How is mead usually served?

[Maylar]

Warm, chilled, over ice? Carbonated or still? Sweet, semi-sweet or dry?

I'm a cider maker and I'm going to branch out with my first batch of mead soon. Cider is usually consumed ice cold, and the commercial stuff that people try to clone is sweet and bubbly. But there are folks who like it dry, or still, or both. Is it the same with mead?

 

[valverij]

All of the above

A meadery near me also uses mead in a lot of in-house cocktails.

I think most people just treat it like wine, though.

 

[mannye]

I drink it room temp (which is to say 68F) or cold from the fridge. If it's a very hot day I'll throw ice in it and drink it from a plastic mug. After three plastic mugs I start playing the music too loud and get DAS HORN, I put ice in the first horn then after that it's "wake up on the golf course because the sprinklers woke me up" time.

And that's generally how I serve it when the wife and kids aren't home. When they are home, in a wine glass chilled.


Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.

 

[fuelish]

LOL mannye I typically always serve it cold, not a fan of room temp beverages...after a few glasses, I like to break out the electric guitars (when the Mrs isn't home)....the dogs go hide in another room, but.....the neighbors have never complained...yet. Nothing like playing some "I've-got-a-belly-full-of-mead-sloppy-blues" to a drum track at home alone

 

[58limited]

Depends on the mead - some are good cold, some are good at room temp. When I make new meads I try them both ways to see which is best. After several glasses I tend to crank up the tunes myself. Most pets scatter but I have one kitty that seems to like the heavy metal - he lays in front of the speakers when I have them maxed.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I typically prefer everything but beer at room temperature, beer and anything carbonated I prefer chilled.

Every now and then, I get out the mulling irons, warm mead is also pretty good but I find with that it has to be something on the sweeter side.

It's kind of an interesting exercise, pouring some cold and taste-testing it, then letting it warm up and repeating the experiment. Sometimes you'd think you'd reviewed two different beverages. I brought an accidentally-carbonated mead to a wine tasting once and we actually did review it twice, once just after it had been opened when it was still fizzy, and again after we'd stirred it until it was still again, and it was like two different meads.

It'll all come down to your personal taste, so there's really no wrong answer.

Of course this is coming from someone who can't be bothered to chill white wine like you're supposed to, either...

 

[ScottBehrens]

I'm kind of a redneck, I don't like warm drinks.

But I like to serve my mead by treating it with tender loving care.

 

[Clwurster]

I usually bring'em up from the cellar at a cool 55°. Pop'em open to air a bit, raise the glass & drink-away

 

[kuri]

If a mead is too sweet for my tastes I generally let it carbonate. The acidity from the carbonation cuts the perception of sweetness much like an acid blend addition will. I have the mead on tap, so all I need to do is raise the CO2 pressure. I generally drink it coolish, which comes to about 10C in the winter or 20C in the summer, give or take.

 

[EJM3]

I've tried iced, cold, chilled, room temp, warm & hot. Just depends on the mead really, and your preferences.

Iced - I stuck it in the freezer to blast chill until tiny ice crystals started forming, then poured over ice, rather thick viscous mouthfeel. About -7°F

Cold - Just to fridge temps, in a glass. About 34°F

Chilled - To about 50°F

Room Temp - About 72*°F

Warmed - To around 120°F for a mulled mead

Hot - (Least favorite method) went to 170°F, flavors are starting to get that "cooked" thing going on...

I took the temp them with some toys a friend is letting me play with (Vernier LabPro, older but it works beautifully!)...

 

[bathtub brewer]

I usually drink mead slightly chilled, but will drink it at room temperature. If I don't have a bottle in the fridge I find 10 minutes in the freezer chills it quite nicely.
If the mead has some sourness to it I think the chilled mellows out the sour a bit. This may be that I rarely have mead on the shelf long enough to properly age.