Iļģuciema Mead

Iļģuciema Mead

Intoxicating honey drinks have their origins in Indo-European culture. The afterlife was believed to be special rivers of honey, so an intoxicating honey drink was linked to the idea of immortality, a gift from the gods to ordinary mortals, endowing them with different talents.

In the Middle Ages, the ancestors practised honey boiling on a large scale, while the drink took between five and twenty years to mature. In the 17th century, therefore, the heady brew and preparation of the honey beverage almost died out as mankind learnt the art of wine-making.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the intoxicating honey drink came to be known as “miestina”, “medala” or “fermented honey juice”.

At the end of the 19th century, there were so many mead breweries in Latvia that in case of water shortages, miestiņš was even used to extinguish fires.

In the year 2000, the Independent Capital Brewery Iļģuciems started producing Mead Original, selling it only on draught. The water used to make Riga Mead is particularly pure, as it is drawn from a depth of 170 metres.

In 2007, production of Mead Cranberries begins.

Since 2015, the Mead is also bottled in glass.

ILGEZEEM produces no less than 355 thousand litres of Mead in glass bottles and more than 200 thousand litres in casks every year.

The Ilgezeem Mead line is free of preservatives, flavour enhancers, colourings and contains vitamin C.

Hemp-Ginger Mead

Besides honey, hops and yeast, this beer also contains hemp and ginger extract. It has a distinctive, strong and celebratory taste. Popular at festivals and social events, it is also useful for making chicken liver pate and meat sauce for pasta.

Cherry Mead

This barley malt and honey beer has a natural and rich cherry flavour due to its cherry juice concentrate. Popular with women, it is a good aperitif. It will certainly fit in well with the drinks list of a hen party and a pyjama party, as well as in a patisserie.

Original Mead

Made from malted barley and rye. The distinctive honey flavour makes this Medalus a leader in the segment of such beers, because it is the taste of the town, called in the language of the people of Ilguciems, which has become the defining and recognisable taste that characterises the culture of mead in Latvia.

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