How Much Alcohol Is In Mead?

Mead is a historic beverage, to say the least, being enjoyed by many for millennia. This ye old drink can be traced all the way back to 7000 BCE, according to Liquor.com. Imagine a big and scary Viking sipping on his honey wine at the dinner table and you will have a somewhat accurate representation! Liquor.com says it was even referred to as "nectar of the gods," and for good reason. Mead, also known as honey wine, is honey and water that is fermented by yeast, according to Delish. Sounds tasty, doesn't it?

Like beer, wine, and cider, mead is meant to be sipped slowly rather than chugged at full speed (via Delish). Because mead is similar to both wine and beer but different at the same time, it stands alone in its own alcoholic beverage category. It even has a higher alcohol by volume (ABV) than most beers, as Eater explains.

The average ABV for a beer is 4.5% and 11.6% for wine, according to Live Science. Mead happens to be a bit higher than your usual football Sunday go-to beer, with a typical ABV ranging from 8% to 20%. Talk about a strong drink. This godly tipple comes in a variety of different ways as well.

Delish says that there are three different kinds of meads based on their ABV percentage. A "session" mead can be as low as 3% to 7%. A traditional mead ranges from 7% to 14% and "sack" meads are high up there with 14% to 20% ABV. Depending on how you want your night to look, you have plenty of meads to work with.

Much like wine, mead can vary in sweetness, dryness, and bitterness. You can even get a sparkling mead if that's what your heart desires (via Eater). Mead usually isn't something you can find at your everyday grocery store, but you can easily order online or call ahead before popping in to your local liquor store to see if they have it in stock.