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I'm curious about mead now through this whole homebrewing hobby (already have wine in progress, beer on tap, and the ingredients for a cider purchased) but I don't think I've ever actually gotten the chance to try a mead... Is there a particular store that carries it? didn't see any in NSLC last time I was in.

I don't like making things I haven't gotten to taste a "correct" example of before.

Midgard Meadery:

https://www.midgardmeadery.com/index.html


I haven't tried any, but I have heard many people praise his mead.

How long have those guys been around for? Surprised I've never heard of them before.

I think Lunenburg County Winery has a mead - I tried and hated it many years back. Not sure if they even still make it. This is probably not overly helpful information haha.

Jayme wrote:How long have those guys been around for? Surprised I've never heard of them before.

I think Lunenburg County Winery has a mead - I tried and hated it many years back. Not sure if they even still make it. This is probably not overly helpful information haha.

1+ please stay away from the LCW mead. It ain't good!

Not much use unless you find yourself in Quebec, but if you happen to, SAQ carries a pretty good variety, all of them Canadian and, I suspect, mostly in-Province. There's a pretty good variety of sweet and dry meads along with sparkling and flavored (apple, blackberry, etc.) variations.

I tried a couple from Intermiel which were all interesting, but I really only liked the dryest one (which is normal; I'm not big on sweet wines in general). One of the ones I tried (wish I could remember which one) had a distinct funk to it that reminds me in hindsight of Brett. I thought it might be a flawed bottle, but since starting to brew I'm wondering whether that's an intentional thing from a wild fermentation.

I was in Fredericton last week and you can get a few around there as well

damn, I was hoping to get a response along the lines of "X brand is at bishops cellar/rockhead and is awesome"

I don't really leave the province ever (student loans and vacations are mutually exclusive...) so I may have to decide between brewing blind and making something I have never tried before or ordering a weird 30 dollar bottle of mead from cape breton through the mail...

homemade mead generally gets much better with age - usually >1 year is what i've heard for the minimum (though i also know people who drink it after only a few months). something to keep in mind.

the best one i've had was last winter, i had a homebrewed mead that was brewed back in 2002 or so. really really good.

MitchK wrote:damn, I was hoping to get a response along the lines of "X brand is at bishops cellar/rockhead and is awesome"

I don't really leave the province ever (student loans and vacations are mutually exclusive...) so I may have to decide between brewing blind and making something I have never tried before or ordering a weird 30 dollar bottle of mead from cape breton through the mail...

Go for it. Mead making is pretty straight forward and not crazy expensive. Try a 3 gallon batch to start. You don't even have to boil the honey!

Hey Juniper Hill, I'm enjoying some orange spice melomel I believe you gave me a few years ago - just popped the cork tonight. It's deelish! I can't remember what it was we traded, but thanks!

John

Edit: I just looked up my PMs and it was a Coleman cooler mash tun you picked up from me in November 2012. The melomel aged very well.

John G wrote:Hey Juniper Hill, I'm enjoying some orange spice melomel I believe you gave me a few years ago - just popped the cork tonight. It's deelish! I can't remember what it was we traded, but thanks!

John

Edit: I just looked up my PMs and it was a Coleman cooler mash tun you picked up from me in November 2012. The melomel aged very well.

Thanks John. Glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to crack open a bottle if I still have one. The recipe is the famous "Joe's Ancient Orange Mead". It is very easy to make.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/old-school-mead-recipe/

If you want a simple introduction get the kit from NG. Even if you find you don't like it, you'll have no trouble finding friends and family who do.

I did just notice the kit but I think with what free fermenters I have at the moment and the amount of money I am willing to risk I'll be doing a one gallon, following the seemingly popular "joe's ancient orange mead" recipe kicking around the net.

Go to the "gotmead.com" forums. Lots of great info and recipes. Bray's One Month Mead (BOMM) is also popular and simple.

well I just started the JOAM recipe. We will see how it turns out. From beer experience I was a little wary since the honey wasn't boiled, nor was the orange, nor were the spices, nor were the raisins... I guess you're just really banking on the yeast taking over before anything else can?

Honey naturally has antibacterial properties and then yes banking on yeast pitched dominating any potential wild yeasts. Good luck! Fun to try new things

Not only is my joam clear and probably going to get bottled before Christmas 'my girlfriend found a meadery in British Columbia while visiting her family and is bringing back half a dozen bottles.

There is an awesome meadery here in alberta called fallentimbre. Next time I'm in NS I'll try and bring a few bottles for the club.


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MitchK wrote:well I just started the JOAM recipe. We will see how it turns out. From beer experience I was a little wary since the honey wasn't boiled, nor was the orange, nor were the spices, nor were the raisins... I guess you're just really banking on the yeast taking over before anything else can?

Don't boil the honey it's not required.


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I didn't boil it and I think so far it's turned out fine.

I am interested in trying a bochet at some point though.

There is a really good beersmith youtube episode from moonlight meadery. Check it out.


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Which BC meadery? Had a few things from tugwell this past trip and they were all pretty alright.

The mead came from a place in vernon. It's called "honeymoon meadery" and is run by a honey producer that goes by "planet bee". Their marketing is cheese as hell and their website looks like 1998. Haven't tried the mead yet.

Hey Mitch, how did your mead turn out? Did you like it? Did you ever find a place locally to buy mead?

Cheers,

Scott

Embarrassingly enough i haven't gotten around to bottling it. It's just been bulk aging in a one gallon jug. Never found a local source.