From tapestry to taproom: British Museum commissions its own mead

From telegraph.co.uk

Fermented honey drink enjoyed by Vikings goes on sale at Bayeux exhibition 

While some may find history to be a bit dry, the British Museum has pulled out all the stops to make the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition a truly intoxicating experience by commissioning its own bottles of mead.

Tucked in the same gift shop as the more standard mugs, books and children’s toys are bottles of new “Bayeux Mead” created for the museum by the Biddenden vineyard in Kent.

This marks the first time the cultural institution has commissioned its own line of drinks.

Mead, a fermented honey drink, has been enjoyed for millennia, and Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic, has scenes set in an immense “mead-hall” where warriors downed the drink.

Marketed as the “nectar of the gods” and bearing the museum’s branding, the mead will be sold to ticket holders alongside new “Bayeux” lager.

This has been appropriately brewed “for the British Museum” by the Battle Brewery, located in the Sussex village where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066.

Lager cans feature the ill-fated King Harold II of England taking an arrow in the eye, a concluding scene from the 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry, which will be open to the public from September 10.

The British Museum’s Bayeux Mead was made in Kent and is marketed as the ‘nectar of the gods’

The exhibition’s latest batch of tickets has sold out, and the museum’s display space seeks to control crowds and ensure ticket-holders can make it from one side of the 70m-long artwork to the other within their 40-minute timed slots.

On Monday night, VIP visitors attended the museum’s exhibition opening, which was attended by celebrities including actor Damian Lewis.

Despite the stature of those in the crowd, they were forced to join a queue several hundred yards long to catch a glimpse of the embroidery.

On first entering the space, visitors are shown a video that sets out some basic rules and states: “To ensure everyone can enjoy this remarkable object, please do not stop.”

If visitors do encounter dawdlers refusing to shuffle past the vast glass case, they are assured “you can move around other visitors to view the next part”.

A series of animated videos guide visitors through some of the basic history of 1066, a year in which William the Conqueror successfully contested the throne of England with Harold Godwinson.

The display room is dimly lit to protect the tapestry from damaging light and is filled with ambient music. The hope is that this will encourage a “solemn” atmosphere in which visitors will keep the noise down.

Signs also repeatedly tell visitors not to lean on the cabinet containing the fragile artwork, which could be destroyed by forceful vibrations.

Mitigating these vibrations was the most challenging aspect of moving the embroidery from Bayeux to London, a move supported by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, but opposed by many heritage experts in France because of the risks involved.

Science & Mechanics in Conservation of Heritage, an engineering company, and Hizkia, an art transportation company, transported the medieval artwork after months of preparation.

Part of this involved testing shock-proof crates on poor-quality German roads to prepare for potholes in the UK that may have caused vibration sufficient to rattle the tapestry.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/07/from-tapestry-to-tap-room-british-museum-commissions-mead/

Mead: History, Myths & Legends

From kinsalemeadco.ie

Mead has a long and glorious history. We have been making and drinking mead since we first managed honeybees and took their honey, since before we invented the wheel!

Learn a little about this fascinating stories, global history, myths and legends 

Mead is the oldest alcohol in the world

Mead (Miodh in Irish) or even Meade, is the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, referred to as nectar of the gods, ambrosia, honey wine or honeymoon wine. The earliest discovery of a drink fermented from honey was in northern China in 6500 BC. This means that mead is older than the wheel! In Europe, mead traces were found in ceramics from 2800-1800 BC including in Northern Scotland. This archaeological culture is known as the Beaker culture for its distinctive pottery drinking beakers.

It is the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology, drink of goddesses and was drunk in Roman times. Romans also drank wine sweetened with a spice honey syrup, technically called a Mulsum, which is often confused with authentic mead. It is the national drink of Ethiopia.

Mead is woven through global history

Another stunning discovery of mead was made in a Celtic chieftain’s wagon grave at Hochdorf near Stuttgart, Germany and dated back to 600BC. At his feet was a large bronze cauldron decorated with three lions on the rim. Mead residue was found in the cauldron and it would have held over 400 litres of mead. Along the chamber wall, eight drinking horns made of auroch horn were suspended from the chamber wall with the ninth made from iron and inlaid strips of gold and would have held five litres of mead. Luckily the celtic warrior was a giant for his time and measured at 6’2”. So he would have towered over his drinking buddies.

Ancient Irish Mead

Linguistic evidence points to bees and honey being present in Ireland prior to Christianity. Many references are made to Mead in ancient Ireland – The Tuatha De Danann Children of Lir legend references Fionnuala recalling drinking a pleasant mead of hazel nuts from four-lipped drinking cups with her family before she and her brothers were changed into swans and exiled for 900 years.

The Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland contained the great banqueting hall known as Tech Midchuarta, The Great Mead Hall of Tara. This was a huge timber building some 45 feet high and slept up to 1,000 people. Here they drank mead from methers, large wooden mead sharing vessels with four lips and four handles.

Bealtaine or Beltane

The origins of Bealtaine or Beltane are almost as old as Irish mead itself. There are many folk beliefs some of which have pagan origins. Held at the start of May at the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, the High King would call the local chieftains and their people together to dance around bonfires and drink mead to welcome the start of summer and generally have a good time. They would perform rituals to protect them from harm and to promote new growth and fertility. 

Cnoc Uisneach

Bealtaine or Bel taine in Old Irish, is often associated with the Hill of Uisneach (Cnoc Uisneach) in Co. Westmeath, well worth a visit. Archaeologists have confirmed the there are extensive layers of charcoal and evidence of huge fires on the hill. Though the hill is only 600 feet tall, on a clear day, you can see as far as 20 counties from the top.

St Molaga

Linguistic evidence points to honeybees and honey were present in Ireland from pre-Christian times. Beekeeping skills were bought to Ireland in the 5th century AD by a Irish monk named Modomnóc, or St Molaige, founder of the original settlement in Timoleague Tigh Molaige, not far from Kinsale along the Wild Atlantic Way.

He studied in monasteries in Iona, Scotland and in St David’s monastery in Wales, where he trained as a beekeeper. When he was sent home to start converting us to Christianity, it is said that his bees missed him and followed his ship across the Irish Sea. Irish words in for things like hive and beekeeper start to appear in the language.

St Gobnait

St Gobnait, born in the 5th-6th century, is Ireland’s patron saint of bees and beekeepers and associated with Ballyvourney in North Cork.

Gobnait is Irish for Abigail meaning ‘brings joy,’ also anglicised to Deborah. She developed a lifelong affinity with bees and was said to have control over her bees. It is believed in Celtic lore that the soul left the body as a bee or butterfly. Many legends attest to her swarms driving off raiders of her village.

It is this legend that inspired the Harry Clarke‘s stain glass window in the Honan Chapel at University College Cork. The beautiful window, finished in 1916, shows Gobnait surrounded by her bees; at her feet she is carrying a honeycomb and bees are depicted chasing away the thieves who are threatening her abbey.

Bee Judgements

Brehon Laws – Brehons were roving magistrates appointed by local kings and chieftains to arbitrate and settle disputes and help define the laws. Bechbreatha were a subset of Brehon Laws concerns with the value and protection of bees and honey. They were written down around the 7th century but were memorised and passed from Brehon to Brehon orally across the land for many centuries before that. We can learn a lot from the importance they placed on bees.

Bees were subject to laws of trespass, so a beekeeper had to give a certain amount of his honey to his neighbours where the bees foraged, depending on the quality of their meadows and orchards and abundance of nectar.

Bees that swarmed were subjected to similar rules, the original owner of the bees had rights over a certain portion of the honey. They were entitled to 1/3 of honey made in other people’s land for 3 years, depending on the ownership of the land where they were captured.

Bees were punished for stinging people. You were granted a “sufficiency” or a meal of honey if you swore an oath that you had not provoked the bees. The Brehon would draw lots on hives where they suspected the bee came from; the hive selected was forfeit for the crime of the one bee.

Bee sting in the eye – this was brought in by King Congal the one eyed, one of our earliest High Kings who had been blinded by bees. He lost his kingship, because Kings were supposed to be perfect. But he did get to keep the forfeited hive and bees.

Vikings loved Mead

Mead is all over Norse and Viking mythology. The she-goat called Heidrun who feeds on the green branches of the great world tree called Yggdrasil. From her udders flows a never ending stream of mead into a barrel in Valhalla. This supplied Odin’s chosen warriors with mead for their great feast. Valhalla, the Viking heaven, is a Great Mead Hall.

The action in Beowulf, the Old English epic poem of heroes, mead and monsters takes place in a huge mead hall called Heorot belonging to King Hrothgar. This is where the Beowulf slays the monster Grendel.

Tudor Mead

The English privateer, poet, scientist and philosopher Sir Kenelm Digby collected over 100 recipes for mead from the great houses and palaces of England in a book published in 1669. The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened. This includes the favourite mead of queens and lords, heavily flavoured with herbs and spices. He lead a fantastic life.

Queen Elizabeth I‘s favourite mead recipe was captured in a book by her beekeeper Charles Butler, which was heavily flavoured with sweetbriar, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary.

Transcription by Justin du Coeur.

One excellent Receipt I will here recite: and it is of that which our renowned
Queen Elizabeth, of happy memory, did so well like, that she would every year have
a vessel of it.
First, gather a bushel of Sweet-briar-leaves, and a bushel of Thyme, half a bushel of
Rosemary, and a peck of Bay-leaves. Seeth all these (being well washed) in a
Furnace of fair water:
let them boil the space of half an hour, or better: and then pour out all the water and
herbs into a Vat, and let it stand till it be but milk-warm: then strain the water from
the herbs, and take to every six Gallons of water one Gallon of the finest Honey, and
put it into the Born, and labor it together half an hour: then let it stand two days,
stirring it well twice or thrice each day. Then take the Liquor and boil it anew: and
when it doeth (?seed?), skim it as long as there remaineth any Dross. When it is
clear, put it into the Vat as before, and there let it be cooled. You must then have in a
readiness a Kive of new Ale or Beer, which as soon as you have emptied, suddenly
whelm it upside down, and set it up again, and presently put in the Metheglen, and let
it stand three days a working. And then tun it up in Barrels, tying at every Tap-hole
(by a Pack-thread) a little bag of beaten Cloves and Mace, to the value of an ounce. It
must stand half a year before it be drunk.

Mead in the 19th Century

Why mead disappeared as sugar arrived from New World and displaced mead in 16th-17th century. Honey was replaced by sugar cane from the America’s, whale oil for lighting instead of candles made from bees wax. Beers, ales and wines became cheaper to make in general. Natural forests cut down resulting in a massive loss of habitat and forage sources for bees and the destruction of our monasteries in religious wars lead to a loss of expertise in beekeeping.

By the time we get to the 19th century, Mead had all but disappeared. The last commercial meadery was in Dublin in the south inner city – John Donaghoe and Co. in the Freeman Journal Newspaper in 1822. He sold pipes of mead (a pipe is a port barrel, a bit bigger than a whiskey cask) and he had 200 of them on sale. He was selling his Mead and Metheglin as a “healthful beverage” for 4 shillings 4d per gallon. This is the inspiration for our wine barrel aged meads.

Kinsale Meadery is the first commercial meadery in Ireland since then, 200 years later.

https://www.kinsalemeadco.ie/history-of-mead/

Mead, the alcohol better known as honey wine, is 'liquid history in a glass'

From foxnews.com

4 fun facts about the drink brewed for thousands of years

One of the easiest beverages for beginning home brewers is a basic mead. 

But what is mead? And where did it come from? 

1. Mead has many names and varieties 

"Mead, also known as honey wine, is one of the most incredible fermented beverages known to humans," Julia Herz, executive director of the Colorado-based American Homebrewers Association, told Fox News Digital in an email. 

Wine is fermented grapes, whereas mead is fermented honey – hence the name "honey wine." The ancient Greeks called mead "ambrosia" or "nectar," noted the American Homebrewers Association's website.

Mead can also be mixed with other beverages. A mead that is "mixed with beer or brewed with hops and malt" is known as a "braggot," whereas mead with fruit is known as a "melomel," the American Homebrewers Association said. 

"Hydromel is a watered-down version consumed in Spain and France," the website said. 

Mead can be mixed with different fruits and herbs to create different flavours. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The type of honey used to make mead also plays an important role, Herz said. "Mead can also have fruit, herbs and spices added to fermented honey for added sensory reward. With hundreds of honey types, there is no end to experimentation and the possibilities."

2. Mead played a role in ancient religious traditions

Mead "was believed to be the drink of the gods and was thought to descend from the heavens as dew before being gathered in by bees," the American Homebrewers Association said. 

"Many European cultures also thought bees were messengers of the gods and preferred mead over wine in rites and grand ceremonies." 

A variety of ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, Celts, Greeks, Chinese and Vikings, all drank forms of mead, noted the website for the Irish meadery Kinsale Mead Co. Mead was especially important to the Vikings and in Norse mythology, noted the American Homebrewers Association.

Norse mythology states that warriors who reach Valhalla will be given mead. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Warriors who reached Valhalla – the warrior's heaven in Norse mythology – were promised "a draught of mead, delivered by divine maidens," as a reward, it said. 

Even today, a form of mead known as "Tej" or "T'ej" is the national drink of Ethiopia, according to the mead resource website "Got Mead?" Tej has been brewed in Ethiopia since the fourth century, it said.

3. Mead is one of the oldest forms of alcohol

In northern China, pottery dating from 9000 BC was found to have traces of mead, the BBC reported, meaning that mead is thousands of years older than the wheel. 

The beverage was first brewed in Europe between 2800 and 1800 BC, according to the BBC. Mead, Herz said, is "literally living liquid history in a glass." 

The earliest forms of mead, Herz said, were made from rainwater and natural fermentation processes. "Since the days that rainwater first diluted a honeybee hive inside the trunk of a tree and wild yeast fermented it, this 'wine' has made the world a better place," she said. 

                      Mead has been brewed for thousands of years and is older than the invention of the wheel. (iStock)

Even today, mead is still brewed with these same ingredients. 

The main ingredients in a traditional dry mead are just water, honey and yeast, the website for the American Homebrewers Association said. 

4. Mead (maybe) gave us the term ‘honeymoon’ 

After a wedding, it is very common for the newly married couple to go on a "honeymoon."

One theory of why this trip is called a "honeymoon" has to do with mead, Dictionary.com claims. The term "honeymoon" comes from the Old English term "hony moone," said Dictionary.com.

"There are several theories [about] where this name came from. The name may refer to the 'Mead Moon' or 'Honey Moon,' an old name for the June full moon," it said. 

At the time, mead was thought to increase fertility and bring luck to a couple, the website Batch Mead said — so newlyweds would drink mead for a full moon cycle.

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/mead-alcohol-better-known-honey-wine-liquid-history-glass

The world’s oldest drink is making a comeback after more than 400 years

From metro.co.uk

By Robertson Buckhaven

Mead always makes me think of Vikings. 

Just mention the word, and I’m picturing a great, hulking dude wearing a flappy fur cloak, downing the drink from an animal horn.

Game of Thrones fans will be all too familiar with this image, as mead, or honey wine as it’s also known, was the drink of choice in certain parts of Westeros. 

Thought to be the world’s oldest fermented alcoholic drink, mead fell out of fashion in the 17th century, but now, more than 400 years later, it’s making a comeback.

Here’s everything you need to know…

                                                             The ancient drink is also known as honey wine (Picture: Getty Images)

What is mead?

Will Grubelnik, the head of production at London-based Gosnell’s, explains: ‘As apples are to cider, grapes are to wine, honey is to mead’.

In basic terms, it’s honey, mixed with water and fermented with yeast.

The diversity in flavour stems from the various types of honey that are used. Traditional meads use milder honeys like clover or orange blossom, while Acacia brings in a lemon sherbet note, and buckwheat or wildflower adds bolder flavours.

Then, you have fruit meads, spiced or apple meads.

The history of Mead

Mead isn’t just old; it couldn’t even be described as ancient, it’s actually prehistoric.

There’s archaeological evidence suggesting as far back as 7000 BC in China. Humans were fermenting honey with water, leaving it out in the sun and getting hammered on the stuff.

Other fun facts include: In Ethiopia, it’s known as ‘tej’, it was the favourite drink of Aristotle, and mead is mentioned multiple times in the ancient poem, Beowulf, from the 9th century.

                                                   It’s been hundreds of years, but mead is being drunk once more… (Picture: Getty/Metro)

Sure, the Vikings were partial to it too, but it was really monasteries across Europe that were brewing it to make an income. It was also thought to be medicinal, and sits lower in alcohol than the more lethal, monk-made concoctions such as Benedictine and Chartreuse.

So tied to the Western lexicon is the drink that the term ‘honeymoon’ comes from the tradition of drinking honey wine for a month after you get married. It was believed to increase fertility, and was taken so seriously that the bride’s father included a month’s worth of the stuff as part of his daughter’s dowry.

The mead revival

Flash forward to the 21st century, and mead might well be the most British drink (although it’s not actually British) we’ve collectively forgotten.

Probably because, as we’ve established, it has an image problem. Plus, the sweet style of the drink no longer aligns with our love of drier flavours, and hasn’t for some time.

And though I’ve heard whispers of a mead revival in the past, it’s never properly materialised. Truth be told, it’s been a rough road for the mead industry. For example, leading producer, Gosnell’s, based in Peckham, announced in 2024 that they had stopped brewing mead.

Founder, Tom Gosnell, said at the time: ‘The word “mead” has musings of high alcohol and Game of Thrones, and it has stopped us from creating the future bees merit’.

They have since changed ‘mead’ to ‘nectar’, to attract a new audience, though it’s still made the same way, from honey.

But now I’m calling it. Mead is officially having a resurgence, with new, exotic, and exciting flavours to choose from – there’s even sparkling mead, for those who love a bit of fizz.

And to my great surprise, much of it is drier and barely tastes of honey anymore. Which is a win, if I’m honest, as the idea of a drink that tastes strictly of beehive has always been a hard no for me.

It’s precisely this rich diversity of mead styles that is driving the comeback, as there’s literally something for every taste. In fact, Fortune Business Insights reports the global mead market is due to reach $1.395 million by the end of 2032. And much of this is right place, right time, more specifically, the growth of the craft side of the drinks industry.

People are actively looking for more interesting, authentic drinks with a back story, made from high-quality, local ingredients. And now, mead has entered the chat and ticks a lot of those boxes… Well, to be fair, it had entered the chat a few thousand years ago, but the point still stands.  

Where to buy mead in the UK right now…

Lyme Bay Traditional Mead, £12.00, Majestic (Mix 6)

                                                               Lyme /Bay Winery is the UK’s largest mead producer (Picture: Majestic)

Lyme Bay Winery in Axminster, Devon, is the largest UK producer of mead. Handcrafted in the rolling Devon countryside, this is amber-chestnut coloured, with notes of honeysuckle, star anise, russet pears, bruised golden apple and hazelnuts. It’s sweet, beautifully balanced and fresh. Serve it neat, on ice, with a mixer or in a cocktail (I can vouch for it being great in an Old Fashioned)

Loxwood Meadworks Festival, £22, Loxwood Meadworks (or £22.50 from Master of Malt)

                                                                         A modern take on mead (Picture: Loxwood Meadworks)

A modern take on mead from West Sussex. Aside from the top-notch packaging, the product inside is equally beguiling. The mead has been dry fermented, then sweetened with a touch of honey. This means that the yeast is left to consume almost all the honey, then ‘back sweetened’ with a measured touch of honey. The result is distinctly wine-like, with a beautiful freshness, light honeycomb and ginger notes, a lean texture and notes of yellow cherry stone and hazelnut. Very good indeed.

Gosnells Hazy Nectar, £32.50 for 12 cans, gosnells.co.uk

                                                              Gosnells rebranded mead as ‘nectar’ (Picture: Gosnells)

Since rebranding from ‘mead’ to ‘nectar’, their packaging is as fresh as the liquid inside the can. This Peckham-based company was set up in 2014, and I have to say, I admire their tenacity. I was expecting sweet and floral, but instead found myself tasting something closer to a tropically hopped IPA. It’s pretty ingenious and a logical sidestep for beer-lovers, fresh and hoppy with dry notes of lychee, green apple and freshly-baked sourdough. Delicious.

https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/28/worlds-oldest-drink-making-a-comeback-400-years-27124414/