Meade at your Faire

[dogglebe]

nyrf serves carroll's mead.

Carroll's Mead is actually a honey wine, a light-tasting white wine flavored with honey.... kinda cheating, if you ask me.

The SCRF served meads from the Long Island Meadery, my favorite meads... after my own.


Phil

[Sir William Marcus]

Carroll's Mead is actually a honey wine, a light-tasting white wine flavored with honey

Pardon me for saying, historically thats what meads are "honey wines"

The State of Indiana houses Oliver's Winery, which makes Camelot Mead.  At least two retail chains carry this classic, although I'm not sure if they supply Ohio RenFest.  'Twas a thrill to see the Oliver's bottle at KY Highland Fest! (as I'm not truly fond of beer & ale)

Very nice! I didn't even take notice that KYHRF carried Camelot Mead. Not to bad of a mead for the $$ either!

[DonaCatalina]

nyrf serves carroll's mead.

Carroll's Mead is actually a honey wine, a light-tasting white wine flavored with honey.... kinda cheating, if you ask me.

The SCRF served meads from the Long Island Meadery, my favorite meads... after my own.


Phil

mead. n. An alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water.

[Middle English, from Old English meodu.]

What do you mean by cheating?

[Tipsy Gypsy]

Well, not to be pedantic, but...wine with honey stirred into it, and an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey aren't the same thing. Then again, I'll confess to being a bit of a mead snob; m'lord being a homebrewer, I've been badly spoiled. 

Wtih one exception, all the commerical meads I've tried were at TRF. The first "mead", in the late 80's, was cheap white wine, warmed, with honey stirred in. Gaaack. My second was Chaucer..again, gaaack (mind you, this is my opinion, and the views here are not necessarily those of the management, blah blah blah). The next couple I tried, I can't remember the names of, but they tasted like cheap white with perfumed syrup in it- double gaaack! I've become real gun-shy about commercial stuff!

I will say that Redstone, while not being on par with handcrafted, was at least drinkable, but I thought a little overpriced for what I got. Again, all MHO.

[dogglebe]

Pardon me for saying, historically thats what meads are "honey wines"

I know, but I think it's wrong to call a honeywine a mead.  It's cheaper to make that mead and it's usually made from the wine that the winery wouldn't sell on its own.

mead. n. An alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water.

[Middle English, from Old English meodu.]

What do you mean by cheating?

See above.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage whose chief fermentable is honey.

Wine is an alcoholic beverage whose chief fermentable is grapes (or other fruit)

A melomel is a mead flavored with fruit, though the majority of the fermentables is honey.

And now for a smooth transition....

I just finished bottling a batch of Liquid Ruby, a melomel flavored with raspberries and strawberries.


Phil

[dogglebe]

Well, not to be pedantic, but...wine with honey stirred into it, and an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey aren't the same thing. Then again, I'll confess to being a bit of a mead snob; m'lord being a homebrewer, I've been badly spoiled. 

The problem is that most people don't know what mead tastes like.  You can mix honey and pig saliva in a cup and some people will think it's mead.


Phil

[VIII]

Lo, those many years ago, a good friend and home-brewer asked me, "What do you want me to make for Scarborough?"  My immediate reply was, "Mead!  Not that honey-flavored wine, but good ol' Viking-style Mead!"

He made mead and brought it to Scarborough.  We went out to the parking lot and had a few with a lunch of grilled Bratwurst.

The King was happier in those days.

[Lady_Glorianna]

Not my home faire but I can tell you that PARF being at a winery (Mount Hope winery), has it's own mead.

[Tanyor]

GSLRF serves Bunratty mead from Bunratty Castle, County Clare, Ireland.  I've tried a few others and may I say I've not found one I like as much or more than Bunratty.

Edit:  and YES is can be bought at your local liquor store!

Man that stuff is tasty. Chaucer's tears my stomach up. I found Bunratty at Spec's in Austin. Man I want some now.

Meade is white wine with honey and herbs. And Mead was originally made by monks centuries ago from fermented honey and water. Well this is how the Irish tell it. So argue with the likes of them, if ya wish.

[Dayna]

J Bird is yummy, good thing I'm close enough to get it at the winery and not dependent upon MNRF.

I've had Chaucers, too sweet for me, and Bunratty is undrinkable, like liquid raisins and an unappealing dark brown colour.

Someone mentioned Winter White way back in this thread, that is also yummy but rather difficult to find in the Minneapolis area.

[Pascal]

Meade is white wine with honey and herbs. ....  Well this is how the Irish tell it. So argue with the likes of them, if ya wish.

'Tis true, the Irish do tell it.  And they'd be correct ... for "meade".  They'd be completely wrong for "mead", though.

White wine flavored with honey and herbs would be a hippocras.  (comes from "Hippocrates" -- who used honey and herb flavored wines as medicines)  Some bottles of Bunratty's that you find in the States are really a hippocras, although they're labelled as meade -- not as "mead" -- note the spelling.

Simply a way to pass off poor quality wine by flavoring and sweetening it, to my mind.

[Lord Finger]

I know Sterling offers Mead, but I don't know what kind and I've never tried it. Hmm...may be time for a fact finding mission this weekend. 

On a side note, there are several NY/NE wineries represented outside the gate every festival day for tastings. I picked up a couple of bottles of a dry mead a couple of years ago that I really liked, but now I can't remember where it was from.

I wonder why I can't remember anything?

[theChuck]

The SCRF served meads from the Long Island Meadery, my favorite meads... after my own.

SCRF = southern ct ren fair?

[Scribe_Wear]

i know sterling offers meade from martin's which is made in sterling but idk about the others

[wyckdblyss]

TRF has others besides Chaucers...there is a shop that is located next to "coffee shop" near the front of the grounds that sells some fruit flavors....extremely overpriced, but fairly decent in flavor. I am however extremely spoiled, for I have a friend who brews his own and will rarely drink anything but.