From greatbritishlife.co.uk
An East Devon winery is breathing new life into history’s oldest drink, blending honey, heritage and craft for a modern palate
Lyme Bay Winery’s managing director Wolfgang Sieg-Hogg is reflecting on how this historic honeyed drink has found a modern home in Devon and why mead is enjoying a remarkable renaissance.
‘Lyme Bay Winery began back in 1991,’ he says. ‘What started as a small, passionate team making cider and fruit wines has grown into a winery producing award-winning English wines, meads, fruit wines and liqueurs. From the beginning, everything we’ve done has been driven by people who genuinely care about flavour, craftsmanship and doing things properly.’
Mead entered the picture in the early 2000s, long before it became fashionable. ‘It felt like the perfect blend of tradition and craftsmanship,’ says Wolfgang. ‘We saw an opportunity to revive something truly British, but to do it with care and respect. Mead is part history, part creativity. We didn’t want to recreate a museum piece, we wanted to make it beautifully balanced and suited to modern drinking tastes.’
This philosophy has shaped the evolution of Lyme Bay’s mead range. What began with traditional styles gradually expanded into fruit-led, botanical and spiced expressions and more recently, sparkling meads.
‘The journey has been slow and thoughtful,’ he says. ‘Each new style came from curiosity and a desire to create something delicious and genuinely well made. Honey has extraordinary character, it deserves to shine.’
Today, the winery crafts on average 1,559 bottles per day and sells more than 311,914 bottles annually, exporting as far afield as Finland and Canada. Around 35 people are employed at its Devon winery where modern production techniques sit comfortably alongside age-old traditions. Despite becoming the UK’s largest producer, Wolfgang insists scale was never the goal.
‘We never set out with that ambition. Our focus has always been simple, to craft great-tasting products, make them with integrity and to keep improving each year. The real moment of pride wasn’t about size, it was when customers came back for another bottle, told friends about us, or wrote to say how much they enjoyed our meads. Leadership in the category happened naturally because people appreciated the care behind every bottle.’
At the heart of that care lies a deceptively simple process.
‘We take water and honey. Using a blend of honeys gives us our unique flavour profile; we then ferment the water and honey with yeast.
‘But managing fermentation is delicate. Temperature and yeast nutrition must be carefully controlled. If fermentation goes too fast, the yeast becomes overactive and exhausts itself, if it’s too cold, it struggles. We keep everything at just the right temperature so that, in about four weeks, the mead is ready to be racked off.’
Further stages, including filtering and maturation, follow before bottling. Some styles take months to reach their full depth and smoothness. ‘Honey is a living ingredient,’ he adds. ‘It changes with the flowers, the seasons and the bees themselves. Working with something so variable means constant tasting, adjusting and blending. Consistency requires patience and a deep understanding of the ingredient.’
The result is a drink far more diverse than many expect.
Wolfgang says: ‘Honey is always at the heart, but mead’s flavour spectrum is wide. It can be floral, fruity, warming, citrusy or gently spiced. Traditional Mead is silky and floral, while fruit styles burst with freshness and colour.’
Traditional Mead remains Lyme Bay’s biggest seller, but fruit expressions are becoming increasingly popular. New ways to serve mead are also being discovered and a favourite serve at the winery is a mead spritz, chilled mead topped with soda water, ice and a garnish of lime or rosemary. It is light, aromatic and perfect for summer.
Versatility is central to mead’s resurgence. Consumers are increasingly seeking drinks with authenticity, provenance and character, qualities mead naturally possesses in abundance.
‘It feels familiar, yet completely different,’ Wolfgang reflects. ‘There’s warmth and richness from the honey, but also freshness and vibrancy depending on the style.’
The winery is also reaching new audiences with a new contemporary canned mead range. At 3.5% ABV and sold in single serve ready-to-drink cans, the collection sheds medieval imagery in favour of adventurous younger drinkers discovering mead for the first time.
The fun new sparkling mead flavours include Raspberry Lemonade and Strawberry & Elderflower. ‘It’s about showing that mead isn’t stuck in the past,’ says Wolfgang. ‘It can be fresh, sociable and easy to enjoy.’
Growing mainstream recognition supports Wolfgang’s mission. The winery’s meads are now stocked by Majestic Wine. ‘Seeing our Traditional Mead on Majestic’s shelves and online is a proud moment for the team and a major step forward for the category, it brings it firmly into the mainstream.’
‘If you enjoy wine, cider or cocktails, mead will feel both familiar and excitingly different,’ he says. ‘It’s a drink with depth, story and character, and you might just discover a new favourite.’
His advice for celebrating at home is simple: keep it relaxed and sociable. ‘Chill a bottle, pair it with a cheeseboard, try a mead spritz, or explore a couple of styles side by side and simply enjoy.’
Cheers to mead
Lyme Bay Winery produces the UK’s widest range of meads, from silky Traditional Mead to vibrant fruit favourites such as Black Cherry and Rhubarb.
Try a refreshing mead spritz, chilled mead poured over ice, topped with soda water and finished with a slice of lime or sprig of rosemary.
Mead pairs beautifully with food, especially cheese. Fruit meads complement creamy brie, while spiced or chilli meads stand up beautifully to bold cheddars and blue cheeses. Traditional Mead pairs well with charcuterie or desserts, as honey’s natural sweetness balances richness, salt and spice.
New to mead? Start with a fruit-led style served chilled like a white wine, or, their new sparkling meads are also a great entry to mead.
Apricot & Garden Mead sorbet
Preparation time:
15 minutes
(plus chilling and freezing)
Serves: 6–8
Ingredients
400g ripe apricots (frozen works well), stones removed and roughly chopped
170ml Lyme Bay Garden Mead
50ml water
120g caster sugar
1tbsp honey
1tbsp lemon juice
A small handful of fresh mint leaves, to garnish
Method
Place the apricots, water, sugar and honey into a saucepan and bring gently to a simmer.
Cook for around 8–10 minutes until the fruit has softened completely and started to break down.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave the mixture to infuse for about 10 minutes.
Blend the mixture until it is completely smooth, then pass it through a sieve if you would like a finer texture.
Stir in the Lyme Bay Garden Mead and lemon juice, then pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze, stirring vigorously every 30–45 minutes for a few hours to break up ice crystals until smooth.
Use an ice-cream scoop to pull a neat ball and serve with a few mint sprigs.
A golden sorbet that balances apricot sweetness with the delicate, floral character of Lyme Bay Garden Mead. With gentle honeyed notes and a subtle herbal lift, this refreshing dessert is handy to keep in the freezer and pull out on warm days.
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/devon/26291193.traditional-mead-modernised-east-devon/
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