Homer vs Commercial

[ScottBehrens]

I have read on GotMead and other boards that the home competitions are better meads in the final round than commercial. I realize that the commercial guys are a for profit corporation and they are hamstrung from spending a small fortune on ingredients like we do. But they shouldn't be competitively forced to meet a price point. Mead can be and is a top shelf beverage and should be made and priced accordingly. If you are leaps and bounds better price it that way. Maybe I just don't understand the biz, but that's my take.

I live in an mead drought area. This post was generated by a massive online purchase of meads about a month ago across many suppliers. I wont say names just cause that's not right, but only one sticks out after all I have tried. There remains one more I would love to get my hands on at any price but I cant get yet.

 

[bmwr75]

Luckily you live in a state where on-line purchases are possible. No body ships to MS and there is only one place in the state making mead, they sell it only at their micro-brewery, which is hundreds of miles from where I live.

 

[kudapucat]

Feel free to critique the mead as you see fit.

The problem with commercial is not the expensive ingredients, per se, it's the erring on the side of caution.
If I invest in a ton of honey, that's going to cost me about AUD$8000.
If I have more than one batch go south, or finish up with an unpalatable sugar level, or even just require a few years of aging, this will likely put me out of business.
So commercial entities must ensure they get a good, consistent, drinkable product.
And of course, there is a price point that the buyer is expecting. The buyer wont accept a consistently high price, nor a fluctuating price.

Home brewers are able to invest much more time, care, and failed batches to get that one that blows a competition away.
Home brewers are also able to make changes to a batch more easily, as temperature can be altered faster, fermentation vessels physically shaken, etc.

This is why "Home Made" tastes better, in a great many different circles.

 

[pokerfacepablo]

Luckily you live in a state where on-line purchases are possible. No body ships to MS and there is only one place in the state making mead, they sell it only at their micro-brewery, which is hundreds of miles from where I live.

You need to get a network of friends across the U.S. to ship to you... If you're willing to pay the shipping and handling. I could get you some Prairie Rose Meadery from ND. Fabulous stuff, I think she's up to 5 different varieties at this point. I need some contacts in Michigan... ton of small meaderies that sell in state only.

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[pokerfacepablo]

I have read on GotMead and other boards that the home competitions are better meads in the final round than commercial. I realize that the commercial guys are a for profit corporation and they are hamstrung from spending a small fortune on ingredients like we do. But they shouldn't be competitively forced to meet a price point.

If you ever come to the mixer at the Mazer, you might differ your opinion. It was friggn awesome. Great selection of top meaderies and bottomless refills for a fair price of $60.
I find that most of us don't have a mass scale selection at our local liquor stores to compare and contrast our homebrew to. I find I like most of my meads more than commercial brands but that's because I make what I like. I have great taste


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[ScottBehrens]

I would love to make the trip, but keep hoping they select a East Coast venue. They probably will the year after I fly to Denver. I was limited to those who will ship to Florida, and wasn't meant to lump everyone together. I sure didn't mean to imply they were bad, cause they were all very good and worth the price.

 

[Shelley]

Feel free to critique the mead as you see fit.

The problem with commercial is not the expensive ingredients, per se, it's the erring on the side of caution.
If I invest in a ton of honey, that's going to cost me about AUD$8000.
If I have more than one batch go south, or finish up with an unpalatable sugar level, or even just require a few years of aging, this will likely put me out of business.
So commercial entities must ensure they get a good, consistent, drinkable product.
And of course, there is a price point that the buyer is expecting. The buyer wont accept a consistently high price, nor a fluctuating price.

Home brewers are able to invest much more time, care, and failed batches to get that one that blows a competition away.
Home brewers are also able to make changes to a batch more easily, as temperature can be altered faster, fermentation vessels physically shaken, etc.

This is why "Home Made" tastes better, in a great many different circles.

My theory: If you invest in a ton of honey (using "ton" pretty literally here), then I'm pretty sure you're getting a blended honey. Blended honey ends up uninteresting, IMO; it's honey, but it's not WOW! honey.

Home brews have the luxury of brewing form single-souce varietal honey. Those have more, and more interesting, flavors, which carry through to the mead. The exception would be for orange blossom honey. That you can get by the ton, and I've found commercial OB meads delightful. Most commercial straight meads I've had... meh.