Mead glossary and FAQ: 40 terms

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Last updated: 11 November 2026

Author: Carla Bruner. Carla Bruner writes about mead for BEEoMETRY, Troinex.

Mead has its own vocabulary, borrowed from wine, beer and beekeeping. Here are 40 terms explained plainly, from acerglyn to tej. Drink your flowers, but know what they are saying.

Names for mead

  • Mead — An alcoholic drink made by fermenting a solution of honey, water and yeast. It is called hydromel in French, Met in German and idromele in Italian. The French word comes from Greek and means “water-honey”.
  • Honey wine — Another name for mead. Here “wine” means a fermented drink of plant origin, not only one made from grapes. In German it is Honigwein; in French, vin de miel.
  • Chouchen — The name for mead in Brittany. It was originally fermented with cider or apple must.
  • Medovukha — A honey-based fermented drink traditional among the Eastern Slavs.
  • Midus — The Lithuanian name for mead, made with honey and berry juice. It is often flavoured with plants, such as juniper berries.
  • Tej — A traditional mead from Ethiopia and Eritrea, fermented with wild yeasts. It is flavoured with gesho, a bitter species of buckthorn.

Ingredients and making

  • All-flower honey — Honey from a mix of flowers, also called wildflower honey (miel de fleurs in French). It is not a single-variety honey. BEEoMETRY’s sparkling meads are made with all-flower honey.
  • Must — The solution of honey and water ready for fermentation. The same word is used for grape juice at the same stage of winemaking.
  • Yeast — A microorganism that turns sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Mead yeasts are often the same as those used for white wine.
  • Yeast nutrients — Mineral salts and other additions put into the must to help the yeast. Honey alone often does not feed them enough.
  • Fermentation — The conversion of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast, without oxygen. For mead, primary fermentation often lasts 28 to 56 days.
  • Lees — The sediment of dead yeast that settles at the bottom of the tank.
  • Racking — Transferring mead into another vessel to separate it from its lees. It often comes before a secondary fermentation. It also gives the mead time to clear.
  • Clarification — The step that makes mead clear. It can be chilled or treated with a fining agent such as bentonite. Haze can come from yeast, proteins or fruit pectin.
  • Maturation — The ageing period after fermentation, often 6 to 9 months. Over time the flavours soften and blend.
  • Oak-aged mead — Mead matured in contact with oak. The classic Bordeaux barrique holds 225 litres. Oak can bring vanilla or toasty notes. The BJCP guidelines allow oak ageing in every mead style.

Bubbles

  • Still — Mead with no bubbles, or only very light ones.
  • Sparkling — Mead that contains dissolved carbon dioxide. The BJCP separates lightly sparkling mead (petillant) from fully sparkling mead.
  • Prise de mousse — French for the stage in which a drink becomes sparkling through fermentation in a closed vessel. It can happen in the bottle or in a pressure-resistant tank.
  • Bottle conditioning — A second fermentation that takes place in the sealed bottle. It is the principle behind the traditional method for sparkling wine.
  • Force carbonation — Injecting carbon dioxide directly into a drink. It needs no second fermentation.

Sweetness and taste

  • Dry — Mead with very little residual sugar. According to the BJCP, a dry mead does not have to be completely free of sugar.
  • Semi-dry — Mead whose sweetness sits between dry and sweet. The BJCP calls this level semi-sweet. BEEoMETRY’s Classique is semi-dry.
  • Sweet — Mead with a sweet taste from unfermented sugars. In French it is called hydromel liquoreux.
  • Residual sugar — Sugar left in the drink once fermentation has finished. It is measured in grams per litre (g/L).
  • Acidity — Freshness that balances sweetness. It often comes from fruit, or from added acids such as citric acid.
  • Tannins — Astringent compounds that give structure. The more tannin a mead has, the drier it seems. Tea, citrus and oak can supply them.
  • ABV (% vol) — The share of pure alcohol in the volume of a drink, measured at 20 °C. ABV stands for alcohol by volume. BEEoMETRY’s four sparkling meads are 7% vol.
  • Sulphites — Sulphur compounds sometimes added to protect mead from oxidation. In Switzerland they must be declared on the label above 10 mg/L, expressed as SO2. BEEoMETRY’s meads contain added sulphites.

Closures

  • Crown cap — A metal cap crimped onto the bottle neck and designed to resist pressure. It closes BEEoMETRY’s four sparkling meads.
  • Cork — A stopper made from the bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber). Cork is impermeable and elastic.

Mead families

  • Melomel — Mead made with fruit. Part of the honey is replaced by a fruit juice other than apple or grape.
  • Cyser — Mead made with apples. If most of the sugar comes from honey, it is a cyser. If most comes from the apples, it is closer to a honey cider.
  • Pyment — Mead made with grapes or grape juice. If most of the sugar comes from the grapes, it is closer to a honeyed wine.
  • Metheglin — Mead with spices or herbs, such as ginger, cinnamon or vanilla.
  • Braggot — Mead made with malt, halfway to beer. Hops are optional. Barley malt contains gluten.
  • Bochet — Mead whose honey is caramelised before the water is added. It develops caramel, toffee or chocolate notes.
  • Acerglyn — Mead made with honey and maple syrup.
  • Sack mead — Mead made with more honey than usual, so it is stronger. Sack strength starts at about 14% vol. It is often sweet, but dry versions exist.
  • Session mead — A low-alcohol mead, often sparkling. The BJCP puts meads of 3.5 to 7.5% vol in its lightest strength class, which it calls, fittingly, hydromel.

Sources

FAQ: everything about mead

The questions we hear most often, with the short answer first. Keeping times are indicative.

What is mead?

Mead is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey, water and yeast. It is not a distilled spirit. It can be still, lightly sparkling or fully sparkling. It ranges from very dry to very sweet. Fruit or spices are sometimes added.

How do you pronounce “mead”?

“Mead” is pronounced [miːd], rhyming with “need”. In French, hydromel is pronounced [i.dʁɔ.mɛl], with a silent h. In German, Met is said [meːt]. In Italian, idromèle is stressed on the “è”.

Is mead a wine or a beer?

Neither: mead is a drink of its own, made from fermented honey rather than grapes or grain. Wine is made from fermented grapes. Beer is made from fermented grain. Mead is still also called honey wine, in the broad sense of a fermented drink of plant origin.

How much alcohol is in mead?

Most meads are between 4 and 17% vol. Some are as low as 3.5% vol, and others exceed 20% vol. BEEoMETRY’s four sparkling meads are 7% vol. That means pure alcohol makes up 7% of the volume, or 7 ml per 100 ml, measured at 20 °C.

Is mead sweet?

Not necessarily: a mead can be dry, semi-dry or sweet. It depends on how much sugar the yeast has not converted. This residual sugar is measured in grams per litre. BEEoMETRY’s Classique is semi-dry.

What are the different styles of mead?

Mead styles differ by ingredients, sweetness, bubbles and strength. With fruit, it is a melomel. With apples, it is a cyser. With grapes, it is a pyment. With spices, it is a metheglin. With malt, it is a braggot. The BJCP sorts strength into three levels: hydromel (3.5 to 7.5% vol), standard (7.5 to 14% vol) and sack (14 to 18% vol).

What is the difference between Classique, Violet, Raspberry and Apple-Cinnamon?

They are BEEoMETRY’s four sparkling meads, all 7% vol and closed with a crown cap. The Classique is semi-dry and floral. The Violet is aromatic, with violet flower. The Raspberry is more acidic, with fresh raspberry. The Apple-Cinnamon is hearty, with spices, cinnamon and bold apple.

How is mead made?

Honey is dissolved in water, then yeast turns its sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Primary fermentation often lasts 28 to 56 days. The mead is then racked to separate it from the lees. It often matures for several months before bottling.

Is mead gluten-free?

A mead made only from honey, water and yeast contains no gluten grains. BEEoMETRY’s meads are made only with gluten-free ingredients. No shared equipment creates a risk of cross-contamination. They have not, however, been laboratory tested. Braggot, made with barley malt, does contain gluten.

Does mead contain sulphites?

Some meads contain sulphites, added to prevent oxidation. In Switzerland they must be declared on the label above 10 mg/L, expressed as SO2. BEEoMETRY’s meads contain added sulphites. Their label says “contains sulphites”.

How should mead be served?

Serve BEEoMETRY’s sparkling meads chilled, straight from the fridge. This applies to all four flavours.

How long does mead keep?

A bottle of BEEoMETRY sparkling mead keeps for about 2 to 3 years unopened and about a week once opened. After opening, keep it in the fridge, tightly resealed. These times are indicative.

What food goes with mead?

Mead goes well with aperitifs, cheese and fruit desserts. A tart mead such as the Raspberry stands up to a fresh goat’s cheese. These pairings are house suggestions, not rules.

Where can I buy mead in Switzerland?

Order BEEoMETRY’s meads on hydromel.ch, with delivery to all of Switzerland. The online shop also sells the alcohol-free sparkling honey water.

How much does shipping cost and how long does it take?

Within Switzerland, one case of 24 × 33 cl ships for CHF 13. Delivery takes about a week.

Which payment methods does hydromel.ch accept?

You can pay by Visa, Mastercard, TWINT or PayPal.

Can I return an order?

No, orders cannot be returned, except for breakage during transport. If a parcel arrives with a broken bottle, email a photo to kamran@hydromel.ch. BEEoMETRY then sends you a replacement parcel.

Where is BEEoMETRY mead made?

BEEoMETRY makes its meads in Troinex, in the canton of Geneva. It is an artisanal meadery, meaning a place where mead is produced. It was founded in 2021.

How old do you have to be to buy mead in Switzerland?

Sold to adults only: 16+ in most of Switzerland, 18+ in Ticino.

Is there an alcohol-free mead?

Not strictly, since mead is alcoholic by definition, but BEEoMETRY makes an alcohol-free sparkling honey water. It is sold in 33 cl cans. It is made with BEEoMETRY’s own Geneva honey.

Sources

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