonated | Usually carbonated |
| Time to make | Months, often a year or more | Months to years | Weeks | Weeks to months |
| Served | Chilled, in a wine glass | Chilled or at cellar temperature, in a wine glass | Cold, by the pint | Cold, by the glass or pint |
Mead vs wine
The process is nearly identical. Yeast turns sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, the sediment is left behind, and the result is aged until it tastes right. The only step mead adds is dilution: honey is about 80% sugar, far too concentrated for yeast to live in, so it is mixed with water first. About three pounds of honey per gallon gives the strength of a table wine.
The differences all trace back to swapping grapes for honey:
- No tannin. Tannin comes from grape skins, seeds and stems. Honey has none, so a traditional mead has no grip or dryness on the gums. It drinks like a white wine even when it has years of age.
- Less natural acid. Grapes arrive with plenty of acid. Honey has little, which makes mead taste softer and rounder, and is why some makers add a touch of acid or tannin for structure.
- Flowers instead of grape varieties. Where wine has Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, mead has clover, orange blossom, wildflower and buckwheat. The honey variety decides the aroma.
- No vintage. Grapes are harvested once a year and must be fermented at once. Honey keeps almost indefinitely, so mead can be made in any month, and most bottles are not vintage-dated.
- Yeast needs feeding. Grape juice comes with the nitrogen yeast needs. Honey does not, so mead makers add yeast nutrient in stages.
In the glass, a dry mead is closest to an aromatic white such as Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc or dry Riesling, with a honey-blossom nose that no grape gives. A semi-sweet one sits near off-dry Riesling or Moscato. More on that in what honey wine tastes like.
Is mead a type of wine?
It depends on who you ask, and both answers are defensible.
The legal answer is yes. In the United States, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has no separate class for mead. Fermented honey falls under wine made from agricultural products other than grapes, and the designation on the label is honey wine. It is taxed and regulated as wine.
The mead maker's answer is "it is its own thing". Competitions judge mead separately from wine and beer, with its own style guidelines, and plenty of meads, such as hopped session meads, caramelized bochets and malt braggots, have no equivalent in the wine world. The neatest summary is that mead is to honey what wine is to grapes and cider is to apples: a fourth fermented drink, made by the wine method.
Mead vs beer
People often assume mead is a kind of beer, probably because both turn up in Viking stories and craft taprooms. They are made very differently.
- Brewing vs fermenting. Grain contains starch, not sugar. A brewer has to mash it in hot water to convert the starch, then boil the liquid with hops. Honey is already sugar. Mead needs no mash and no boil: it is mixed and fermented.
- Strength. Most beer is 4% to 7% ABV. Most mead is two to three times that. The exception is session mead (hydromel), made deliberately light at 3.5% to 7.5%.
- Hops and bitterness. Beer is balanced by hop bitterness. Mead is balanced by acidity, sweetness and, in some styles, tannin from fruit or oak. Hops are an occasional addition, not the rule.
- Gluten. Beer is made from barley or wheat. Traditional mead contains no grain and is naturally gluten-free.
- Time. A beer can be ready in two to four weeks. A standard mead takes three to six months and keeps improving for a year or more.
- Serving. Beer is poured by the pint. A wine-strength mead is poured like wine: about 5 oz, in a wine glass.
Mead vs cider
Cider is fermented apple juice, usually 5% to 8% ABV, lightly sparkling and sharp with malic acid. Mead is stronger and softer, with honey aroma where cider has apple. The two overlap in one very popular style: cyser, a mead made with apple juice in place of water, which lands between a strong cider and a crisp white wine.
The hybrids: pyment, braggot and cyser
Each neighbor has a named crossover with mead, and each is a recognized mead style:
| Style | Mead plus | Tastes like | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyment | Grapes or grape juice | Halfway between mead and wine | Pyment recipe |
| Braggot | Malted grain, sometimes hops | Halfway between mead and beer | Braggot recipe |
| Cyser | Apple juice or cider | Halfway between mead and cider | Cyser recipe |
All eighteen named styles, from melomel to bochet, are explained in types of mead.
Which mead to try, by what you drink now
- Dry white wine drinkers: a dry traditional mead. Look for "dry" or "brut" on the label. See sweet vs dry honey wine.
- Riesling and Moscato drinkers: a semi-sweet traditional mead.
- Champagne and Prosecco drinkers: a sparkling honey wine.
- Craft beer drinkers: a canned session mead or a braggot.
- Cider drinkers: a cyser.
- Red wine drinkers: a dark berry melomel such as blackberry, or an oak-aged mead.
Our best honey wine guide picks a bottle for each of the first three, where to buy honey wine explains how to get one delivered, and what is honey wine? covers the basics in five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mead and wine?
The sugar source. Wine is fermented grape juice; mead is fermented honey and water. Both are made the same way and reach similar strength, but mead has no grape tannin and takes its flavor from the flowers the bees visited instead of from a grape variety.
Is mead a type of wine?
In practice and in law, yes. Mead is made like wine, is usually wine-strength, and United States regulations class it as honey wine, a wine made from an agricultural product other than grapes. Many mead makers still treat it as its own category, alongside wine, beer and cider.
Is mead wine or beer?
Much closer to wine. Beer is brewed from malted grain, which has to be mashed and boiled to make its sugar available. Mead, like wine, ferments a sugar that is already there. Only braggot, a mead made with malt, sits between the two.
Is mead stronger than wine?
Usually about the same. Most mead is 11% to 14% ABV, the same range as table wine. Mead has a wider spread, though: session meads start around 3.5% and sack meads reach 18% or more.
Is mead stronger than beer?
Usually, yes. A typical beer is 4% to 7% ABV and a typical mead 11% to 14%. Session meads, at 3.5% to 7.5%, are made to be as light as beer.
Does mead taste like wine?
A dry traditional mead drinks a lot like an aromatic white wine: floral, lightly fruity and crisp. The difference is a honey-blossom aroma and a softer finish, because there is no grape tannin and usually less acid. Sweet and spiced meads taste like nothing in the wine aisle.
Is mead sweeter than wine?
Not necessarily. Sweetness is the maker's choice in both. A mead fermented fully is as dry as a dry white wine. Mead has a sweet reputation because most of the mead sold in the United States for decades was sweet.
Is mead gluten-free, unlike beer?
Traditional mead is made from honey, water and yeast, with no grain, so it is naturally gluten-free. The exception is braggot, which contains malted barley or wheat.