So I have a 3 gallon batch of mead I bottled. In the batch I used cherries and ginger among other trace ingredients. First I'll say the mead turned out beyond anything I've ever had or made before. But as I understand it the ginger part would make it a metheglin, and the cherries would make it a melomel. I've been making mead for a little while now and I always just made things based on what I think would pair well and never really put labels on the types. I don't usually sit down and say "I'm making a cyser... Now what shall I put in it." So much as apples just might end up as the chosen main focus. But this one is more then a little popular and people are asking if it's one thing or the other. So what would I call this when talking about it down at the brewers club? Both flavors are pronounced in it. I used about 1/3 of the ginger then the amount of cherries added in it. But seeing how strong ginger is you can probably imagine it's still got some pleasant spice to it.
Silly question probably... Is it a melomel or a metheglin?
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Since both flavors are pronounced, it qualifies as an Open Category Mead according to BJCP guidelines. No worries. Some of the best meads are in this category!
Better brewing through science!
See my brewing site at www.denardbrewing.com
See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html
Better brewing through science!
See my brewing site at www.denardbrewing.com
See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html
I've found that the majority of non-mead folks are already confused enough as to what this "mead stuff" is that defining it by type just muddies the waters further, when presenting to the unwashed masses....if I were you, I'd call it ginger cherry (or cherry ginger) mead and leave it at that....why split hairs?
I actually have a personal dislike for the word melomel (I think it sounds stupid) and an affection for the word metheglin (even though I keep wanting to put y's in the spelling of it) and most of the people I present my meads to know what a mead is but aren't versed in the difference between a mel, meth or cyser, so I usually just label it all mead.
I thought I was the only one who didn't like the word "melomel". I use the pronunciation "MELLOW-meal" and some people have wanted to know what was wrong with it that it was mellow and not flavorful or strong and/or spiced, or on a similar note: that it was misnamed because of all the flavor and the person wanted to know why I didn't name it "SPICY-meal" or something more appropriate.
We mead-makers just have to shake our heads, explain as best we can, and continue on. I unfortunately live in an area where folks don't really know what mead is, much less what pyments, metheglins, acerglyns, etc are. It's beer, liquor, wine, or "some weird stuff". A local brewery here is planning to get a meadery license and that might soon change. He has made a few braggots, and that's an interesting name as well, since most people just look at you funny when you say it.
I usually start with the words "cider" then honey wine, then move on to mead if their faces don't look like I've grown an extra head or something. Every now and then I'll come across a fellow brewer or mazer and everything will be right again.
So, around here, it's usually honey wine or spiced apple cider that gets used the most, and people seem comfortable with that. Depending on reactions I get, that determines how much I get into proper nomenclature further into the conversation, as I don't like to "preach" at anyone interested in the hobby.
A second on CG's dislike for "melomel". Seems contrived to me and is not very descriptive. I have yet to label, although I am working on one, so not sure what I will do. I was raised to be a conformist, so using the term would come naturally to me, but as I age (and my current melomels do as well), I am straying away from my upbringing, so who knows (I certainly do not, yet).
