Superior Lake - Mead

I know this forum is about homebrewing but I bought a book on meadmaking and I was intrigued. I had never even heard of mead prior to this forum.

Long story short, I stopped by the liquor store to try some mead prior to actually making some. I bought Superior Lake brand Mead. Made here in MI. I did not like it. It smelled bad and after about ten sips, I just dumped my glass.

Has anyone had it? Is it an accurate depiction of what mead tastes like? I am picky on what types of wine I like, so I just wonder if I should even bother making some mead because if it comes out remotely like what I bought, I won't be drinking it.

Thanks in advance for the replies.

As with wine, some meads are very good and some aren't. I've never heard of Superior Lake, so I can't comment on them. B Nektar is another Michigan meadery. They makes some very good mead, so you might want to try one of theirs before you decide. Most of their meads come in cobalt blue bottles with orange and white labels. Better yet, visit their meadery in Ferndale. You'll get to try various types of mead at little, or no cost. http://www.bnektar.com/visit-us.html You don't like all types of wine. You may find that you have similar tastes for only some types of mead mead.

never had it, but I can tell you that mead is very much like wine in that you should NOT give up on it as a whole because of 1, or even several, bad bottles. There is as much diversity in meads as there are in wines, so it is certianly possible that the one you got wasn't very good, or maybe you even got a bad bottle(hard to say).

My advice would be to try different styles from a few different meaderies. Right now what you're doing would be the same as someone new to wine went out and bought a bottle of <insert name of cheapo wine brand you can't stand here> and deciding that wine wasn't for them after 1 bottle.

Also, if you do a bit of googling, there are meaderies that will ship.

Just my $0.02

I've only tried Chaucers brand so far myself and found it to be like what I had read about most commercial meads, they are made quick, stabilized and bottled young. Never given the time to develop like decent wines are, making your own mead is a test of patience and very worth the time. The Chaucers I had tasted just like a batch of traditional that I had just racked into a secondary.

I have heard a lot of great things about B Nektar if you can get it, It may change your opinion of mead, or try making a simple 1 gallon batch of traditional mead give it time to age out nicely before making final judgment.

There are as many different flavors of Mead as there are of Wine or Beer. But rather than try them all, name your favorite types of wine and perhaps some of the forum denizens can help direct your search.

cheers,

robin850

p.s. b.nektar meadery has great stuff. and if you are near southwest Michigan, try Fenn Valley Winery. the owner is a really nice guy and they make great wine.

Yes its bad, I was going to bring it bad to the store
last week went to Dragonmead, in Warren, had each on tap Good Mead it tops
You say your from Southeast MI, if you can get to Dragenmead (696 an M97) do it!!

I so liked the mead from Dragonmead, I made my 1st tonight

Also if you are on your way to Dragonmead head to Kuhnhenn's as well. Less than 10 minutes away from each other. And although they maybe more known for their beer their mead has won many awards. Plus they always have a bunch of different styles to try; from pyments, to sack meads, to meads with hops added.

Also in Michigan besides B. Nektar you can get Bardic Wells and Acoustic Draft Mead. Two other local meaderies. As folks have said don't give up on mead based on one less than stellar experience.

Home brewing is always better than comercial. Ok, maybe not always but you can customize to your tastes better.

What do you like to drink, what kind of wines or beers or other alcoholic beverages?

Dry/Sweet, Fruit, or spices, mouthfeel, and all the like?

Once this is determined I am sure you can find a recipie to make something that you will go "oooh that's good!" to.

And the others are right, deciding not to like mead based on one comercial mead is hardly giving it a fair shake. It's like smelling a cooking wine and deciding that all wines are bad. There are so many options, much like beer or wine. Tons of different styles and ways to go about it. It should be easy to customize what you like into a brew.

Matrxi