| About honey meads |
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Honey for centuries was one of the almost indisdpensable natural product in a household. It was used to sweeten dishes, to bake cakes - in particular gingerbread, and even to preserve food. Honey was also appreciated in production of alcoholic beverages as mead and honey beer that once were quite popular. The tradition of mead production goes back in Poland to the pagan times. However, first records comes from the biography of of St. Otton, in which it was said that Pomeranian tribes favoured honey mead over wine. It was no surprise as Polish people simply could not make wine to the changeable climate, not suitable for growing vine. Probably first meads had very different flavour from those made today. Today preferred sweeter, in the past mead was more of a dry beverage. Its taste was not always appreciated and that is why monks coming to Polish land form southern Europe took over the the work of producing honey mead. It was extremely profitable and and the same time raising the standard of beverages. Soon enough, monks developed taste for honey mead, favouring them over southern wines. Today, the close connection of mead production with monasteries is indicated by their names, for instance 'Kapucynski' or 'Bernardynski' At first, the process of natural yeast cultures fermentation was used to produce mead and the concentration of alcohol reached up to 10%. Consequently, it was frequently served while eating meals as it was consummated as juice. Only when hot honey wort and noble variety of yeasts were employed in the production process the quality of the beverage increased. As time passed, other ingredients were added such as spices, fruit juce. And it all caused the honey mead to become more and more popular, especially among Polish and Lithuanian nobility. According to medieval written sources the mead brewing was in particular widespread in Mazowsze, Pomorze and here in Malopolska. It is confirmed in the decree form 15th century issued by the bishop Zbigniew Olesnica in which he authorized the establishment of mead brewery in Grybow parish. In addition, Marcin Kromer, who was Polish 16th century historian, writes in his chronicle of Polish history that "honey with hop and water is common there, especially where bees are in abundance". Sadly, numerous wars, unreasonable custom policy and the fact that the majority of mead breweries were taken over by the foreigners, caused - visible form 17th century - the fall of mead making. As grape wines and high-proof vodka gained popularity, mead honey almost completely disappeared from Polish tables. Their quality decreased as they were made in inappropriate conditions. Only monasteries and a few nobility manors continued to produce excellent mead. Thanks to the attachment to traditions brewing recipes were passed on from generation to generation, what made it possible to preserve the unique quality of the mead. For the individual producers, the real blessing became the book by Teofil Ciesielski entitled "Miodosytnnictwo - sztuka przerabiania miodu i owców na napoje" that is still one of the best literary item in this field. The tradition of mead brewing must have been deeply rooted in the mentality of Polish people as even in the interwar period still existed mead breweries in Krakow, Warszawa and more surprisingly in Nowy Sacz. The brewery from Nowy Sacz -'Sandecja' -apparently was quite well-known as it was visited by people from the whole country. Making mead was finally taken up by beekeepers who used honey from their own apiaries. After the WWII , beekeeping cooperatives from Krakow, Lublin, Poznan, Milejow, and Nidzica started to produce honey mead. The unique tradition of mead brewing is being preserved by the Beekeeping Farm 'Sadecki Bartnik' in Stroze. The company distributes honey meads produced with its own raw materials. 'Sadecki Bratnik' offers nine varieties of mead: trojniaki - "Kozacki", "Litewski", "Rycerski" and "Kapucyn"; dwojniaki "Bartnik", "Kasztel Niedzicki", "Zbyszko" and "Macko" and poltorak - "Chrobry". To honour the ancient pioneers the mead "Kapucyn" can be bought only in a stoneware jug. By being the member of the EU, we hope that mead brewing will finally become a profitable occupation for beekeepers and Polish apiaries will gain a lot as tourist attractions. back » |
