Worst thing I've ever tasted

Not really an interesting thread-starter, but more of a personal self-lesson on learning about honey varietals. Last spring I went to a farmers market. There was a stand that was selling unfiltered honey. When I went up, the woman offered me a sample of buckwheat honey and I gladly accepted it, feeling proud of myself just for being at a farmers market and "trying the local fare" as opposed to supermarket clover honey or the unnamed stuff at the home brew shop. My opinion of the honey was that it had a slight barnyard flavor but lots of molasses and richness to it. So without bothering to try any other flavors, I picked up two jars and went on my way.

My original plan was to make a traditional mead using just buckwheat honey, but the more and more I read about the stuff, the more nervous I got. Nevertheless, I put together the batch and followed my usual procedure. Fast forward to 3 months later, a taste test to see how it was coming along. I took a sample and gave it a good taste. I quickly realized something horrible that I probably should've predicted: All of the molasses and rich flavors fermented out completely, leaving me with a dry wine that tasted and wreaked of pure barnyard grass.

At this point I wasn't about to back sweeten with more of it and risk accentuating the flavor, so I decided to go with something a little stronger: grape concentrate. Another mistake. The barnyard flavor was not masked at all, and now I'd added strong, syrupy grape to the mix. At this point I figured what the hell, might as well make an experiment of it, so I added a small dose of acid blend as well. 3 more months later, after another taste, I'd decided it was the worst thing I've ever tasted.

A few weeks after that, my good friend came into town from Alaska. I presented him with my conundrum and told him that if he would sample it and if he agreed with my opinion of how bad it tasted, I would dump the whole batch right there. I poured two very small glasses and we knocked them back. But before he could give me an answer he noticed a very confused look on my face, because I'll be damned if it wasn't at least a quarter less terrible than it was just three weeks earlier. He agreed and even pointed out that it had one or two redeeming qualities, so I shoved it back in the closet and am now hoping maybe someday in 2 years it could be serviceable as a cooking wine. Maybe.

But the lesson here for myself is I will from now on be more careful with my honey choices, and I will always compare with other varietals, specifically ones that I've found that I enjoy. Also, I'm sure it has its supporters, but I will never use buckwheat honey again!

I completely concur with you eogaard. Many, many years ago (around 1996) I bought some buckwheat honey to make my first mead. It was only a gallon but I could not drink it! Never tried making mead again until a couple or three years ago. IMO buckwheat mead is .. um.. an acquired taste.

I got a 3# jar at my local farmers market of buckwheat honey. I thought it was good. It didnt have a strong molasses or barnyard flavor at all..

You had me at "honey." F that.

MNSmitty said:

I got a 3# jar at my local farmers market of buckwheat honey. I thought it was good. It didnt have a strong molasses or barnyard flavor at all..

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I bought mine from a local apiary here in Minnesota, maybe theirs just has a different taste... don't get me wrong, I'd probably enjoy it on toast or something else, but fermented? No thank you!

Ya, when fermenting buckwheat honey, it should be blended at least 1:3 with another varietal or wildflower. This helps to mute that "barnyard" or "hay/grass" flavor. It works pretty well in small amounts in a braggot & might work well in small amounts in a graff, I haven't tried it in a graff yet though. I've got 3lbs in the cupboard, I'll have to use some in a 1/2 batch of graff one of these days.
Regards, GF.

According to post on gotmead.com they were saying there is two types buckwheat eastern and western they said eastern has a farm like taste compared to the western

gratus fermentatio said:

Ya, when fermenting buckwheat honey, it should be blended at least 1:3 with another varietal or wildflower. This helps to mute that "barnyard" or "hay/grass" flavor. It works pretty well in small amounts in a braggot & might work well in small amounts in a graff, I haven't tried it in a graff yet though. I've got 3lbs in the cupboard, I'll have to use some in a 1/2 batch of graff one of these days.
Regards, GF.

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I used Dutch gold Buckwheat in a traditional and it takes time, and lots of it. Mine is almost grapey tasting. It's an odd honey, for sure, but it can be turned into really tasty stuff. I've also used a portion a Metheglin with peppers, cinnamon, vanilla & Cacao that was outstanding. It's just about figuring out what works. I'm planning on doing a braggot with some soon as well.

gratus fermentatio said:

Ya, when fermenting buckwheat honey, it should be blended at least 1:3 with another varietal or wildflower. This helps to mute that "barnyard" or "hay/grass" flavor. It works pretty well in small amounts in a braggot & might work well in small amounts in a graff, I haven't tried it in a graff yet though. I've got 3lbs in the cupboard, I'll have to use some in a 1/2 batch of graff one of these days.
Regards, GF.

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I used an even thinner amount 1:10, I had 1.5# with 15# clover honey.

Just looked at my recipe, apparently I used roughly 1 pound of buckwheat to 2 pounds of clover, my mistake! Now I shudder to think what it would've been like with only buckwheat.

We just had a big mead brew day here and one of the guys made a buckwheat mead 1 gallon batch a few years back. 2 lbs buckwheat honey, 1 lb clover. D47 yeast.

Was very barnyard when I tried it about 6 months post bottling. Not impressed.

He bought enough buckwheat and honey for a 5 gallon batch this time around and I did not understand until he popped a bottle of the original.

Very reminiscent of bourbon, very very slight earthy barnyard flavors. And the color is a wonderful bright amber.

Let that baby age and maybe back sweeten with some clover and you will have a winner.

Alchemy said:

We just had a big mead brew day here and one of the guys made a buckwheat mead 1 gallon batch a few years back. 2 lbs buckwheat honey, 1 lb clover. D47 yeast.

Was very barnyard when I tried it about 6 months post bottling. Not impressed.

He bought enough buckwheat and honey for a 5 gallon batch this time around and I did not understand until he popped a bottle of the original.

Very reminiscent of bourbon, very very slight earthy barnyard flavors. And the color is a wonderful bright amber.

Let that baby age and maybe back sweeten with some clover and you will have a winner.

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Bourbon?? Now you have me regretting adding the grape in the first place. That sounds like a winner!

I haven't had any problems with Buckwheat honey. I did a blueberry mead with it and it turned out awesome. I think that with this honey aging is even more important, so is oaking.

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