Ok--we all know what Honey is--how it taste like(SWEET i hear you say)---what can it be used for-- be it in drinks or food preparation...
Say MEAD and most people here in Asia--including some beer geeks--don't know what it is--never heard of it--let alone tasted any.
提起蜜糖，所有人的第一印象就是一个字---甜。
同样的，说到MEAD—蜂蜜酿的酒（简称蜜酒），绝大多数人想到的也只是“甜”。
MEAD/蜜酒就只是很单调的只有一个甜字可形容？情况当然不是那么简单。
或许这样说，试想下，平常生活中接触过的蜂蜜，如果加入不同茶叶或咖啡或果汁，是不是会有不同风味出现，又或者说，烤面包花生酱加蜂蜜，跟芝士加蜂蜜面包是不是有很不同味道展现？很浅白说，MEAD的最基本概念就是这样。
So what is MEAD? the answer is simple--"fermented honey alcoholic beverages".
Ahhh--so it must be SWEET?
The answer is really YES & NO--it is definitely sweet if one were to compare with say an IPA--but if you think MEAD is only about sweetness and nothing more---then you are WRONG--very very wrong.
酿蜜酒听起来很简单，只需要蜂蜜，水和酵母，只需选好蜂蜜（不同蜂蜜会有不同风味），加水稀释（也有不加水直接丢大量水果或用果汁酿非传统式蜜酒的），选好想要的酵母（不同酵母会决定蜜酒的甜度/酒精度等技术考量），就可酿最基本的传统式蜜酒。
《必须说明的是--虽然听起来简单，做起来一点都不简单，有研究显示，CRAFT级别的蜜酒酿造成本是葡萄酒的3倍，是CRAFT BEER酿造成本的3.6倍》
当然，蜜酒不是只有只有一款TRADITIONAL MEAD，跟CRAFT BEER一样，蜜酒也有好多不同类别风格，虽然一定要用蜜糖发酵酿造，可是，不同蜜糖的风味，甜度的高低，再通过酿造过程不同玩法，就算同一款蜜糖，也可以玩出很多不同风味。和CRAFT BEER情况一样，蜜酒可以通过加入各种食材比如水果，胡椒，辣椒，咖啡，巧克力等等，或酿啤酒常用的麦芽，啤酒花去增加风味层次变化，反正是想象得到，想试验风味变化的食材都可使用，也会有酿酒师去试。
而CRAFT BEER界常见的把酿好啤酒收在比如威士忌木桶，美国波本桶，葡萄牙波特酒桶或葡萄酒木桶等等，称为“过桶熟陈/BARREL AGED”的增加风味层次复杂度做法，也是MEAD惯见手法。
Let's maybe imagine this--we all know the differences it would create when honey is poured into a cup of tea, a cup of coffee, and a lot of differences when poured into different fruits juices. OR say when you have toasted bread with honey & peanut butter, as compared to say honey & cheese....
That differences in taste profile--when honey is combined with different food items--that's really the essence of MEAD--fermented honey with different treatment(think the craft beer way of mixing with all kinds of fruits/food items/ various barrel aging) is what makes MEAD very interesting.
认识蜜酒很容易，就是不要将MEAD想象成为日常生活中稠密度很高的蜜糖，蜜酒可以是很不同的风味，也有轻重之分，有类似苹果酒（CYDER）的清新低度酒精版，也有其他类型风味独特复杂的高酒精版。
具体来说，不同类型蜜酒可以是葡萄牙波特酒，葡萄酒，水果酒，啤酒，甜酒之间或更多。
Mead is basically made from Honey, Water & Yeast which is the basis of mead, especially the traditional mead variant--sounds simple but obviously it's much more than that when we talk about craft level mead.
There's various types of Mead---if you google search there's at least more than a dozen terms for different types of mead--much like craft beer styles.
To those more familiar with craft beer terms---there's more sessionable mead variants--there's also heavier mead with higher ABV---and if you are more familiar with wine/fine liquor terms--there's dry/semi dry/sweet/semi-sweet(the list goes on) types of mead to suit one's taste and mood of the day.
不同类型风味的MEAD如果要认真研究，专用名词不少，基本以用了什么食材提味或轻重程度为依据，简单说，就是有CRAFT BEER朋友较熟悉的SESSION BEER，HEAVY BEER之分, 或喝惯葡萄酒/烈酒朋友较熟悉的 DRY, SWEET, SEMI-SWEET等分别。
没接触过MEAD的新朋友，可以先认识这几个关键词：-（也是至今在亚洲能喝到的类型）
MELOMEL（水果蜜酒）--加入水果增加风味的蜜酒，这个类型有2个主要小分类，一是CYSER（苹果蜜酒），另一是PYMENT(葡萄蜜酒)。
BRAGGOT或BRACKET--中文就叫“啤蜜酒”吧—主要加入啤酒麦芽酿造的轻型蜜酒/啤酒。
METHEGLIN（香料蜜酒）--任何加入香料食材提味的蜜酒，比如胡椒，肉桂，香草，咖啡，可可，茶叶之类的。
Currently in Asia--there's not much mead supply, so far anyone fortunate enough to have tasted some either in Bangkok, SG or KL are mainly of these 3 variants:-
Braggot--honey fermented along with barley malt(hops is optional)
Melomel--honey fermented with fruits ("Pyment" referring to those using only grapes--"Cyser" for those using only apples)
Metheglin--fermented honey with added herbs/spices
MEAD is often associated with craft beer community though it is an independent category all together--mead is definitely a much more expensive(cost wise) brew to make(you can read more here:-
http://cttai.blogspot.my/2016/03/week-72-beyond-imagination-alternative.html
--but the association with craft beer community/craft beer festivals is easy to understand in that both the mead makers and craft beer brewers are seeking for possibilities/varieties of taste profile a brew could possibly bring/ evolve into.
虽然蜜酒是独立个体，不过跟CRAFT BEER文化/社区是紧密相连的，主要原因在于无论是酿蜜酒或啤酒，高手们致力追求的是酿品的多层次，各种不同味道变化可能性，简单说，大家对极致美味理念的相信是同一路的。
If we were to summarized what a mead could be --The basic idea can be this "close to/in between WINE-PORT WINE-DESERT WINE-CYDER-SESSION/FRUITS BEER.....
其实，喝蜜酒跟喝啤酒是一样的，为的是不同类别酿品带来的不同层次味蕾享受，除非有心深入研究，不必太在意专用名词，重要的是知道蜜酒和CRAFT BEER都是有变化多端风味选择，绝不会只是单调无趣一味甜。
现阶段在亚洲认识MEAD的人不多，市场供应也很少，曼谷“米吧”能找到些不同类型酿品，新加坡有少量货流入吉隆坡，香港台湾除了啤迷自己找到一些分享之外，暂时还没有市场供应。不过，有情况显示，踏入新一年蜜酒在这几个亚洲城市会逐步被更多人认识。
The 1 misconception most people have about MEAD is to link the daily life Honey--which is thicker and sweeter--to what mead would taste like---not knowing mead is a much more diluted version(either by adding water- or in some cases just throwing lots of fresh fruits/ or fruit juices) of fermented honey.
Not too long ago--the buzz word in mead forum was Dimension--it's a sort of half joking/half serious word use to describe how a bottle of mead taste like--just like an ipa, a porter, a saison or a stout, geeks would look for different layers of taste profile instead of just 1 dimensional.
But to people who have yet to try a mead--DON'T assume that Mead will just be 1 dimensional because of the word Honey--you will be surprised how multi dimensional fermented honey can be when given the right treatment.
In Asia--for now--Mikkeller Bangkok(anyone planning to be in Bangkok early JAN should check out the mead event as shown above) will be the best bet for some delicious variants--there's some supply in Singapore(which flow into KL a little)---in Taipei and Hong Kong there's already a little private sharing session going on with more supply to emerge next year, and Tokyo seems to be joining in the mead movement in a small way too....
MEAD in Asia is still very new--but it's moving and will move further--and that's very pleasing to note.
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