New batch of mead!

Of all the things one can brew, I like making mead the best. I've never made a wine that was as good as something that I could buy at the wine shop. Used to be the only good beer you could drink was the stuff that you home brewed. That's not true anymore.

To me, mead stands alone as something you can brew that is heads above anything you can buy. Whenever I have consumed commercial mead before, I found it grossly sweet. Yuck.

Sarah and I made a batch of mead back in 1992, the year we were married. Every year since, we open a bottle on our anniversary. It's a carbonated mead, so it's capped. Every year, it tastes a little different, but always good.

This batch is technically a technically a melomel, in that I've added a fruit/berry of sorts. It is one of the few berries that is indigenous to the area - the so-called oregon grape. It gave the mead a nice rose color. There is a touch of bitterness from the seeds that I left in for a bit. The smell reminds me of oregon grape blossoms. It seems a little thin to me. But, we'll see in a year or two.

Started enjoying the Johnny Apple Mead that I bottled a couple of years ago. It's a cyser that took a long time to mellow. Now it is really good. Maybe too good.

The next batch is going to have yerba mate in it - maybe some other stuff.