A Flowery Song

Background: Spiced pear melomel from Sandhill Crane Vineyards in the lovely prison town of Jackson. If you’re wondering, melomel is a category of mead made with fruit, but that fruit is not grapes (which would be a pyment) or apples (cyser). Ah, the wild and wacky world of mead categories. This particular mead is made with local honey, locally grown pears, and some cinnamon (spiced meads are also called metheglins).

Nose: Lovely aroma of honey and cinnamon. Very fruity, with lightly floral influences.

Taste: Smooth and spicy. Hard to pick out any specifically pear influence, especially with the high amount of residual sugar. But there’s soft fruit there, along with musky honey, citrus, and some cinnamon.

Overall: Very nice, but unless you fancy going into a sugar coma this is best enjoyed in small amounts.

Background: Well fancy that, a meadery practically next door. However, given Michigan’s lack of large groves of citrus trees, the honey that goes into this particular mead is fairly conspicuously not a local product. They do have at least one mead made with Michigan-sourced wildflower honey, and what really matters for this mead is how it tastes not the source of the ingredients. Aged on American oak for an unspecified length of time.

Nose: Leaning more towards the fruity than the floral, with cherry and citrus aromas.

Taste: Pleasant but not overpowering sweetness, gentle fruit and the barest hint of tannic oak.

Overall: Doesn’t go overboard on the sweetness, unlike some commercial meads I could name. Even so, it doesn’t have enough complexity or a good finish for sipping, so it’s more of a food wine.

Background: Weighing in at 12% ABV, this is mead at its simplest: no fruit, no sweetness, no nonsense.

Nose: Gentle, fruity honey.

Taste: Much like the nose. Slight bready notes from the yeast. A hint of alcoholic heat.

Overall: Nothing stunning, but decent (and dry, which all too few commercial meads are).

Background: Well, there's a lot of confusion on that point. Much of the information on the ever-reliable WWW claims that this is made from honey and water at a 3:1 ratio. The Wiki of a Hundred Lies claims that Półtorak mead (which Jadwiga is) is mixed at a 2:1 ratio, which also accords with the description on the bottle. Then there's the question of what's added, which in the descriptions ranges from nothing to raspberries and wild rose to (once again from the bottle) raspberry juice. Then, of course, there's the fact that while the bottle says “Aged six years”, many descriptions claim an aging period in excess of 25 years. (This last point may have formerly been true, but heightened demand resulted in a younger release due to properly aged stocks being depleted).

Okay, so I was exaggerating; there's not really that much confusion. All of the erroneous descriptions can be traced back to the US distributor's website and/or employees. Shame, shame. Distributors, please at least try to know what you're talking about.

Oh, it's made in Poland by Apis, aged in oak, and is 16% ABV.

Appearance: Comes in a fetching brown glass bottle with a wicker enclosure and some wax blobs. Also a piece of shiny red string that the official description calls a ribbon. Pours a very impressive mahogany, and has legs that would put a bicyclist to shame.

Nose: Some alcohol presence, along with a lot of sweetness. Very floral and darkly fruity, but there are also raisiny notes.

Taste: Red fruit (probably raspberries) with the barest hint of oak. Dark dried fruit and sweet floral influences with a hint of nuts. The oak tannins and a medium-low acidity help counterbalance the extreme sweetness while you're drinking it, but they quickly fade and the finish is sugar sugar sugar all the way.

Overall: An interesting and complex (not outstandingly so) dessert wine, though way too sweet to drink regularly or in large amounts. A few ounces to cap off a luxurious evening will do nicely.

Background: DFH's first foray into beverage forensics, this recipe (created based on the residue in drinking vessels from King Midas' tomb) is slightly simpler than the one for Chateau Jiahu, containing just pale malt, honey, the juice of Muscat grapes, saffron, and Willamette hops.

Appearance: Minimal head. Vibrant orange body.

Nose: Biscuity malt, floral notes from honey and aromatic Muscat.

Taste: Pretty much follows the nose. Balance of malt, grape, and honey influence. I blush to admit that I don't know what saffron tastes like, so I'm not sure if I'm overlooking it amid the welter of other flavours or what. Bready yeast notes and some light hop bitterness leading into the dry finish.

Overall: Another solidly integrated offering from the brewers at DFH. I don't find the flavour profile of this one quite as exciting, but it's still enjoyable.

Background: Sweet melomel from HoneyRun Winery in Chico, California.

Appearance: Dense ruby.

Nose: Heavy honey, hot alcohol, and some mild fruity cherry.

Taste: Good balance of honey and cherry, nice honey character, a bit of acidity from the cherries. Way too sweet. Alcohol needs to mellow.

Overall: Some age would improve this, but it won't help the cloying sweetness. Skippable.

The Jolly Toper's Undrinkable Ale
(no category)

Recipe and Session Notes

Background: Dry mead from Sky River Meadery in Washington.

Presentation: Clear glass bottle, pours a very, very light gold. 10.5% ABV.

Nose: Gentle honey and a floral sweetness.

Taste: Full-bodied, with huge green fruitiness and light floral notes on a rich honey background accompanied by mild acidity. Alcohol is noticeable, but not solventy or hot. Light yeastiness on the finish.

Overall: Very good. In pairing, treat it like a dry fruity Riesling-very versatile and light enough not to be obtrusive.

Milljag Shee
25A Cyser

Recipe and Session Notes

Background: From a family-owned meadery in Westwood, California. Semi-sweet metheglin made with ginger and “tropical spices”.

Presentation: Pours a clear yellow-gold.

Nose: Smells very nice. Lots of spice makes difficult to pick out any specific components. Sweet floral honey, vanilla, citrus. Cinnamon.

Taste: Fairly sweet. Ginger and cinnamon, some clove, and orange peel. Light acidity, accompanied by a very mild astringency; either added tannins or from the orange peel, I think. Alcohol on the finish.

Overall: I like. Perhaps a bit sweet, but the spice is very balanced and it's quite drinkable.