A fruit mead (melomel) made with fruit other than the named cyser (apple) or pyment (grape) — most often berries or stone fruit fermented with honey. The fruit and honey should balance; sweetness ranges from dry to sweet.
In the glass
Appearance
Clear to brilliant; color from very pale to deep gold depending on the honey (and any added fruit or spice).
Aroma
Honey and the declared fruit together, in harmony.
Flavor
Honey character carrying a clear fruit flavor — berries, stone fruit, or other — with acidity from the fruit giving lift; sweetness as declared.
Mouthfeel
Medium body; fruit acidity keeps it lively; sweetness balanced.
Origin
Fermenting honey with locally available fruit is an old and widespread practice; the general term melomel covers any honey-plus-fruit mead, with apple (cyser) and grape (pyment) split out by name. Berry and stone-fruit melomels are mainstays of the craft-mead revival.
Notes
The general fruit-mead bucket for everything that isn’t a cyser or pyment. The defining fruit should be evident and named.
Defining examples
B. Nektar Wildflower (varies)·Superstition Berry White
Sources
BJCP 2015 · M2EMelomel (Other Fruit Mead)
Wikipedia contributors. “Mead.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed June 14, 2026. ↗
Schramm, Ken. The Compleat Meadmaker: Home Production of Honey Wine from Your First Batch to Award-Winning Fruit and Herb Variations. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2003.