Tasting mead before making it

[Dan Williamson]

Sounds backwards right? Actually I want to see what mead tastes like to see if I want to invest the time/effort etc to make some.

Where can you buy mead to give it a try? (Realizing of course that not all mead tastes the same)

Can you just go to a liquor store and buy it?

Thanks,

Dan

[Ben Brewcat]

Well you can, the problem is that some commercial meads are in poor shape. Also mead is even more variable than wine: it can be sweet or dry and anywhere in between, potent or modest alcoholically, spiced, fruited. Not that this is a problem! It's just that I've had SO many people try a mead and then say they don't like mead, but that mead (if it was a decent one) may just not have been to their tastes. Kinda like not liking food because your roomate's Thai dishes made you burn :D .

Call local liquor stores and see if they carry any. Better yet, see if there's a homebrew club and/or shop nearby; they're usually your best bet for high-quality mead unless you're lucky enough to have a good meadery in the area.

Check out http://www.honeywine.com/ and http://gotmead.com/ for finding meads too. The point is make sure you try a few if you feel the first didn't entrance you.

[ScottS]

I've had a lot of commerical mead, and I've only really enjoyed two of them:

Redstone Reserve - $50 for 500 mls, by Redstone Meadery in Boulder, CO

Bunratty Mead - NOT the stuff you can buy in the US, if it is labeled Bunratty in the US it is crrrrrrrap! This was brought over from Ireland and is probably the best commerical mead I've had.

Bottom line: don't be surprised if what you taste is nasty. You'd probably be better off finding a homebrewer in your area that makes mead than buying something commerical.

[Ben Brewcat]

Mmmmm... second that on the Reserve! David often donates bottles for our club's fundraiser and occasionally a recipe and session too. Redstone does mailorder mead I believe, at https://www.redstonemeadery.com/store/product_list.asp. For a startling contrast to the Reserve, try also one of the Nectars. They are singly responsible in our area for repopularizing draft mead and are a very "approachable" mead for the curious.

[ScottS]

I was not impressed with the nectars, and I've tasted them on three different occassions. They seemed young, over-sulfited, thin, and light on flavor.

Everyone's got different tastes though, I know quite a few people that like them!

Redstone does ship to many places. Check them out.

[Dan Williamson]

Thanks guys.

I'll have to check my local store. Redstone can't ship to my state. Thanks for the tips. I'll see what my local opts are.

Dan