In which Ricky the Meadmaker discusses the difference between Craft Mead and Honey Wine.
Craft Mead – A Possibly Contentious Article
Check it out, meadiacs. I'm already standing in a different place from usual. You know this is going to be an exciting episode.
Welcome to Ask the Meadmaker, where I, Ricky the Meadmaker, answer your questions about mead making, mead drinking, mead brewing, and really any question you're willing to send to me.
This is a very exciting episode here because, wait for it, it's actually going to be educational, which shouldn't be super weird, considering YouTube technically lists this as an educational show, but regular watchers will know that this is certainly a special occasion. Now that Havoc and Groennfell are collaborating on some honey wines for Colchester's Mead Hall, I thought it was time that we do a little talk about the differences as far as we see them (asterix codicil, these are our views) between craft mead, and honey wine. I'm going to load up here and I will meet you over there at the table.
As you can see, I'm over here now and I have lots of examples of different types of mead. Now, as I mentioned just a moment ago, there are not hard and fast rules about what makes something a craft mead and what makes something a honey wine. It is a very contentious subject because, God help us, mead makers need something to argue about.
Let's first discuss the difference in production of craft meads and honey wines. Craft meads and honey wines start with the same basic ingredients. Honey, water, yeast to turn it into alcohol. The difference comes in turnaround time, and a variety of other things. For example, our craft meads are usually honey to glass, meaning still a raw product versus ready to drink, between two and six weeks. Our honey wines take about two months. It is not unusual for honey wines to take a year or more. This has to do with the fact that honey wines have a higher alcohol content and a variety of other things.
Also, craft meads are almost universally carbonated, whereas honey wines most often are still. Sometimes are petillant in the case of this one, and sometimes fully carbonated.
Another major difference between craft meads and honey wines is how and when they are served. As you'll notice, our craft meads are in larger glasses and the honey wines are in smaller, more delicate glasses. One might think this is because there's something about the nose. Maybe that lack of carbonation doesn't allow the aroma to come through if it's in a larger glass. That is not true. It's because of this [RICKY GESTURES TO THE HONEY WINE ON THE TABLE] were over here in maybe this mug [RICKY GESTURES TO A PINT SIZE BEER MUG], you'd get real drunk real fast. Little side note, honey wines are usually substantially more expensive, which means they are saved for special occasions or wealthy people.
Now for the part we've all been waiting for. Tasting craft meads versus honey wines. I'm looking at you, Jason. So, craft meads I've always felt are meant to be quaffed. A quaff was once defined over a sip or a drink as the percentage of the beverage that eventually ends up in your beard. So, with something like a craft mead, there's nothing wrong with sitting around with your friends and throwing one back. With a honey wine, it's a much more delicate beverage. You're meant to pick it up, enjoy the aroma, and then delicately sample it.
It doesn't really depend on the vessel so much the alcohol content of that appears to be somewhere around 12%. Now, I may have implied in the last take that you can't like sip and enjoy craft mead. That's not right. Something like, like, what is this? Something with cranberry in it. This is a really delicate flavor and you can certainly do dainty sips of it. Whereas with a honey wine, there's nothing wrong, if you really love it, just throwing it... What?
[RICKY BEGINS SLURRING HIS SPEECH] So I guess what matters is that honey wines and craft meads, they're not at war with each other. They're all friends. They're all mead. If you prefer your stuff to have bubbles, craft mead is great. I make almost exclusively craft mead, but I don't hate on the honey wines. What matters is do you like what you're drinking? Are you sharing it with people you care about? And can you afford it? Cost is a big deal with me. Yes, that's the end. That's the end of this part. I just need to send it over to Ricky with our word of the week. Ricky?
Nah, man, you got yourself into this mess. Back to you.
I was just kidding. I just needed some misdirection together another drink. This week's word is tulip glass, which is because it's shaped like a tulip, but it's also kind of a misnomer. It only has one lip around the top. Tulip glass. It's our word of the week and the end of our show. Keep sending your questions and I'll get to them as soon as possible. Cheers.
