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Chaucer's Mead

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Hidalgo

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Jan 25, 2004
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Ok...

I bought some of this over the weekend because it was the only mead available at the shop I was in.

I noticed that it has won several awards, but it is not well received by many people that brew there own.

I have yet to taste it so I was wondering why all the fuss. Is it really that bad?

If it is, then why all the awards?

---------------------------------------------------------
"92 Points. National Champion Fruit Wine. Best Buy."
Wine Enthusiast Magazine
!!Gold Medal!!
1995 World Wide Championships!!

!!Silver Medal Winner!!

Indiana State Fair!!
Santa Cruz Mountains Wine Competition!!
1998 World Wide Championships!! - 86 Points
 
S

ScottS

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Nov 12, 2003
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I have no idea why the awards. It is nasty stuff. My first botched batch of mead was still far better than this stuff. They even include spices to add that will sort of cover up the nastiness.

You have to try it once, just so see what the major national brand tastes like. Only once.
 
T

ThistyViking

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Nov 15, 2003
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It is like everything else, Totally dependant on the expectation and experience of the judges.

Also note that the awards it won were 5+ years old. In the last 5 years there seems to have been a resurgence of intrest in mead, but it is still at a low level. New meaderies, New professional competitions based on mead.

Now look around your local Wine store.... if you are lucky you will find either Lurgashall or Chaucers.

If you are blessed then you'll find Redstone, Rabittsfoot, Early estates or another of the new superior regional meads.

Or you could be like me and have to Special order to get Lurgashall or chaucers except at Christmass time and not have the others available unless i drive 100+ miles.
Being in a felony state sucks.
 
T

ThistyViking

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Nov 15, 2003
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http://www.meadfest.com/2003entries.htm

Lurgashall and Chaucers both entered the competition

Together they had 4 entries out of what appears to be 21 professional traditional meads. no medals for those two. Ambrosia by Kristy showed up with one mead and took home a silver in this category.


Rabbitsfoot brought three meads and won gold and bronze in the Varietal category.
 
G

GntlKnght

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Jan 9, 2004
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***bracing for reactions***

Ok, so my wife and I first tasted mead at a Renaissance Faire. It was hot, the mead was cold, the cleavage...oops, I digress! Neither of us are big drinkers, but we thought this stuff was great! It turned out to be Chaucer's and I ended up buying a case of it! I have tasted some of our friends "homebrews", which are supposed to be better. Perhaps they will be in a year or two. In our opinion the Chaucer's was very good, but only when very cold! (We tried it hot with mulling spices and threw it away! Yuck!)

Try it yourself! See what you think! I am hoping that our mead will turn out as good as Chaucer's! ;)
 
H

Hidalgo

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Jan 25, 2004
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Well, since I got the bottle of Chaucer's, I plan on getting a bottle of Ambrosia by Kristy and also something from Redstone. I also saw that Pirtle Winery has a sparkling mead that sounds pretty tasty too!

As for Chaucers, once I've had a chance to have a glass, I'll offer my somewhat-less-than expert opinion. :)
 
T

ThistyViking

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Well serving COLD may be the key to chaucers being paletable... your experience with it mulled and served ht is instructive that temperature matters.
 
S

ScottS

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I will admit that I didn't try it chilled. But I can say that I certainly won't piss away my hard earned money to try it again.

No offense to anyone who likes it, of course.

How do people like Redstone Meads? I've had the Reserve (absolutely God's gift to mankind, a truly religious experience), and the Blackberry Hydromel (not terribly impressed, but better than most). How about the others?
 
H

Hidalgo

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Jan 25, 2004
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ScottS said:
How do people like Redstone Meads? I've had the Reserve (absolutely God's gift to mankind, a truly religious experience), and the Blackberry Hydromel (not terribly impressed, but better than most). How about the others?
Click to expand...

I might just have to save up to try Redstone's Reserve. It clocks in at $50.00 for a 500ml bottle on their website.
 
H

Hidalgo

NewBee
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Jan 25, 2004
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Well, my wife and I tried our bottle of Chaucers....two different ways.

First, we tried it chilled. Didn't care for it too much. I guess there is just something there that my palate doesn't agree with. The nose was completely different from the taste.

Then we tried it warm with those mulling spices that come with it. The spices tempered the sweet taste but again, there was something there that I couldn't get along with concerning the taste.

I will wait awhile and try some different commercial meads and then come back and have another go at a bottle of Chaucers....By then I should have a few references to pull from and know what my taste buds are telling me. It's difficult to pinpoint these things (taste-wise) when I'm fairly new to meads in general.
 
T

ThistyViking

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Nov 15, 2003
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Lots of mead makers not terribly impressed with chaucers, you're not alone there. I haven't had it i don't think, Lurgashal is ok.
 
R

Rurouni85Samurai

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Can any of you suggest a really good mead so I know how to rate mine when it finishes a long time from now?
 
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ThistyViking

NewBee
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Nov 15, 2003
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Most important rating is if YOU like it.

Redstone (Colorado), Rabbits foot(California), and Early Estates (New York) Are all well thought of but are in limited distribution, though I think Rabbits Foot is Aiming for nation wide availability in the next few years. Try going to colorado for the next professional mead competition. Details are available on the gotmead homepage along with links to the results last year.

Hmm newstory was removed due to age from home page

http://www.meadfest.com/
 
K

kace069

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Mar 21, 2004
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i love chaucers it was the 1st mead i ever tasted. in fact when i reach a quality of chaucers i will be very happy with my mead making.!! but 1 note on the chaucers. i have been drinking it every now and then for about 4 years. its hard to find here. and i have noticed a lot of inconsitency in there mead. i dobn't know if it has something to do with how it was stored before i bought it but i have bought bottles i loved and some that just weren't all that great.. i hope this helps
 
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