Is a Sour Mead for you?

Sour beers are experiencing a massive explosion in the US as consumers discover a new way to enjoy beer that isn’t just another IPA or stout. You can now find sours in most creative breweries, but the concept has yet to hit the other fermented industries like mead and cider. While we have been experimenting with mead varieties for years, we had not considered nor tried a sour mead. No reason, really. It just wasn’t on our radar. Until last year.

Purely by coincidence, one of our batches got contaminated with a strain of Lactobacillus (an entirely different story which we will cover) which led to a flavor profile unique and unusual. In the beer world, sour beers typically taste very little like their traditional cousins, with the exception of Gose and Berliner Weisse, which are more like kissing cousins to a Pilsner. The lacto bacteria changes the profile so deeply and then, with the addition of fruits, the beer is more like a cocktail than what most Americans would call a “beer.“

And… Sour beers are amazing! Deep flavor profiles, experimental ingredients, wild names… Sour beer is what we needed to kick it up a notch. And as much as these flavors changed the world of beer, sour mead is poised to do the same thing for our category.

Consider the ideal flavor profile of a mead. Smooth bodied, rich undertones, warm with a residual sweetness that even the driest of meads still retains. In wine parlance, it is closest to a Riesling. If you have tried to describe mead to a friend, it’s a challenge (we even made a guide for that: How to Explain Mead to a Friend). Good luck explaining a sour mead.

So… What should you be looking for? What should you expect?

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. This additional flavor profile makes the sour mead far more complex and lets other flavors come forward that might otherwise be overwhelmed by the sweet character.

Starting with this firm foundation, we have been able to add unusual and creative combinations of fruit that might never go well with a traditional mead. And these are not session meads. All the sours have been fermented to 11% ABV delivering a pretty powerful kick despite their funky fruit flavor.

If you are someone who leans towards the drier meads and shies away from sweet, sours may be in your future. This winter, we have perfected 5 flavors and plan to keep expanding throughout the year.

Fruited Sour Mead - A combination of cherry, peach, pear.

Sweet Tart Mead - Blueberry and blackberry Sour mead

Malibu Tang Mead - Coconut, pineapple sour mead

Festival of Dionysia Mead - The God of Wine’s personal mead of Plum, Juniper, and Lime sour mead

Surt's Lava Mead - Blood Orange, Grapefruit, Habanero sour mead

This is still experimental! We are looking for feedback and thoughts from our fans. This Winter, you can try any of these meads at our tap rooms. Please share your opinions with our staff. Let us know what you prefer and what you’d like to see. The alchemist is experimenting and he wants your input!