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New to Mead

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Pollochicken

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 2, 2005
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Howdy everyone. A few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network and they mentioned Chaucer's Mead on some show about honey. This was the first time I'd ever even heard of mead and I was planning on ordering some from their website to see what it tasted like, but from reading the forum here it seems that its not actually a very good mead.

I would actually be interested in making my own mead, but I don't really want to spend the time doing that if mead turns out that its not even something that I might enjoy. I was wondering if there were any commercial mead's I might be able to order that might be good, or should I just stick with ordering Chaucer's Mead?
 

lostnbronx

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 8, 2004
1,020
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Pollo,

Welcome to the Forums!

Chaucer's was/is many people's first experience with mead. Some say they liked it but then changed their view later once they'd made some of their own, and others dislike it immediately. By and large, it's not a great mead, but it has it's fans. Supposedly, if you mull it with the spices that it comes with, it's much better.

You may want to contact Michael Ng, owner/operator of Known World Meads. He stocks many different kinds, and has tasted many more. Email him with your likes and dislikes (sweetness level -- if you'd like to try one made with fruit or spices, etc.), and tell him you've never had it before. He's nice guy, and I'm sure he'll have several suggestions.

http://www.kwmeads.com/

-David
 

David Baldwin

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 29, 2004
860
1
0
Grand Rapids, MI
Pollo,

Mead is a bit like any wine in that there are many styles and variations.

Unlike wine, the selection of commercially available meads is very limited. There are relatively few commercial meaderies/wineries making mead and interstate distribution is still awkward at best.

Chaucers was one of my first exposures to mead, and as David said I was one who liked it very much at first. I don't care for it nearly so much now that I have had some other truly excellent meads. Personally I think it would benefit from a year or two of aging.

I would say go ahead and try it. It is possibly the most widely available mead on the market right now. If you don't like it you are out the cost of a bottle and you already know that there are better meads out there to try. If you do like it you are now left in the same boat as the rest of us - seeking out other commercial meads to compare them to the last one. ;D


As I've seen Oskaar quote here... Take a chance - Custer did!


Welcome to the forum, and welcome to the wonderful world of mead.

David
 

Pollochicken

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 2, 2005
5
0
0
Wow, thank you both for your excellent advice.

I think I'll go ahead and order one bottle of Chaucer's. If I don't like it much I'm not going to be out much money so that won't be that bad. If I do happen to like that'll just be great news and it'll be a good step towards entering this world of mead.

Thanks again to you both!
 

byathread

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 8, 2005
644
0
0
Boulder County, CO
Pollo,

Welcome aboard! My experience with commercial meads is limited, but I would recommend that if you can't find Chaucer's at a liquor store in your area and you're going to be ordering online anyway, you might as well try a more respectable mead, maybe something from Redstone or White Winter. And, as David said, Michael from http://www.kwmeads.com/ will probably be very helpful.

Kirk
 

Angus

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Aug 19, 2005
908
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55
Milwaukee, WI
I will second the White Winter Winery meads. They are excellent and certainly got me into brewing mead.

Angus
 

Geoo

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 1, 2005
36
0
0
Another POSSIBLE option..

If you have access to or know of a SCA (Society for Creative Anachrinism) group in your area, alot of them seem to have brewing guilds. The people in these groups seem to be very nice and if you explained nicely that you merely would like to try some of their mead, you may be pleasantly suprised.

This is how I first found out about mead and I think my area has a couple of the best "mead makers" in the country. One of them regularly wins competitions. Thus, I am hooked.

It may be a long way around to trying good mead, but it is a possibility.

Geoo
 
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