North316 wrote:I'm always on the lookout for some mead here locally, as I haven't found anything that really satisfy my memory of a good mead.

The chaucers offered here is definitely not to my liking and it seems to be a relative even split, either you love it or you hate it.

I actually did get a bottle of B.Nektar orange blossom mead a few months back and was not a big fan of that either. It had a very nice entry and good taste across the mid-palate, but a very off-putting finish and after-taste to me. Almost like a petrol/chemically aftertaste that I just couldn't shake. I had high hopes for that as it was produced in Michigan, which produces some very good honey.

I'll keep an eye out for the other meads you mentioned, but as I said, they are hard to find here in Ohio.

I fear that nothing will ever come close to the mead my dad used to make. Smooth, sweet and slightly viscous with a pretty high alcohol content given the sweetness (I think it was in the 15-18% range but you would never guess by the sweetness). Sadly he stopped making that years ago and I have yet to find a suitable replacement. THis Chaucers is surely not one.

Hopefully WD can track down some other meaderies and up the offerings!

Making your own mead is relatively easy to do, provided you have a dark and cool-ish spot to let it ferment undisturbed. It's basically the same process as making beer, only with fewer ingredients and no secondary (in-bottle) fermentation. A friend who makes his own beer will often do a batch or two of mead every fall for the holidays.

rpm wrote:I have many wonderful memories from the Black Point Ren Faire - before, during, and after my peripheral days with the SCA around its years VI-X or so (in the Isles - when it was a barony-, the Mists and Caid). Fewer, but equally good memories of the LA Ren Faire.

I took my daughters when the were about 10 and 8, got them costumed up and very much into it for a while. Not sure whether the highlight for them was (a) the costumes and the whole period fantasy thing, (b) the food, or (c) their first encounter with fencing at a booth.

Mead was of course a staple at Ren Faires and SCA events. As an early wino, 'twas not really to my taste, but many of the Ladies high and low seemed verily addicted to the stuff. Sly devil that I am, I weaned a number of them off the stuff with judiciously chosen Riesling auslese and beerenauslese. Which once led to my being given the privilege of selecting all her wines by Countess Bevin Fraser of Stirling whom you no doubt recall.

Ah, the joys of a well-misspent youth!

In the words of the immortal Meatloaf, "A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age."

so I just got hyped up enough to start home brewing, I am pretty sure I will cut even on my investments with the first batch of a 5-gallon brew, any tips for starters?

I will start with mead.

kabraxcis wrote:so I just got hyped up enough to start home brewing, I am pretty sure I will cut even on my investments with the first batch of a 5-gallon brew, any tips for starters?

I will start with mead.

Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize.

drakar2007 wrote:I still wish I could find some absolute clarification on the issue, as I'm a big fan of regular Chaucer's and my annoying brother always hits me in the face with the whole "well it's not REAL mead since it's just honey-flavored wine..." bit. Anyone?

You don't win the "Best of Class, Traditional Mead" in the International Mazer Cup contest with "fake" mead.

If your brother knows more about mead than the judges of a prestigious international panel of judges who award trophy cups for it every year, then he should apply to be on that panel and school all those other judges who clearly don't know anything. (Or, he might be wrong.)

Including $5 shipping (in other words, if you aren't buying other Woots today), the total is $69.99.

At Beverages & More, locally, I can go pick up the same six bottles for $71.94.

So, for less than two bucks I can skip the shipping delay if I really want this mead.

Seems like a not-very-good deal. (I guess it's a deal - you save two bucks, but is it really Woot-worthy?)

Sheesh.

m

Is the honey raw/unrefined?

isnus wrote:I would suggest trying several rather than buying a lot of one in particular (unless of course you already know that you like it). There aren't many commercial meaderies and distribution is limited.

I've liked most that I've tried from Moonlight Meadery and Winehaven's traditional. B.Nektar seems good so far but have only had one of their varieties. White Winter is popular but I think it is mediocre.

Like anything else, try some and see what you like, everyone's palettes are different.

Chaucer's is ok too.

I LOVE Winehaven's Mead, but have not been able to find it since moving from Fargo, ND (I now live in Los Angeles)... Is that brand sold nationally or just in the upper Midwest? That was the first mead I tried and haven't been able to find anything that's matched it since.

isnus wrote:
I've liked most that I've tried from Moonlight Meadery and Winehaven's traditional. B.Nektar seems good so far but have only had one of their varieties. White Winter is popular but I think it is mediocre.

I want to second Moonlight Meadery.. The Meadery is just down the block from me. Took a tour last year and it was really cool. My favorite is Kurt's Apple Pie, but if you have the money Utopian is so smooth.. Utopian is aged in old Samuel Adams Utopias barrels. Can't wait to see them on wine.woot! http://www.moonlightmeadery.com/

For those in the Colorado region I highly recommend stopping by Redstone Meadery in Boulder to sample their wares.

Next to my own, Redstone is about the best around.

People, mead and wine making is NOT that difficult! If I can do it, ANYONE can!

steve

PCGCentipede wrote:What would you recommend? I've tried Dansk Mjod before and liked that.

I've never heard of that Meadery. Here in WI we have White Winter Winery - their mead has a distinctly metallic clang that is most unpleasant. I've found Chaucer's tasty, if a tad thick. The Mead Makers from the MN Renaissance Festival are a trip to the moon on gossamer wings (with mead).

msumdragon17 wrote:I LOVE Winehaven's Mead, but have not been able to find it since moving from Fargo, ND (I now live in Los Angeles)... Is that brand sold nationally or just in the upper Midwest? That was the first mead I tried and haven't been able to find anything that's matched it since.

They sell in the Twin Cities...that's where I was introduced to them.