MB ‘Šušvės midus’ – a hobby which became a business
Near the famous Plinkaigalis mound, on the bank of the calmly flowing Šušvė river, where our ancestors already prospered in prehistoric times, the old handicraft of mead producers was revived.
We produce the oldest traditional alcoholic beverage in the world – mead, which has already been popular among ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and which soon spread throughout the world. Lithuanians had been drinking different types of mead since ‘high antiquity’ until 18th century; therefore, mead is regarded as our national drink.
Mead is a natural fermentation, unfortified alcoholic beverage. All our mead is made of natural honey collected by bees from our apiary so we can always guarantee a high quality of mead.
I am a third generation beekeeper, my grandfather and my mother were beekeepers too. Currently we have our own apiary where 180 of bees‘ hives are humming. Mead was already produced by my grandfather and my mother from whom I took over mead making secrets. Therefore in 2015 we started operation as the only traditional mead brewers in the country.
Our family is from Kėdainiai district, Plinkaigalis village, on the bank of the river Šušvė, near the famous Plinkaigalis mound and the Iron age cemetery. According to archaeologists, mead was known and used in various festivals and celebrations in our region already in prehistoric times.
Thus, continuing the old tradition of the region, using my mother’s experience, my own knowledge, I established a mead brewery. When producing mead, we do not spare honey – each litre of mead contains up to 750 g of honey. In production we do not use any chemical additives, only natural raw materials (the presence of a small amount of sulphite occurs naturally during the production process).
Mead is matured for at least 2 years, some types of mead – for not less than 3 years. Honey is the main ingredient which gives colour, taste and odour to mead. The taste of mature mead is noble, unobtrusively sweet, full.
We pour our mead into the bottles of original design; the corks are covered with natural bees‘ wax so the aroma spreads even without opening the bottle.
This drink is recommended as a perfect gift or a souvenir from Lithuania.
