Unplanned, we had stumbled onto an entirely new style of mead - Sours. The base mead has a distinct flavor to it. Far less sweet and a little tart.
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We have chosen to expand the operation by creating Mandatory Fun Beerworks, a Viking Alchemist Experiment. The mission for our beerworks will be to uncover beer secrets that can only be unlocked by adding honeys.
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The Alchemist team went to work in earnest. Along with the first “regular” sour mead, we had already made Bliss, Ethereal and Skol before we knew about the souring, so we had plenty of raw material to work with. We set ourselves a challenge to create a Tasting Flight of 5 new sours.
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Part Two: A strain of Lactobacillus came along for the ride and now found itself in a most hospitable environment. It didn’t announce its presence for several weeks into fermentation when its souring waste products began to make their presence known to my tastes and alert me to this malfeasance present in my brew.
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This drum of beautiful, golden, sweet honey was not as thick and gooey as it should have been. It was… moist. Not too moist. But moist enough. Sitting quietly, waiting patiently our little drum made a friend. It made lots of friends and they all had the same name: Lactobacillus.
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A good sour mead is going to keep ALL of the best traits of a melomel. There is a smooth body, a warm feel with light fruit flavor. But the underlying sweetness is complemented with a tartness. Sour is a misnomer.. It’s not so much sour as less sweet or slightly tart.
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Though it is not definitive, there is an accepted belief that the term “honeymoon” is rooted to the European tradition of gifting a newlywed couple a gift of mead. Long before a honeymoon became synonymous with a vacation getaway, north and western European cultures were treating the first month of marriage as a mad dash towards fertility.
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There are currently about 200 meaderies in the US, today. Modern meaderies have been creating spectacular flavors that our ancestors could only have imagined. In a good meadery, you will find a breadth of profiles ranging from sweet to dry. The most modern addition has been carbonation.
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It’s a challenge to explain mead to your friends, so we’ve put together some suggestions and hints on how to convert them to the cause.
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The quest to find something new is at the heart of the craft industry. Customers and trade, alike, will go to lengths to uncover the new latest brew and have that rare opportunity to seize on on the latest trend. While there is always something new happening, it doesn’t mean things aren’t planned and scientific.
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