17 replies to this topic

[VolFan]

What's your favorite? Im scouting the area for local honey but need to start comparing a good mead from a not-so-good mead.I picked up a bottle of Chaucers a little while ago. Made in Soquel, CA and it comes w/ two tea bags of spices that contain cinnamon, orange peel, clove & other natural ingredients. Says to warm mead (no boil) and steep bags till desired flavor is reached. I'm thinking about skipping this step unless you folks say otherwise. I plan on tasting it by itself regardless.

[VolFan]

Just found this in another post.

One of the best parts of meadmaking is that you can push the envelope with both ingredients and finish, and come up with things that are technically "meads," but bear little resemblance to that cloyingly sweet commercial stuff (aka Chaucer's) that most people associate with the beverage.

Now Im not so siked to try it, but at least I should know of I like it this sweet.Edit: Couldn't wait on the wife so I poured a sample. Too sweet for my liking.

Edited by VolFan, 10 April 2009 - 12:49 PM.

[armagh]

Heidrun Meadery, in Arcata, CA. Not wild about the Madras carrot flower, but all their other varietals are beyond reproach to my palate.

[VolFan]

Heidrun Meadery, in Arcata, CA. Not wild about the Madras carrot flower, but all their other varietals are beyond reproach to my palate.

Haven't seen that one here, but will keep an eye open for it.If I can't get my own mead to ferment out any drier than this Chaucers, then it will be both a waste of my time & money. It's even too sweet for the wife, and that's saying something.

[pods8]

Haven't seen that one here, but will keep an eye open for it.If I can't get my own mead to ferment out any drier than this Chaucers, then it will be both a waste of my time & money. It's even too sweet for the wife, and that's saying something.

I don't like chaucers. You can definately ferment drier than that depending on how much honey you put in verse your yeast alcohol tolerance.I've had some of these folks stuff: https://www.mountain...d.com/meads.php and find their spice nectar tasty. I used if as inspiration to create me own version that was well liked and alas long gone begging to be recreated.

[ScottS]

If I can't get my own mead to ferment out any drier than this Chaucers, then it will be both a waste of my time & money. It's even too sweet for the wife, and that's saying something.

You have complete control over how dry it gets, from bone dry to syrupy sweet. Don't let this stuff put you off mead.

[Brewer Pete]

Commercial meads, only one in Oz. Maxwells, it comes in three types. Plain sickly sweet, wife likez but I wouldnt drink it. Sickly sweet with spices, warm best while plain mead serving chilled best. Wife and family in states during xmas visit liked it. Last variation is a tiny bottle of a liquor or brandy style mead made from the sickly sweet plain mead that is aged for about 3 years -- forget how many was in barrels. Then we have Beez Kneez which is a beer made with honey with little to no hop flavour.This is why Im making my own.

[VolFan]

It was actually better warmed w/ the spices. I won't let this deter me from venturing into mead. Farmers Market starts here in a couple more weekends. Im hoping to secure a good source for honey.

[Cliff Claven]

There are two operation listed at honeylocator.com. Both are North of Nashville. Maybe they can tell you where to find some near you?I have only tried one commercial variety, locally produced. It was also syrup. A coworker visited a different vineyard and tried theres. He said it was also syrup.I waiting for my 1st attempt at a show mead to finish. Right now it is at 1.020. Get some ph strips and the nutrients and give it a whirl!

[VolFan]

Thanks.I did run across the TN Beekeepers Assoc. and have gotten an email regarding some local people.

[Stout_fan]

Myself and a number of other Mazers do like Chaucer's. I personally have no problem with the sweet finish.You certainly will not be able to tolerate Jadwiga which IMNSHO is one of the classic meads out there.So therefore, you obviously have a preference for a drier mead.Please note, I just saved you $40. :)My personal problem with Chaucer's is that they sometimes use year end honey.Let's just say at one Mazing we had two bottles of Chaucer's.The first one was acceptable, the second one smelled like garbage, and tasted similar. You can guess where the "nectar" came from.BTW you can use a "dishonest butler" to remove the cork and drain an ounce from the bottle. Shove the spice pack in and recork.After a month at room temp the spices will infuse and make a nice Metheglyn.But it will still be just as sweet, so I wouldn't recommend it for your palate VolFan.BTW you never mentioned your honey to water ratio.This could be why you are finishing sweet.Don't give up, you can make the mead you like.Like the gubmint; we're here to help.I seem to recall a Danish mead I had at the IMF and found later for sale in Baltimore that was dry.Not really too sure what is distributed in TN.But that's the joy of making your own as Scott pointed out.

[Jeff]

Hands down ... White Winter Winery in Iron River Wisconsin. Never had a bad mead from them. They are a great group of people too. Very home brewer friendly.https://www.whitewinter.com/

[VolFan]

Good info you two. As far as the honey/water ratio I have yet to put a mead together. Still in the procurement mode and w/ the storms we've had lately down here work has kept me busy.

[zymot]

Rabbit's Foot Meadery is local to me. https://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com/I drive past it on my way home from work everyday. They have recently opened a Mead Bar. You can buy samplers, single glasses and bottles of their products. The Cyser is excellent and the Hard Cider is also the best.I have a bottle of their Dry Mead. An acquired taste I think I have yet to acquire.Sweet Mead is is next and they show a Raspberry Mead.They also sell through Whole Foods.zymot

[Wayne B]

The trouble with most domestic (US) commercial meaderies is that their production volumes are so small that they don't usually get effectively distributed much past their local regions. Online sales help somewhat, but there are still some states that do not permit online interstate purchases of alcohol (vestiges of prohibition remain). Finding good commercial meads often comes down to finding a good meadery in your local area.It is valuable to note here that Bargetto Winery (the makers of Chaucer's) have apparently changed the recipe or the process they use to make their mead. It has gone from super-sweet swill (my old opinion), to something that is still too sweet for my taste (essentially a dessert mead), but good enough to have taken the first place award in the Traditional Mead category at the Mazer Cup competition earlier this month. BTW - I have soundly dissed Chaucers in the past, but having tasted the mead that they entered in the Mazer Cup this year, I won't be so outspokenly against their products any more.So, perhaps there is hope for wide scale distribution of some drinkable commercial meads in the future!

[zymot]

It is valuable to note here that Bargetto Winery (the makers of Chaucer's) have apparently changed the recipe or the process they use to make their mead. It has gone from super-sweet swill (my old opinion), to something that is still too sweet for my taste (essentially a dessert mead), but good enough to have taken the first place award in the Traditional Mead category at the Mazer Cup competition earlier this month. BTW - I have soundly dissed Chaucers in the past, but having tasted the mead that they entered in the Mazer Cup this year, I won't be so outspokenly against their products any more.So, perhaps there is hope for wide scale distribution of some drinkable commercial meads in the future!

Like many homebrewers, I was introduced to mead via Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing.The first mead I was able to purchase was a Chaucer's mead. I did not finish the bottle. Turned me off of mead for several years.Now I am back exploring. Being able to sample one glass at a time (in the same building it is brewed) is an exceptional luxury.zymot

[VolFan]

Online sales help somewhat, but there are still some states that do not permit online interstate purchases of alcohol (vestiges of prohibition remain).

TN is one of them.

It is valuable to note here that Bargetto Winery (the makers of Chaucer's) have apparently changed the recipe or the process they use to make their mead. It has gone from super-sweet swill (my old opinion), to something that is still too sweet for my taste (essentially a dessert mead), but good enough to have taken the first place award in the Traditional Mead category at the Mazer Cup competition earlier this month. BTW - I have soundly dissed Chaucers in the past, but having tasted the mead that they entered in the Mazer Cup this year, I won't be so outspokenly against their products any more.So, perhaps there is hope for wide scale distribution of some drinkable commercial meads in the future!

I will keep this in mind. Did they change the bottle labeling any on this new recipe?

[Wayne B]

I will keep this in mind. Did they change the bottle labeling any on this new recipe?

No, not that I noticed. The meaderies provide entries from their normal stock, so I saw the bottles as we checked them in. They looked like the Chaucer's bottles I've seen in the past, but that doesn't mean there weren't any subtle changes -- just nothing that jumped out at me as different.