Just when you thought there could not be another variation of mead comes acerglyn. Just like wine, the possibilities of different styles and kinds of mead is truly nigh-endless, so what is acerglyn?
Just like its cousin metheglin, the name does sound as if it was some sort of medicine or something that would be placed in an IV bag and injected into someone but it is not, and no one should ever do this either. However, there is a part being right about it being medicine since, after all, metheglin is a modern spelling of the Welsh word for mead meddyglyn meaning healing liquor. Acerglyn is, perhaps, a more modern version of mead, and it is, basically, a mead made with maple syrup.
How to make aceryglyn?
Unlike melomel and metheglin which have additional steps due to the addition of fruit or spices, respectively, acerglyn is made from a combination of honey and maple syrup in water.
Because purely fermented maple syrup and water does not ultimately leave much flavor, it is used in conjunction with honey since it would not be called a mead without the honey in it.
To start, you will want about two pounds, or roughly two and a half cups of honey, twelve ounces of maple syrup, and enough water to make a combined one gallon. It is recommend to heat the water and the honey and maple to make it easier to dissolve in the water. From here, let it cool down, then add a Brewsy bag to the mixture, shake the jug a bit to kickstart the yeast, and let it go to town on the natural sugars found in the honey and maple syrup.
After it has reached a sweetness/dryness level, as well as alcohol level, of your preference, cold-crash and rack as necessary. Ta-da!
One you get a hang of making this, you can definitely experiment on the honey to maple syrup ratio. However, a drink made entirely of maple is possible.
Why is it called acerglyn?
There is not a clearly etymology for the word, however, it is safe to assume that it borrows the last syllable of metheglin with the with scientific genus name of this type of tree, acer. Therefore, it can be conferred that the name acerglyn simply means maple liquor because that is exactly what maple mead is, in a way. On a side note, mead is often referred to as a honey wine, but it is not a wine since it is not, inherently, made of fruits. So acerglyn is not a maple wine, but a maple mead.
What is the history of acerglyn?
Unfortunately, while the history of mead and its offspring, melomel and metheglin, is extensive and can be traced back thousands of years, there is not much info on the history and creation of acerglyn. As far as we know, it could be a more recent invention.
While maples have normally been associated with North America, the trees also grow in Europe and Africa, with most of the trees species are found in Asia. Interesting to note that only one species of maple can be found in the southern hemisphere. With that said, it is possible that it could have been invented anywhere where maples can be found.
There you have it, everything there is to know about acerglyn. Which is your favorite kind of mead?
