DOES NOT SUCK! Neil, when you get home, idf tyou have the nerve sir(!) I will ship you a bottle of mead that will change that tone! It is brewed just north of San antonio in the Texas Hill Country and puts anything else availble to shame.Just let me know.

Got to remember that Wednesday didn't like mead, he got used to Jack (what can I say, it's a square deal, I don't like it though) I'm sure Odin likes it.

If you see Neil on tour, give it to him there.

[This message has been edited by Salpsan (edited 06-21-2001).]

Just because some of Neil's characters don't like mead, doesn't mean he doesn't like them himself.

Personally, I've never tired mead or even heard of it before I read American Gods. Gotta try it out sometime.

Personally I've never really cared for the stuff. It's always seemed to be a little to acidy for me. But I can drink and enjo everything from Everclear to Mike's and not have a problem. I think I picture it more lovely then it could ever be.

Jinx who is not allowed to drink anymore...
like that'll happen

Everclear... I got that stuff in my bathroom. Works much better than rubbing alcohol. Seriously, that's what I use it for.

[This message has been edited by Salpsan (edited 06-22-2001).]

I was so disappointed when I read the description of mead in the book. Since it is a honey drink, I always imagined it as sort of like what people fix for colds, with whiskey, lemon juice, and honey, but perhaps with wintery sorts of spices like cider. I thought it would be sweet, anyway. I guess it just confirms, foreign food and drink you've only ever read about (like turkish delight) taste so much better in your head than in real life.

I've always enjoyed Mead, but it all depends on who brewed it. Mead can be dry, it can be sweet, it can be flavoured with apples or pears, it can be spiced like cider or wine. Just 'cause Wednesday and Shadow had lousy mead in a bar somewhere, doesn't mean all mead tastes like sweet pickle juice

Best mead I ever had is a tie: the mead booth at Minnesota Ren Fest (tho that may have just been the good company and music!), or the prickly pear mead brewed by a retired Air Force engineer I knew in Albq. It was purple, like ink, and gorgeous.

[This message has been edited by LJC (edited 06-25-2001).]

I've only had mead once. The one I drank tasted like watered-down Benedictine with a hint of cough syrup.

I've only tasted one brand of mead, which is brewed in Wisconsin and available only in Fall. It's sweet, you can taste the honey, and it tastes nothing like pickle juice--but I can see how, made incorrectly, it could be horrible. In any case, I think it's one of those things you acquire a taste for the more you times you try it.

Actually, most mead I have had out of Europe was quite vile. Chaucer's is fair to good, but can vary by the year. Now, the group I go to the Texas Renaissance Fest with have two fellows who brew what is rightfully called Death Mead. Along with the loki someone else home brews, the place can get a little rowdy. (don't ask me what loki is.Just be forewarned that any alcohol that fizzes in your mouth yet contains no carbonation should be considered highly suspect. Stuff has a MEAN kick to it.)
And if any would care to know the best mead I have found, get ahold of Bell Mountain Vineyards, outside of Fredricksburg, Texas. You can get a phone number on line, but there is no other way of getting ahold of them. Nice bunch of people and some terrific wines. I am not a native Texan and was amazed to find out how good what is made here is.
And personally, if I am in some roadside honky-tonk, I drink straight vodka with a little lemon.Mead is the drink of the Gods and should be shown respect (I will have to dedicate the next bottle I kill off to Odin....)

Chaucer's makes a lovely mead you can buy at many decent liquor stores. A friend of a friend makes Mead up in New England and it really depended on the batch and the flavour (he did everything from cranberry to cardamom, strawberry to vanilla). There's also an excellent Ethiopian restaurant in NYC that serves a lovely sweet mead -- I recommend it to anyone who can get there (I forget the name but it's on W. 48th just off Broadway).

quote:

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Originally posted by Janarchy:
There's also an excellent Ethiopian restaurant in NYC that serves a lovely sweet mead -- I recommend it to anyone who can get there (I forget the name but it's on W. 48th just off Broadway).

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Do you know of any other place in the NYC area that sells Mead? I live in the city and have been hard pressed to find Mead anywheres...

No -- I wish I did. I live in the burbs and haven't found a source yet either.

Interestingly enough, I've recently seen Chaucer's Mead cropping up all over the large liquor stores where I live (Northern NJ). The first time I had it, I was at a medieval costume-wedding. I liked it very much at the time (prolly more and more as the night wore on *gryns*) I have had it hot and mulled since, and it's wonderful on a REALLY cold, winter day.

But Mead can definitely suck, just like everything else in the world. Depends on how its made, if the brewers give a shit, and if they are out to make the special beverage it's meant to be rather than sugary swill people will drink because they can't tolerate beer.

Sorry if that was too cynical.

The Ethiopian version is similar, but not really comperable. Still, I'll usually try it. And I think I've been to that Ethiopian place in NYC. But the ones in DC are much better

Greeny

Linganore Vinyards, a small place out in Maryland, makes wonderful mead, but I don't remember seeing it in area stores. They also make most of the tej (the Ethiopian honey wine) for the DC area; it's lighter, spicier, and drier than their mead. You can find out more through their web site (www.linganore-wine.com), and their place is only about an hour out of DC. It's a beautiful area and worth a visit, especially in the autumn.

[This message has been edited by LowTech (edited 07-13-2001).]

While in Monterey, California visiting a winery we got to chatting with the fellow behind the counter (already very pleased with his wine tasting assistance with many many other customers prior, without doubt) who insisted we not only purchase some of the wine, but the MUST HAVE was the mead (I swear there was an evil glint in his drunken eyes). He allowed a taste and it wasn't really half bad. However, he was also certain to give us a few badly copied pages of recipes for using the mead that, well you know, you may find left over after a while ;-) So, as it turns out, it's a fantastic kitchen addition and is good when used in marinades and to glaze meats cooked on the grill. However, I wouldn't get out a large cup and fancy a glass unless I was a drunken little fellow at a winery who'd already tasted everything else in the place.

-Merkatroyd

Here's a recipe that has worked well for me and produced a very palatable "metheglin", a fruit and spice mead. The directions are a bit simplified and I would recommend reading up a bit on sterilization and winemaking before attempting. But the proportions and proceedure are correct.

8-10 lbs pure raw honey (get a varietal honey like orange blossom, basswood, or buckwheat honey)
5 gallons apple CIDER (not juice)
3 tsp. vintners yeast nutrient (or 5 tablets)
1 tsp. vintners acid blend (combination malic/citric acid)
10 drops liquid pectinase (enzyme that helps break down residual wax in the honey)
5-6 whole cloves
2 Tbsp. coriander
1-2 vanilla beans
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1/2 Cup ground raisins
1 packet knox unflavored gelatin.
1 packet yeast (champagne or ale yeast)

In a very large stock pot bring cider to a boil. Reserve two cups of cider for a later step. Stir in honey until completely dissolved boil for another 10 to 15 minutes and skim the top witha slotted spoon or small sieve to remove suspended wax particles and pollen. Add acid blend, yeast nutrient, spices and raisins and continue to simmer for 15 minutes, skimming the surface for the last 5.
Remove stock pot from heat.
In a small saucepan, heat the reserved cider to boiling. Dissolve the gelatin in the cider, and stir it in to the stock pot. Allow mixture to sit for 1/2 hour then carefully funnel the solution into a 5 gallon glass carboy or fermentation vat. Reserve any excess and freeze it for later.
Add pectinase and allow mixture to cool to a maximum of 73 degrees fahrenheit (23 C) (may take up to 24 hours)

When the mixture has cooled, remove about one cup of the solution, and heat it to approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C). Stir in the yeast packet. Cover with clear plastic wrap and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pour yeast solution into carboy. Cover the opening with clean sterile gauze affixed with a rubber band, and store the carboy in a cool, clean, dark place. Here I would recommend putting the bottom of the carboy into a cardboard box that has been lined with a plastic rubbish bin liner in the event that violent fermentation causes the carboy to overflow. If you do get some "blow off, clean and sterilize the outside of the carboy and its opening and replace the gauze with fresh gauze.
Allow the mixture to ferment rapidly for several days (usualy about a week) until you notice that it has significantly reduced in activity.

Siphon off the solution into a clean carboy (your secondary fermenter) and affix the airlock. Leave as much sediment as you can in the bottom of the first carboy. You can "top up" the secondary fermenter with the reserved cider from prior steps. Attach airlock to this secondary carboy. After 90 days, if sediment forms on bottom, it can be siphoned off again to another clean sterilized fermenter. Allow the mead to sit in the cool dark place for 4-6 months before sampling.

Any signs of milkiness/stringiness/mold/off-odors should be taken seriously as the batch is likely contaminated and not fit for consumption.

You may consume the mead directly from the carboy should you choose, but I am quite fond of bottling it and sampling a handful of bottles every three or four months after fermentation is completed. I don't know what it is like after it has aged for a year, because none of it has ever lasted that long.

"(don't ask me what loki is.Just be forewarned that any alcohol that fizzes in your mouth yet contains no carbonation should be considered highly suspect. Stuff has a MEAN kick to it.)"

That fizziness is probably from a process called "malo-lactic conversion" in which malic acid becomes lactic acid and carbon dioxide. It is highly desireable in certain aged red wines, and is the sign of a careful (or very lucky) vintner.

Here's a theory. Maybe Neil likes mead and he was in a bar and seeing it was on offer ordered it only to get, sweet pickle juice.

Well, for a long time my favorite mead was Bunratty's, which I discovered at Milwaukee Irish Fest in Wisconsin. A couple of years ago, though, I discovered White Winter Winery's Sweet Mead, and it has become my hands-down favorite! (And if you visit them in Iron River, Wisconsin, they'll give you free samples and a tour of the winery.)
http://www.whitewinter.com/

Jack