Message from Dean - May 8th 2007

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.23
EAN: 9780937381007
ISBN: 0937381004
Label: Brewers Pubns
Manufacturer: Brewers Pubns
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 198
Publication Date: 1986-06
Publisher: Brewers Pubns
Studio: Brewers Pubns

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Trace the history and discover the smooth, subtle secrets of mead. Learn how to brew this age-old drink with your basic homebrew equipment and Charlie Papazian's easy-to-follow directions.




Rating: - Irrelevant content
The first 90% of this book is written by Lt. Colonel Robert Gayre. This part of the book is dedicated to the history of mead and related alcoholic drinks. Naked racism, extreme conservatism, snobbism, awkward language style, low readability and long, boring historic reviews are characteristic for this part of the book. The Lt. Colonel speaks of great English civilization, wonderful Aryan race and superior Anglo-Saxon race, trying to bring enlightenment to the primitive and degenerate other human races. In this part there is not even a trace of any knowledge about mead making necessary for those who would like to do it.

The last 10% of the book - Brewing Mead - is written by Charlie Papazian. This part is too short and too general to make a useful contribution to a beginner. The recipes are not precise and not detailed enough for a real success.

If you are a historian interested in racist theories centered on the English and the Aryan myths, this may be the book ... Read More

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Rating: - Papazian's valuable information poorly spiced with Gayre's "Aryan" racial ideas
Brewing Mead is in reality two books in one. The first part is a treatise by Lt. Col. Robert Gayre on the history and qualities of mead and its various subtypes. The second is by Charlie Papazian (known as St. Papazian in the meadmaking community) and contains a small number of recipes for mead, cyser, braggot, and other fermented honey drinks, as well as instructions on how to prepare and age mead.

Papazian's section takes up about 10% of the book, and is by far the most valuable portion. The recipes are clear and the instructions are easy to follow; mead made from the recipes will turn out well. For this reason I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn how to make mead.

Unfortunately, the bulk of the book is not as useful. Gayre is a forceful writer with a gift for language, but his viewpoint seems to be overly influenced by his belief in Aryan racial superiority. Time and again the author refers to the "Aryan" race and culture, claiming, for instance, ... Read More

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Rating: - A Passion for Mead
This is one of those extraordinary books that comes of a lifetime pursuit. Gayre goes way back in history to tell of the evolution of mead and its appreciation, even to when mead was the drink of "gods and men alike." It's not a recipe book, though a few recipes have been attached at the end. Rather it's the book to read for someone who wants to gain a thorough appreciation of mead, while they're going about making it. Though only about 140 pages, this book has about 130 footnotes. "Wassail!" he writes ("Wishing you health!") This book is both informative and, for me, inspiring.

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Rating: - An authoritative history of Mead.
This is a very authoritative history of mead, stretching from its earliest know use by the peoples of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, through the middle ages, and to its decline in these modern times. Included in this foray is a discusion of the origins of spices, and differences between meads and ales. In the last quarter of the book are some common recipes, and a description of how to go about brewing mead. My only complaint is that I wish there was a more complete description of the process.

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