A boy's "coming of age" is an event traditionally associated with the attainment of one's eighteenth to twenty-first birthday, and, as we find through research into Celtic history, the age of 16 was commonly associated with a young man's passage from boy-into-manhood. (In some parts of Europe, and Ireland, the age was often as young as 12 or 14, but in the mythology of the British Isles, the age of "sixteen" surfaces most frequently.)
This passage has its traditional association with alcohol because it is the first time a boy is offered "Libation" (an ancient term for the alcoholic beverage, often with religious overtones) by an adult "male mentor" figure, which symbolizes transition. Also, because, in the Book of Pheryllt (which deals specifically with Libation in a detailed manner), such an element was of importance in Druidic ritual tradition.
There's a tradition, described by Edmond Williams's Essay on the Druids, which appeared in the 1864 Celtic Review Journal, of always offering sacred beverages to the gods, "before being partaken of by the congregations."
Given within The Pheryllt are four formulae for Libations, each corresponding to the four primary Grove Festivals of the Celtic year. This implies the Celtic tradition of brewing a specific kind of Mead for each key-festival, based upon the herbs that were seen as sacred to that season:
Beltane Mead
Midsummer Wine
Samhain Absinthe
Midwinter Mulsa
Here is a listing of quicker alternatives:
May Mead
Midsummer Ale
Samhain Absinthe
Midwinter Mulsa
