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There was no such thing as a mega-brewery in the Renaissance. No popping down to the local liquor store to pick up a gross of identical bottles. There were breweries, certainly, and depending on where you lived, wine-making or beer-brewing was done on a fairly large scale (though not to the scale of, say, Labatt's).

But for the most part, people and publicans (pub-owners) brewed their own, using what was to hand. There would be dandelion wine, elderberry wine, beer and ale made from local grains, and, a widespread favorite mead -- a delectable brew, smooth and golden, made from honey.

Happily, mead still exists! For the greatest convenience, you can purchase mead, brewed and bottled by professionals. If you'd like to try your hand at making it, there are recipes all over the place. You can make the traditional sweet mead, you could brew up a dry (less sweet) batch, and, to keep those who don't imbibe part of the fun, there is even a non-alcoholic mead just waiting to be brewed.