So, always wanted to try mead, not interested in making it. Sooo much going on right now.
Why is it when you get older everything you thought you would have time for you are so out of time?
Are there any pubs that can sell mead legally? And where in the Milwaukee area would they be?
Or do I have to find a like minded person locally and bribe them??
There are plenty of home brewer shops here so I probably find someone.
Thanks for anyones time
Mead was the fastest growing adult beverage industry for the past several years. There are numerous commercial meads available, check with your local wine or liquor stores or mail order from the meadery itself - do a google search for meaderies near you (if any). Various bars and pubs that carry cider, especially those attended by the younger crowd, may also carry mead. And, of course, Renaissance or Viking type festivals will have it.
Don't try just one or two meads and decide that you don't like them. Mead can be almost anything you want: sweet or dry, flavored with fruits, spices, vegetables, or just honey by itself (dozens of honey varietals such as orange blossom, tupelo [I won best of show with a tupelo mead at the Texas Meadfest several years ago], or clover honey give different flavor profiles). Oaked or unoaked, usually mead is wine strength ( 10-12% alcohol) but also higher alcohol (above 12%) or lower ( about 6% - often chilled and on tap - called a session mead); it is a very versatile beverage like craft beer or wine.
Many localities have an annual Meadfest and the public can buy tickets to attend and sample meads from meaderies in the region.
https://www.gotmead.com/ has a listing of commercial meaderies - "Mead Directory" is the drop down menu with subheadings for mail order, pubs and bars, etc.
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Yeah... I am not a fan of overly sweet wines - or meads. The ones I have liked were on the dry side. I would much rather have a good beer any day of the week though!
I’ve had meads that are dry and meads that are sweet. I’ve had great home made mead and really bad commercial mead, and everything in between. Any place that sells wine and liqour should be able to sell you a bottle of mead those days. Moonlight Meadery and a few other brands come to mind. A lot of meads will incorporate fruit - typically berries.
I prefer a mead that is on the dry side, but slightly sweet.
That said, not sure a true pub will sell mead, but a hipster pub might, haha. I go to a brew pub that makes mead but I feel theirs is a little lacking in quality compared to their beer.
Last edited by jfmorris; March 19, 2024, 07:42 AM.
Nothing special about mead's legality. Generally it's classified with beer and wine, since it's not distilled. It tends to be expensive because good mead is made from expensive honey and it takes a LOT longer to ferment, so prices naturally go up as it takes up space.
It's also a little less popular for those reasons, so it can be harder to come by. You may have to try a specialty beer/liquor store, and be prepared to pay a lot more than you would for local wine or beer.
I only drink it occasionally, but I do appreciate the craft and artistry it takes. Locally, we have a world-class meadmaker who literally wrote the book on making it at home: The Compleat Meadmaker, by Ken Schramm. Despite that, it's a rare treat for me.
Several bars in Houston sell it. It's the hip thing
It's not hard to make. There are traditional.tecipes that take MONTHS to get ready. Our best batches have been "quick mead" recipes. Done faster. Taste better.
Mead is like beer: many styles and flavors, dry to sweet. If you try one and don't like it, try another; just like with beer or wine.
I started off making mead the traditional way: honey, water, and yeast. It turned out really good - after a year or two. Honey lacks a lot of nutrients needed by yeast for efficient fermentation, thus lots of off flavors and fusil alcohols (think jet fuel taste) that take forever to age out are produced by the yeast. Now, we feed the yeast and can make great meads in weeks or months instead of years (staggered nutrient additions: adding yeast nutrients at certain points during fermentation). The website I linked above, gotmead.com , has instructions called the Newbee Guide that shows how to do all of this - its not hard but as mentioned above honey is expensive now. I don't make as much as I used to.
One of my favorite meads is a session mead that I put on tap in the summer.
Orange blossom honey
1 lb Vienna malt - bring to temp in water like making beer and boil lightly. This provides plenty of nutrients as well as flavor.
DV10 yeast
I shoot for a 5 gallon batch with a starting gravity of 1.050 which will end up about 5% alcohol. Light, crisp not much sweetness but refreshing.
So, always wanted to try mead, not interested in making it. Sooo much going on right now.
Why is it when you get older everything you thought you would have time for you are so out of time?
Are there any pubs that can sell mead legally? And where in the Milwaukee area would they be?
Or do I have to find a like minded person locally and bribe them??
There are plenty of home brewer shops here so I probably find someone.
Thanks for anyones time
Good news, I live near Milwaukee and went to a local mead maker a few weeks ago.
Duck Creek Vineyard and Winery , within minutes of Green Bay, features winery tours, wine tasting & the best Wisconsin wine (including fruit, white and red wine) as well as kombucha tea and mead honey wine.
I go as a Drunken Monk, Amanda is a beer wench, CJ, my brother, his son, and Dominick are Templar knights, my oldest daughter and sister in law go as women of royalty, and Caroline is usually a fairy (I know lol). Huskee
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