Groennfell & Havoc Mead... Bile..?

[Ryue]

Hey guys,
So I ordered a 4 pack of 10 different flavors from Groennfell & Havoc, the very first can I opened (Valkyrie's Choice) smelled and tasted like bile.. straight up vomit
The other 3 flavors I have tried since have all been fine.
I expect anything commercial to not be as good as home made, but that was horrible..
Just curious if anyone else has tried that company and/or that flavor in particular and did you have the same experience, or did I get a bad batch or something?

 

[Dan O]

Hey guys,
So I ordered a 4 pack of 10 different flavors from Groennfell & Havoc, the very first can I opened (Valkyrie's Choice) smelled and tasted like bile.. straight up vomit
The other 3 flavors I have tried since have all been fine.
I expect anything commercial to not be as good as home made, but that was horrible..
Just curious if anyone else has tried that company and/or that flavor in particular and did you have the same experience, or did I get a bad batch or something?

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with your first one you tried by them.
I live only a few hours drive from there & still have not tried them. Since I started making mead almost a year ago, I have a hard time justifying buying mead, (especially when I can make it for 1/3 the price of what it costs to buy someone else's). Sure, I may not have the experience, but, I've learned a ton about the craft & I've made some pretty awesome meads so far. That's not to say I wouldn't be willing to try it, just happier to save the money for honey to make some of my own.

 

[bernardsmith]

If a wine or mead tastes like vomit that sounds like there is butyric acid contamination. I imagine that Groennfell would want to know and if I were you I would write or call them.

 

[Ryue]

If a wine or mead tastes like vomit that sounds like there is butyric acid contamination. I imagine that Groennfell would want to know and if I were you I would write or call them.

That's kind of what I was wondering. I've never had that problem, but I figured there had to be some kind of cause for it.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Hey guys,
So I ordered a 4 pack of 10 different flavors from Groennfell & Havoc, the very first can I opened (Valkyrie's Choice) smelled and tasted like bile.. straight up vomit

How does one get 10 flavors in a 4 pack?

 

[Ryue]

How does one get 10 flavors in a 4 pack?

Lmao sorry, each flavor comes in a 4 pack. I ordered 10 different flavors, totalling 40 cans

 

[Entish Hobbit]

I would definitely say there was something wrong with that batch. I have ordered many of their flavors, including that one, and never had that experience. They would definitely want to know so I would agree that you should tell them. Also, fun fact, they have a lot of their recipes posted on their website so you can replicate your favorites.

 

[Maylar]

If a wine or mead tastes like vomit that sounds like there is butyric acid contamination. I imagine that Groennfell would want to know and if I were you I would write or call them.

It isn't a common fault in mead, especially in a traditional. Cider can suffer from this if rotten apples were in the pressing. I had a cider that I entered in a comp get dinged for baby vomit, though nobody who drank it at home could detect it. I agree that Groennfell would want to know, and I'm really surprised that they let anything like that out of the meadery. Makes me wonder about their quality control.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I had a cider that I entered in a comp get dinged for baby vomit, though nobody who drank it at home could detect it.

Sounds like your entry somehow got swapped with someone else's entry.
That's not a taste one can mistake or miss.

 

[Ryue]

I sent an email and they got back to me asap, offered a replacement and asked for the batch code on the can. Hopefully they can pinpoint the problem

 

[user 263363]

I'm sure they were glad to get that info from you. I attempted to order from them awhile back and turned out that they don't ship to NC. I was incredibly disappointed as I like to have commercial meads to compare mine too and there is only one local to me.

 

[Maylar]

Sounds like your entry somehow got swapped with someone else's entry.
That's not a taste one can mistake or miss.

That would depend on the taster and the level of butyric. Someone trained to judge cider would be much more sensitive to low levels of it than your average joe.