8 replies to this topic

[VolFan]

Here is what I was quoted today from the local market. His wife is starting a web page.Dark amber is $125./5 gallons. Mountain blossom is $180./5 gallonsIm guessing the mountain blossom would be preferred over the dark amber? I might keep looking around some more to see if I can find it any cheaper.

[ScottS]

Really hard to say which is going to be better. Some places charge a premium for light honey, but some light honey can be so light on flavor that it leaves a mead flat. On the flip side honey that is too dark, like buckwheat, usually has it's own special funk that requires some care to make it turn out well in a mead.If it were me, I'd go with the dark amber. That mtnblossom is about double what I pay for bulk honey, and my favorite honey for mead is a wildflower that comes in roughly medium to dark amberish anyway.Are you going to pick it up? Cam you taste it before you pay?

[strangebrewer]

Are you going to pick it up? Cam you taste it before you pay?

+1With not much for descriptions taste is going to be the best indicator. I would 'guess' that the dark amber is wildflower and what I prefer as well in meads but tasting it is the only way to know.

[MyaCullen]

Are you going to pick it up? Cam you taste it before you pay?

+2and yeah the dark amber is probably just mixed lot of local flowers, which is about al I can get around here and it makes great mead, I especially like the early spring stuff. Around here it mostly comes from Dandelions.

[VolFan]

Im sure I can taste it. Thing is, I dont really know exactly what to look for.He had both varieties yesterday at the market but I didnt buy any for we have 2-3 qts at home and I wanted to get your input on which one to get. I really thought you all would have said the blossom. I have to drive through that town today on the way back to the office. I may stop and get a sample of each.

[strangebrewer]

Im sure I can taste it. Thing is, I dont really know exactly what to look for.He had both varieties yesterday at the market but I didnt buy any for we have 2-3 qts at home and I wanted to get your input on which one to get. I really thought you all would have said the blossom. I have to drive through that town today on the way back to the office. I may stop and get a sample of each.

For a baseline go out to the grocery store and buy yourself a small container of clover honey. Clover is about as plain as they come. Heck I'd even say bring it with you when you go to taste this guy's honey and compare. Like anything it's a lot easier when you can do a side by side comparison.

[ScottS]

Thing is, I dont really know exactly what to look for.

For a honey noob, start with - does it taste like something other than "sweet"? When you ferment it out the sweet mostly goes away. Is there anything else there?Taste the mountain and the amber (and possibly the clover as well) side-by-side and try to pick out the flavors. It's not so much that those other flavors are what your mead is going to taste like, but that without other flavors your mead isn't going to taste like much at all.

[VolFan]

Ok I got some samples to try. Dark amber, Mountain Blossom and I passed on the Sourwood for the supply of that is running short. Forgive my lack of of being overly descriptive, but its always been a fault of mine. Reason I never opted to be a beer judge.MB: Bright, clean, mild and the wife says flowery. DA: Rustic, woodsy and more depth/character than the MB. If you taste and close your eyes there seems to be more going on in the background and there is a lingering flavor(s) even after you swallow the nectar. The taste lingers longer than that of the MB.I'm no honey expert but both honeys seem to be of good quality. Definitely better what what you get at the store. Taken from his website so it might give you guys some insight as to what we have.

A list of these trees includes the many varieties of maple, elm, redbud, willow, service berry, sassafras, black cherry, black gum, black locust, honey locust, huckleberry, farkleberry, tulip poplar, holly, privet, persimmon, sumac, basswood and sourwood. Tree roots have access to many layers of subsoil, so they can contribute a broad spectrum of minerals to the nectar and pollen. Add to that list of trees, the plants which grow around the edges of the woods where there is more sunlight, such as blackberry, dewberry, vetch and kudzu, and you will have honey and pollen blended together from a wide variety of sources.

[ScottS]

MB: Bright, clean, mild and the wife says flowery.

I've found that this flowery character typically fades almost to nothing with time. If you make a dessert mead sweet enough that you can drink it young, the floweryness comes through strongly and makes an unforgettable mead. I wouldn't recommend that for a beginner though.

DA: Rustic, woodsy and more depth/character than the MB. If you taste and close your eyes there seems to be more going on in the background and there is a lingering flavor(s) even after you swallow the nectar. The taste lingers longer than that of the MB.

This sounds more like what I'd use as a standard base honey for mead. Especially given the cost difference, I'd go with this.