Mead Madness at the End of May

Sunday, May 31, 2015 saw the latest annual convocation of our local mead enthusiasts at the Home Wine, Beer, Cheese and Meadmaking Shop.  And madness it was!  Enthusiasm was running high, as was the volume level as usual, yet we managed to “formally” taste 39 meads out of some 48 that were offered by the time it became necessary to wind things down at 4:30.  As I said, enthusiasm was plentiful, and my biggest regret was that we were not able to sample all that was brought, despite moving the starting time up an hour to 12 noon this year.  Even at that, folks were still 'meadifying' when I departed at 5:30.  Hmm...I guess mead does that to people, particularly enthusiasts.

It is always interesting to sample the state of mead on an annual basis, even just locally where we now have an active meadmaking and mead-appreciating community, as this allows us to see trends in various aspects of the meadmaking art, also to sample meads brought to the tasting in previous years to gauge their progression with age.  As well, It is great to canvas what is available in commercial mead and to see if it is getting any better – the answer seems to be “yes.”

We began with a couple of meads made from honey from outside Southern California.  Tom Morris's traditional mead was made with wildflower honey garnered in Portland, Oregon, which will certainly reflect a different collection of blossom sources in the nectar gathered by the bees than down here.  This had a floral and slightly 'piney' aromatic note, with a bit of alcohol present.  The hazy gold color led to a sweet flavor with some balancing acidity lending crispness to the overall flavor profile, and a fruity palate.  Very nice, a great way to start the tasting.

I followed with an aged traditional mead from 1998 made from wildflower honey obtained in 1995 from Honeyville, a producer in Durango, Colorado where I had passed through on vacation earlier that summer.  This was high-altitude meadow honey with a light, floral, and spicy profile when first obtained.  The mead at this point in its 17-year life showed rich honey-sweet aroma with some floral notes remaining, with a pale straw color .  A slightly musty start to the flavor also showed some bitterness and a touch of astringency.  Definitely past its prime, but still drinkable.

Matt Hinckley, a Canoga Park local who makes only mead, showed up with a traditional wildflower mead fermented with a Trappist brewery yeast.  This had aromatic sweetness with woodiness and a musty edge, along with a hazy dark gold color.  The balanced flavor had honey richness and some balancing acidity.  A nice offering!

An interesting commercial mead was contributed by David Uhl, from Superstition Meadery in Prescott, Arizona.  Their “Safeword” mead is made with dark candi sugar as the Belgian brewers like to use.  This had a fruity aroma with dark sugar notes and a coffee-brown color.  The smooth caramel flavor with drying acidity to balance led many to believe that the candi sugar was dominating the honey in this one, but it was nonetheless impressive as rather unlike any commercial mead I had previously encountered.

We had quite a run on the berry melomels.  Berries are generally a good subject for fruit-flavored meads, given their distinctive flavors and aromas and their tendency toward significant acidity that provides a balance point for the honey sweetness.

The “very berry” melomel from Rich Schmittdiel had a nice complex berry aroma with honey edges, and a luminous red-gold color.  The crisp berry acidity was presented with just enough sweetness to balance, tending toward an “off-dry” profile, nicely done.

The raspberry melomel contributed by Craig and Pam Wickham had a rich raspberry aroma that would not quit, and a deep ruby color.  The crisply acidic berry fruit rendered it fairly dry, but balanced, with good intensity.  A fine mead for raspberry fans like me.

Allen Tracy contributed a trio of berry melomels, each fermented from the same mead must but in each case with a different wine yeast.  Wow!  Dramatic differences were evident.  The Cotes de Blanc yeast showed berry fruit and alcohol in the aroma, a slightly hazy dark cherry color, and a sweet flavor with spicy and acidic berry qualities leading to a long, sweet finish.  In stark contrast, the Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast fraction showed a muted aroma which brought out dark honey and suppressed berry qualities, but showed a deep Zinfandel wine color and a sweet flavor with balancing acidity and full body of sugars and tannins.  I dubbed this one “a late harvest Zinfandel among meads,” and it was favored over the other two by the assembled enthusiasts,  However, the “dry wine yeast” fraction had its points of appeal, including a fruity berry aroma with honey aromatics, a deep ruby color, and a crisply acidic flavor with late sweetness balancing it and some berry tannins hitting late as well, somewhat in between the other two in its profile.  Many thanks to Allen for this very instructive demonstration of the substantial differences that various yeast strains can provide.

Duane Smeckert provided a raspberry melomel with a light floral aroma with raspberry fruit present, a pale rose color, and a crisp, acidic flavor with again enough honey to balance.  This was another illustration of how home meadmakers are becoming more adept at crafting meads that are trending toward the “dry” side with adequate acidity to achieve this, along with enough honey sweetness to support the fruit needed to create a balanced “dry” mead.  “Dry” is certainly a relative term, but in winemaking approaches the dryness is largely imparted by acidity and some slight residual sweetness is needed to balance the effect.

Victor Macias contributed an Elderberry melomel from Honeyrun Winery in Chico, California, known for their substantial fruit meads.  This had a deep berry aroma with some inkiness, and a very dark red-purple color.  The sweet flavor had lots of fruit notes, tannins, and a hint of cinnamon.  Impressively rich!

Two other berry melomels of note were commercial meads:  The “Admiration” mead from New Hampshire-based Midnight Meadery, contributed by J.J., was flavored with boysenberry (a blackberry cross originally developed in Southern California by Rudolf Boysen and grown by his neighbor Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farm);  this had a rich berry aroma with aspects of mint and other herbs, a nice ruby color with purple aspects, and a crisp 'frizzante' profile (a very slight amount of dissolved carbon dioxide) with plenty of acidity rendering it rather dry but not without balance, although not to everyone's liking.  Even more impressive was the mead contributed by Alaskan native Sean Morris, from Celestial Meadery,  their “Marriage” mead made with marionberries (another blackberry variety) and raspberries – an excellent rich berry aroma that went on and on  with a slightly hazy red color led to a lightly sweet and well-balanced flavor which featured the berries wonderfully – outstanding!  Word from Sean is that the esteemed import/distribution firm of Shelton Brothers will be distributing Celestial's products outside of Alaska, which is something to look forward to.

We had a nice flight of the sweeter meads from alternative fruits.  The fig mead crafted by Mark Fitzsimmons had aromatic qualities including ink, fruit, minerals, and an edge of spice and caramel, with a hazy brown color.  The flavor was sweet and full-bodied with elements of maple, brown sugar, molasses, smoke, and prunes.  Rich and complex, and shows what you can do with a bumper harvest of figs.

Meads flavored with dates were in profusion, including the Wickhams' version with aromas of smoky caramel, spice, and fruitiness, a medium red-amber color, and a flavor nicely balanced between sweet and acid with some long caramels lasting into the finish.

A trio of date-flavored meads was contributed by Jayne and Jeryd Pojawa:  “Extreme Vanilla Date” mead had aromas of honey and caramel with a dry edge of spice, a hazy red-gold color, and vanilla coming out in the flavor with dates behind and balancing acidity, prompting Irene Kaplan to remark:  “OMG!”  “Mystery Date” mead showed dry aromatic elements and floral honey aromatics, a rich deep gold color, and a very sweet flavor with a slight edge of dates.  “Date crystals” mead was made with date crystals (or date sugar), and showed an aroma of fruitiness, vanilla, honey and alcohol, with a light reddish-gold color, and a rich mouth-filling flavor with honey, vanilla, and a touch of dates, although less “date-worthy” than the other two.

Roger Taylor, a local beekeeper, showed up with some meads and we tasted his citrus honey mead served from a keg.  This had some 'cellar' aromatic character, with honey fruitiness, and a pale orange-gold color.  The mouth-filling flavor showed fruit, sweetness, and some hot alcohol elements, and a touch of smokiness showed that some oak aging had taken place.
A couple of meads crafted from backyard tangerine fruit were featured.  Rich Schmittdiel's tangerine tupelo melomel had a rich aroma of apple, honey, and a touch of citrus, with a medium gold reflective color.  The crisp but complex flavor showed sweetness, citrus rind, citric acid, and orange notes, finishing fairly dry and alcoholic with just a bit of vanilla on the palate.

Brian Vessa's tangerine melomel showed an aroma of citrus fruit and honey aromatics and a hazy but reflective light orange color.  The rich flavor combined ample honey and acidity, with a bit of resiny bitterness for late balance.

Another theme was explored with pyments, which are grape-flavored meads.  An easy way to do this for grape-based winemakers is to make a “second-run” wine from the pressed-off red grape skins using water and honey.  We tasted a 2006 Ruby Cabernet pyment I contributed, which had a rich honey aroma with some fruit and alcohol, a hazy deep rose color, and a rich flavor with acidity balancing the sweetness and some tannins extending the acidic break.

Quite different was the younger 2012 Petite Sirah pyment I brought, which showed rich grape aroma and a bit of ink and hints of dark caramel, a very dark purple-brown color, and a rich but dusty flavor profile with fruity elements and some honey character.

Brian Vessa contributed a 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon pyment with an initially musty aroma and some fruit behind that, a murky rose-red color, and a sweet fruity flavor with good acid balance and some tannins in the finish accompanied by an edge of spice.

Earnesto Williams contributed a Zinfandel pyment crafted by a brewing partner of hers, which displayed aromas of alcohol and oak predominating, a deep dark red color, and a very sweet flavor with some grape and oak tannins, a touch of smoke and an edge of cinnamon, generally well-received.

Next came a “grab bag” of various and curious mead contributions.  Steve Cook and Irene Kaplan contributed  “Gramp's Old Honey Mead,” crafted by a local beekeeper from aged honey that had been stored by his grandfather.  This had an early mustiness to the aroma which blew off with a rich honey-caramel aroma remaining.  The nice deep clear amber color led to a sweet flavor with complex balancing elements of acidity, tannins, and a very slightly toasty-burnt edge.  Unique!

Jay Hudson brought his Habanero capsimel, a chile-flavored mead, with an aroma fragrant with a fruity perfume and a faint chile background, a clear medium gold color, and a rich sweet honey flavor with well-controlled chile heat balancing it.  A real hit!  And the homemade truffles he brought for snacks were good, too.

John Kaufman's star thistle vanilla mead showed aromatic elements of sweetness and vanilla with a fruity complex, a hazy light gold color, and a sweet vanilla flavor which matched the aroma exactly – very nice, particularly if you like mead and vanilla (which I do on both counts).

David Sherfey brought his ever-evolving New York Cyser, crafted from Northern Spy and Braeburn apples form a New York state orchardist who makes only cider.  The crisp apple aroma was unmistakeable and nice, with a hazy reddish-gold color.  The crisp and spicy flavor profile showed good balance between sweetness and malic acidity, and despite recent honey resweetening the apple character still prints through wonderfully loud and clear.  Excellent!

Dana Cordes brought a European commercial mead from Denmark, the “Viking Blod” Nordic Honey Wine.  This was flavored with hops, hibiscus, and spices.  The aroma showed mint, honey, hops, and particularly ginger in profusion, and there was an nice “sunset-orange” color to it.  The rich honey body was adequate to support the substantial ginger spicing.  An excellent example of a modern version of the traditional European spiced mead, intended as a medicinal beverage in ancient times.

Tim Loveless, and (separately) Kevin Ball, brought “Necromangocon” Black Pepper and Mango mead, a commercial mead from B. Nektar of Ferndale, Michigan.  Here the aroma had mango and honey with a black pepper edge, and a pale straw color.  The lightly sweet flavor had a fairly crisp apple-like acidity, structured like a white wine.  This was interesting, and the great fruity complexity of the mango makes it work and reminds us that the mango is really the king of the tropical fruits.

A prickly pear melomel from the Pojawas had a slightly musty aroma with some fruit and acid and honey coming in, and a very deep amber color with a purple-red edge.  The rich honey-acid flavor had fruit contributions and some tannins.  Plums were added to deepen the fruit effect.

Ed Kochanowski contributed  a “session mead” from the Nectar Creek meadery in Corvallis, Oregon.  The Wildflower session mead had a light floral honey aroma and a “water white” color. The flavor was a fruity complex reminiscent of bubblegum flavoring.

It is my hope that we have managed to inspire future meadmakers to get started on trying their hand at crafting this fascinating beverage we call mead, so that we can try their creations at future tastings.  I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and contributions, not only the meads but the snacks and the help setting up and cleaning up the room – all of that makes this tasting a special event worth doing every year.

Until next time, the traditional toast – In Mazers of Mead!