It’s mead, but not as you know it.

Since I started brewing mead some years ago, I have got to know this amazing drink quite well, and my friends have been willing guinea pigs in tasting the various attempts with varying degrees of success.

I’ve found that people can be put into three groups where it comes to mead drinking: 1) the ones who never tried (of even heard about) it, 2) the ones who tried and didn’t really like it, and 3) the smaller group of people who tried it and liked it.

These groups are in order of size, as most people I know haven’t tried mead yet, a smaller number have tried but not liked it and the much smaller number in group 3 who like the drink.

It made me wonder why, and generally the people in group 2 tell me they tried one of the commercial meads available, and found it too sweet, or the flavour too strong, or a number of other reasons.

Mead making, like any fermented beverage, is far from an exercise of precision. The number of variables is far too great: type of honey, strain of yeast, ambient temperature, quality of water, just to name a few. Some of these variable can be controlled to a great extent. Choosing the right type and strain of yeast is one of the most important steps to ensure a good quality mead. Different yeasts will produce different aromatic compounds, will yield a different alcohol content and have a more or less clear drink at the end.

The honey, arguably the most important ingredient, is much harder to control, perhaps impossible! Throughout the year the bees will forage on different flowers, and the honey can be very different from month to month or even hive to hive, as I have witnessed time and time again. This means that each time a new batch of mead is produced, the results will be slightly different. All honey I use to make mead comes from my own hives, that’s why the batches of Araucaria mead are small, the bottles are numbered and there will always be new flavours and recipes to enjoy.

In my opinion, this is a good thing, as producing something unique yet flavourful and wholesome is at the core of what I want from this venture.

So whether you are on group 1, 2 or 3, make sure you give Araucaria mead a try. After all, Araucaria mead is mead, but not as you know it!