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The first batch of mead was likely a happy accident. Image: Eco Artware
Anheuser-Busch, home to popular brands such Budweiser, has been making a drink that more commonly associated with Vikings than Bud Light. And it could be coming your way soon.
So what hell is this drink they’re calling B?
It’s mead! That’s right Anheuser-Busch is now making a drink that’s thought by some to be older than beer and wine…And it could be coming your way soon.
Mead, like cider, is its own thing. It has three basic ingredients: honey, yeast and water and although it’s sometimes called “honey water” mead purists are quick to dissociate the drink from wine, as wine traditionalists do from mead.
As Liquor.com so succinctly explains “Mead is created by fermenting honey, while wine is made from fermented fruit.”
And now the Anheuser-Busch brewery near Baldwinsville, New York is making a “Honey Alcohol Beverage” a new product they call B (as in bee…get It?).
To highlight how unusual this is for Anheuser-Busch, Sycracuse.com is reporting that the “Baldwinsville brewery had to get a winery license from the state of New York earlier this year to make its new product. (The state has only recently introduced licenses specifically for mead).
Referred to as “nectar of the gods” by ancient Greeks, and more commonly associated with historical figures such King Solomon and even Queen Victoria, Anheuser-Busch’s new drink is clearly targeting a new and evolving market. A market where millennials are abandoning beer for wine and spirits. A market where hard seltzers like Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (which is also made at Anheuser-Busch enormous Central NY facility) begin to make sense.
And in a world of evolving tastes, B checks off a lot of boxes.
It’s low calorie (✔) and low alcohol (only 3.5% ABV… ✔) and not beer (unfortunately ✔). B also comes in two flavors (cherry and blueberry) and is gluten free (✔ ✔ ✔).
According to Anheuser-Busch brewmaster Nick Offredi, “B is now in limited test markets: Boston, along with Worcester and other parts of central Massachusetts plus Portland, Maine” where it is selling for $11.99 for a 4-pack of 12-ounce “sleek” cans.
And if it’s successful, and only the Gods know if it will catch on, Anheuser-Busch’s buzzy new nectar could be coming your way.
B Honey Water image credit: Anheuser-Busch
Early mead print image: Eco Artware
