Are there any mead drinkers here? I know it's a long shot, but need some advice.

Is mead beer?

If so, Michelob Ultra is a great beer.

Well, you will get no disagreement from me on that, but I do not think mead and beer are the same thing!

This site might help. I am not into mead so I wouldn’t be much help.

Just discovered that mead a honey-based wine.

Never had it before.

Mead is made by fermenting honey so it’s not really the same thing as beer I don’t think.

I’ve had Ethiopian honey wine before. I’m not sure how similar this is to mead. I will say that it’s not for everyone. If you don’t like the combination of sweet and alcohol, for example, you might not like this. It was pretty viscous for a wine, more syrupy than your typical grape based wine for sure. I thought it was good! As for general rules of thumb in picking a good one, I’m not sure, but if you find out please let us know! It sounds like a good excuse to do some test tasting :)

> prioritymail (is this the correct way to address a specific person, here?) Thanks for the info. I think thick and sweet might not sit well with a beer drinker, but they do have free samples at the meadery, so I will let you know what I think. I am a wine person, not a beer person.

We make mead at the Laureth house.

Good mead is mead that tastes good to you. :) I will say that while every homemade mead I’ve had has pretty much kicked storebought mead to the curb, Chaucer’s Mead is the typical storebought brand that people would buy. It’s not too bad, especially if you mull it with the little spice-filled bag that usually comes attached to the bottle.

You may want to check before buying a bottle to see if it is real mead, or “grape wine flavored with honey.” That may be what you want, or it may not.

Mead can be sweet or dry, just like wine, though. It doesn’t have to be syrupy.

As @laureth said (I typed more or less the same thing then saw the post above).

Go to the place where they make it and see if they do tastings.

There is a local meadery here, that I am planning on visiting tomorrow. Just did not want to appear to be totally clueless when I go through the door. Thanks, all!

@Eureka

”> prioritymail (is this the correct way to address a specific person, here?)”

The customary way to address a person here is to type an @. Once you do that, you should get a drop-down list of everyone who’s posted in this thread. Once you see the list, select the person you want to address.

Thanks Brian.

It’s so cool that you’re going to visit a local meadery tomorrow. The only experience I’ve had with mead is from a local winery. They tend to make sweet grape wines and fruity wines (raspberry, blueberry), and mead is one of the things they make. Anyway, it was a dry mead and it tasted sort of like… cough drops? Only without the cherry flavoring. Very tangy and refreshing.

The mead is a really cool idea, but if they’re big beer drinkers you could also check out rare offerings from local craft breweries. There are a handful of breweries in my area. Along with their regular offerings, sometimes they’ll make small/ experimental batches of different beers and release it in single 22 oz bottles (about the size of a wine bottle.). A lot of breweries do this and it’s great because it’s the perfect size for sharing between two or three people, they’re kind of special and unusual, and they often run about the same price as an inexpensive bottle of wine.

See if there’s an independent beer/wine store in your area with a good selection and knowledgeable staff, then ask if there’s anything new/special from the local breweries in your area.

Florins makes a honey beer that is okay.

The only good mead I have had has been home-made or micro-brew stuff. Like many things, it’s hard to mass-produce good mead; it’s usually either small batches or crap. The fact that you have a local meadery is a good thing as you are more likely to get a decent mead than if you had to settle for the more commercialized stuff.

Mead is nothing like beer.
I make a high quality homebrew beer if you need advice (*tip, its in the quality of the water & sugars you use and the time you let it age)
But mead is another ballgame, That stuff is like peasant old school Greek liquor. Honey ,yeast pure water and time.

In Ancient Greece, Mead was the poor mans drink, Wine was for the middle class and only the rich could afford the privilege of Amber Nectar (beer).

(all associated with the area of land required to produce each drink)

Once again, thanks for all the advice!