Mead, mead, good for your heart...

Best commercially available mead for somebody who doesn't know what to expect. Go!

I've had one in the States, but one that sticks out is Bunratty.

IMO I wouldn't call it a mead since it's mostly white wine.

Most serious mead drinkers don't consider Bunratty, a wine/mead blend, a serious mead. I like the Polish meads - Jadwiga, Slowianski, Lednicki, and Kurplowski and they always do very well at the International Mead Festival. Ring of Fire, Rabbit's Foot, Redstone, Mountain Meadows, and Pirtle are all good choices.

The best meads are typically non-commercial. Those who are in the business demand a profit and mead's expensive to make when using quality ingredients. The best meads I've had were made by gifted amateurs.

Stay away from the most likely candidate you'll find at your local liquor store - Chaucer.

I've only had Chaucer myself and wasn't a big fan. For that reason, I decided to dry my hand at making my own. On this forum, I was told homemade was way better than Chaucer.

Now that I've heard some recommended brands, I'll have to hunt some out. Anybody know a good place to check? Beverages and More (Bevmo) only carried Mountain Meadows and Chaucer last time I checked.

Try Julia Herz's honeywine.com

Commercial meads

Meadery of the Rockies is what got me hooked.

This LINK has their Contact Information to order a bottle. Try the Show Mead before you hit the blends.

I'd like to try Chaucer just because everyone else doesn't like it.....Wonder if I can find it here?

Went to a wine store today to pick up a Malbec to compare to my soon to be bottled Wine kit. I was also looking to see if they had any Stone Arrogant Bastard but no luck on that.
Then I saw two Redstone's, one a traditional mead and the other was a fruity one. I picked up the traditional and will compare it to some of the home made meads I have made. First time I will be having a commercial mead that is not Chaucer which was way too sweet for me.

Like salsa, commercially produced mead can't possibly be as good as home made as long as commercial brewing practices are used. We make our "commercial" mead the old fashioned way, in a barrel. We do preheat our mixed water and honey, more to ensure a good thourough mixing than anything, but we do follow the rough guidlines for pasturization. We have done side by side batch tastings with several "meadophiles" and havent found one yet who can tell is either has been cooked or not.

Our meads are all technically melomel, because we use fresh fruit/berries to feed the yeast and help with fermentation. Hopefully customers will find that these meads do taste as good as home made, and show that mead can be done commercially just as some craft brewed beers can be as good as home brewed.