Our April meeting brought us to the house of the always generous (with food, drinks, and knowledge) Andy Tipler, who organized a meeting around all things mead! The spread was incredible, including a ridiculous amount of fresh homemade bread, crackers, chips, cheese, sausage, etc. Totally over the top. Unfortunately, we are a bit out of practice and completely forgot to pass a hat to compensate. Sorry, Andy!
This meeting was a bit different than our typical format, with a tasting of commercial meads, homemade meads (tasting notes below), and a talk about mead (and honey varietal tasting!) from Marina Marchese, with a bit more sampling of homemade meads as the night concluded.
Commercial meads included some from Dragonfire (CT) and Dansk Mjod (Denmark). Some were nice. Some were surprisingly bad. A few were complete dumpers. Hard to believe that they are for sale in the marketplace. The Dragonfire mead was not bad, if a bit too sweet.
Marina shared some great information about honey with the club. Honey should be used as fresh as possible, as it loses volatile aromas quickly. Two years is really the limit! Crystalization of honey is okay, but only as long as it is homogeneous – if the crystalized honey separates into layers of liquid and crystals, you should discard it. Also, honey is hydroscopic, which means it will pull moisture in from the air. Another good reason to keep it tightly sealed and use fresh! Marina also shared that there is a lot of fake honey here – it’s good to buy from reputable sources. Did you know that Italy is the only country with a database of varietal honey characteristics? Most countries have no regulations regarding honey. A huge thanks to Marina for coming out and sharing her knowledge (and honey!) with the group! Tasting notes for the honey varieties are included below the tasting notes.
Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate all things mead!
Tasting Notes
- Hydromel by Pierre; honey from Sean Darryl Harris (macadamia?); US-05; still and dry; a little oak. Lovely. Could be improved with some fizz.
- Hydromel by Paul B-S; macadamia honey from Sean; black tea for tannin; fizzy and dry. Somewhat bitter; clean; refreshing.
- Hydromel by Paul B-S; orange blossom honey (from Sean); fizzy and dry. Somewhat bitter; tastes of orange pith; plenty of tannin.
- Standard by Paul B-S; same orange blossom honey; oak for tannin; dry. Smooth; more body than hydromel. Made in June 2021.
- Hydromel by Paul B-S; coffee blossom honey (from Sean); fizzy and dry. More intense than expected for a dry hydromel; explosive carbonation; very drinkable.
- Standard by Paul B-S; same as last but standard strength; young. A little hot; intense aroma; ton of body; fermentation seems to have stopped early.
- Jamaican Sorrel by Andy T; ginger, orange zest, hibiscus, mulling spices, rum-soaked oak; started out at a pH below 2.0 – had to add bicarb before yeast would work. Heaven.
- Prickly pear and lime by Andy T; both juice and zest of lime; vitamin C as anti-oxidant; some tequila-soaked oak. A little hot; tastes of agave; fruit comes out more as it breathes.
- Meads from Superstition (AZ, brought by Jaxson) excellent across the board.
- Cyser by Paul H; Beardsley juice from 2022. Too tannic, almost astringent.
- 20 year old meads from Andy T. Medaled at most recent SNERHC.
Honey Tasting Notes
- Orange blossom: intensely floral.
- Eucalyptus: savory, meaty, salty, gamey.
- Basswood/linden: minty, limey.
- Heather: very dark, smoky, savory.
- Unknown (from student): grape or kudzu; whipped and creamy.
- Autumn olive: dirty water, urine?
- Buckwheat: almost black; cocoa and barnyard.
- Unknown (from Bulgaria): thick and pungent.
