Mead is usually given the distinction of being man's oldest alcoholic beverage.

It is certainly one of the simplest, and it often gets left off the table by many beer aficionados.

Often called honey wine, it is, in its simplest form, just fermented honey and water. This is one of the reasons it's thought to be the first common form of alcohol. Even before we settled down in an agrarian society to cultivate grains for beer or the quantity of grapes needed to make wine, honey was pretty easy to find.

It only follows that it could have been watered down, and gone "bad" with wild yeast. It is easy to imagine that first discovery made for quite a hangover.

Whatever the origins, mead caught on. Throughout ancient and medieval history, there are countless references to the drink. It even became the un-official drink of love. The word "honeymoon" is traceable to the practice of a bride's father providing the newlyweds with enough mead to drink for the first month of their marriage. Whether this aided or hindered consummation probably depended on consumption level.

Lucky for us, modern mead makers, both amateur and professional, have refined the art. Today the possibilities seem endless. Mead can be dry or sweet. It can have spices, fruits, grapes or apples added. It can be still like wine or carbonated, and vary in color from nearly white to very dark.

The varieties of mead seem second only to beer.

Although mead is undergoing a renaissance of sorts throughout the world and in the United States, it is still one of the rarest forms of alcohol. Your local corner liquor store may not carry any, and the larger stores in the metro area may only have a few varieties. To get a taste, try the International Mead Festival. Lucky for us, it is just around the corner Feb. 9-10 in Lakewood (www.meadfest.com).

The event is the world's largest festival, public sampling, and competition for commercial and home made mead entries. As many as 100 different commercial meads from around the world, some are even made in Colorado, are expected.

If you can't make it to the mead fest, we recommend visiting a local Colorado mead producer.

Our favorite is Redstone in Boulder (www.redstonemeadery.com).

No matter how you go about it, you really owe it to yourself to hunt down some mead and experience a little history first hand. Cheers!

Kevin DeLange and Kevin Kellogg own Dry Dock Brewery Co., 15110 E. Hampden Ave.