How Much Does a Bottle of Mead Cost and Why?

The price of alcohol is all over the place, from vodka to beer the cost ranges a great deal. Some of this is just because the brand is worth a lot or because of the time it takes, the age, or the ingredients. So, how much does a bottle of mead cost and why? You’ll notice they tend to be around the price of mid-range whiskey or a fair bottle of wine, but is that because mead isn’t as “good” as these other choices? Of course not!

Let’s break down the whys for the answer to “how much does a bottle of mead cost?” You’ll walk away having more appreciation for every penny spent. 

The Honey

Mead is somewhere between wine and beer. Its trademark is what makes it stand out; it’s made from fermented honey. That is, perhaps, the reason for the cost of mead. The kind of honey used can impact the price a great deal. Honey isn’t made easily. The bees make it in small quantities, and mead uses a great deal of honey per bottle. The flavor of meads is also more consistent than wine since many more conditions affect grapes than they do honey, but that’s not to say that environmental conditions don’t affect the way bees make honey, of course.

If you only eat and drink organic things, that can affect the price of the mead as well. It may seem counterintuitive, but using greener methods to produce anything organic is a more expensive process. Any good mead company or good mead for that matter, is going to invest in quality ingredients. The most important of which is the honey. Sure, there are plenty of spices, yeast, water, and other ingredients to give a particular mead its flavor and they all contribute to the price. The honey is the most important part of brewing mead, though.

So, how much does mead cost? It depends on the quality of the honey used. 

The Time

Again like beer or wine, mead takes time to produce because it’s a fermented drink. Aged wine tends to be more expensive the longer it’s in the cellar, and mead sometimes follows that same line. A traditional mead, for example, can take six to eight months to brew, assuming you want a higher alcohol content. See, the longer it conditions, the more the yeast eats the sugar, and the more alcohol is produced. Mead is closer to beer in that respect. Like it was said earlier, honey is more consistent with flavor than grapes. If there is a bad harvest, it can take more time to produce wine than usual. This happened around the time Absinthe was popular and became that way because so many vineyards had an awful harvest; thus, the price of wine skyrocketed. If there is a bad batch of honey, this could also affect the time it takes to produce enough mead to stock shelves. Which, in turn, may affect the cost.

So, how much does mead cost? How long has it been aged, and how long did it take to make it?

The Enjoyment

Mead’s comeback as a popular drink has been a boom for the mouths of many. It’s a spectacular concoction with a long history and doesn’t usually cost more than a fine beer. The average price of a solid bottle of mead is $20-30 bucks. For all the time it takes to create it, the months of conditioning, fermenting the honey, even harvesting the honey and other ingredients, it’s well worth every nickel and the wait.

So, how much does mead cost? Who cares! It’s amazing and affordable!