Make Mead Like a Viking: Traditional Techniques for Brewing Natural, Wild-Fermented, Honey-Based Wines and Beers

A complete, practical, and entertaining guide to using the best ingredients and minimal equipment to create flavorful brews—including wildcrafted meads, bragots, t’ej, grog, honey beers, and more!“A great guide . . . full of practical information and fascinating lore.”—Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of FermentationAncient societies brewed flavorful and healing meads, ales, and wines for millennia using only intuition, storytelling, and knowledge passed down through generations―no fancy, expensive equipment or degrees in chemistry needed. In Make Mead Like a Viking, homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described “Appalachian Yeti Viking” Jereme Zimmerman summons the bryggjemann of the ancient Norse to demonstrate how homebrewing mead―arguably the world’s oldest fermented alcoholic beverage―can be not only uncomplicated but fun. Inside, readers will learn techniques for brewing:Sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meadsMelomels (fruit meads)Metheglins (spiced meads)Ethiopian t’ej (honey wine)Flower and herbal meadsBragotsHoney beersCountry winesViking grogAnd there’s more for aspiring Vikings to explore, including:The importance of local and unpasteurized honey for both flavor and health benefitsWhat modern homebrewing practices, materials, and chemicals work—but aren’t necessaryHow to grow and harvest herbs and collect wild botanicals for use in healing, nutritious, and magical meads, beers, and winesHow to use botanicals other than hops for flavoring and preserving mead, ancient ales, and gruitsThe rituals, mysticism, and communion with nature that were integral components of ancient brewingWhether you’ve been intimidated by modern homebrewing’s cost or seeming complexity in the past or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Zimmerman’s welcoming style and spirit will usher you into exciting new territory. Grounded in history and mythology, but―like Odin’s ever-seeking eye―focusing continually on the future of self-sufficient food culture, Make Mead Like a Viking is a practical and entertaining guide for the ages.“Adventurous mead makers or brewers who want to move beyond the basics will find plenty to savor here.”—Library Journal Read more