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Mead evaluation?

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YogiBearMead726

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 21, 2010
1,519
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San Francisco, CA
Hey all. So I've noticed in a few threads that make mention of sending a sample of mead off to the mentors of this site for evaluation/critique/notes, what have you. Is this a real option? If so, I'd love to get direct feedback about one or two meads that I've made. :)
 
I will accept samples of mead from Gotmeaders for evaluation, provided you're generous enough to support the site by becoming a Patron. ;D

In your specific case, Yogi, PM me and I'll send you my ship-to address. The only additional caveat is that I won't evaluate anything within 3 months of the Mazer Cup competition - I don't want any recent memory of anything that I've tasted to influence the judging that I will do at the event.
 
I expect that by the time any of my mead is ready to be evaluated, I'll be a patron of the mead arts... ;D I also expect to be working (again) full time, so I'll have income to spend on being a patron...

When I'm closer to those points, I'll reach out...
 
It's definitely a good investment, the recipes and brewlogs are worth the 25 bucks many times over. I keep meaning to upgrade to premium patron again, but keep forgetting... (it downgraded me from premium when it renewed after the first year).

I like to push the patron fee on people pretty hard, for a lot of reasons. One, I really do believe that getting mead making info from pretty much anywhere other than this site is going to result in far less quality of the advice a person receives (exception going to K.Schramm's book, but hey, he's a member here too and can give you advice himself!). I guess there's an exception if you llive somewhere like eastern Europe where meadmaking is still done commonly. Here in North America though I've yet to find a resource that comes even close to the knowledge here! So that said, keeping this site operational is pretty important for the future of mead making in my humble opinion.

Also, the proceeds go to support the Mazer Cup competition, which is a pretty amazing competition.

Anyways, that's my rant for now, I'm sure I'll repeat it soon!

EDIT: I only ever stumbled upon this website by accident too. I was searching for meadmaking resources online and had found probably 20 or 30 sites with the same old outdated boiled recipes with acid blend added and irish moss, etc, no aeration, months to ferment... terrible!
 
I concur with AToE, this website is an invaluable resource and it has added a lot of insight and knowledge to Ken Schramm's excellent book (which I bought in Amazon and waited for a month to arrive here).
 
Which book is that tycoon??? I'm looking to get something to expand my knowledge for mead making... I'm also looking for another brew book that goes deeper into how to formulate your own beer, from concept to completion...

I also stumbled upon this site, and am very glad that I did... ;D

I guess I need to see how the payment system really works... I hate paypall (almost as much as I loath ebay) so I no longer have an account... If I can use my CC through that, then I'll do it... damnit... Luckily, I'm not buying beer right now, otherwise that would be ~1/2 my monthly drinking fund... :o
 
I believe he's trying to get a revised version of it pushed through publishing though, because even being one of the best books on meadmaking out there, it has a few areas where it's now behind (I think it's almost a decade old or something like that?). Ken (and everyone else here) has since then made advances in fermentation management, especially in regards to Staggered Nutrient Additions (SNA).

Also I think there's some terminology mixup in his book where he calls Traditional meads "Show" meads instead of specifying that Show meads don't contain any additives at all other than water+yeast+honey. For all I know that might have been the terminology at the time though, I'm not sure.
 
I think he said it's gonna be a while, though he did say that a while ago... I'd send him a PM and ask, I'm sure he won't mind.
 
AToE said:
I believe he's trying to get a revised version of it pushed through publishing though, because even being one of the best books on meadmaking out there, it has a few areas where it's now behind (I think it's almost a decade old or something like that?). Ken (and everyone else here) has since then made advances in fermentation management, especially in regards to Staggered Nutrient Additions (SNA).

Also I think there's some terminology mixup in his book where he calls Traditional meads "Show" meads instead of specifying that Show meads don't contain any additives at all other than water+yeast+honey. For all I know that might have been the terminology at the time though, I'm not sure.
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And even though I have the old one, I will be buying the new edition as soon as it comes out. :)
 
I sent him a message asking about when the new book will be out... I find that the other home brewing book I have, also from 2003, IS rather dated in some areas... I'd rather get something more current the first time, so that I don't need to purchase an updated edition X months later... Or write all over the thing to update/correct it (as it would be if I got the new edition when it comes out)...
 
Golddiggie said:
Medsen Fey said:
Designing Great Beers is a fantastic book that goes into great depth on how to develop recipes within each general style. Not a beginner book by any means, but great reading.
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My only concern with that book is that it was published in 2000... Seems like a good amount has changed in the past ten years...
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Ditto on Medsen Fey's recommendation. Designing Great Beers is one of the best, if not the best, beer brewing book I have read.

Golddiggie: while I understand your concern over dated material, brewing has been around for thousands of years, and beer styles have been around for centuries. IMHO information is good, even if it is a bit "dated." I am not even sure what dated means when you are dealing with a craft that has been along for sooo long.
 
AToE said:
Weird, I haven't really heard of as much progress with beer processes in the last while as with mead.
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I'll have to look into it to see how much has really changed in the beer making world since 2000... I know in my field (IT) more has changed in the past decade than most people realize... Just think back to what you had for a computer in the year 2000, or late 90's and compare it with what you have today... That's just the tip of the iceberg...
 
chiguire said:
Ditto on Medsen Fey's recommendation. Designing Great Beers is one of the best, if not the best, beer brewing book I have read.

Golddiggie: while I understand your concern over dated material, brewing has been around for thousands of years, and beer styles have been around for centuries. IMHO information is good, even if it is a bit "dated." I am not even sure what dated means when you are dealing with a craft that has been along for sooo long.
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I know the basics won't have changed, much if at all... More concerned with any references made to items that are no longer available, or replaced with something else... Or home based brewing process changes over time... Where you might have needed to do a step back 10+ years ago, it could have changed due to improvements in products available today... That's more of my concern than anything else...

I'm probably going to add that book to my Amazon order, along with some vanilla beans... Any other great/good books you can recommend???
 
Back to the original question, I'll also volunteer to taste meads. I don't judge at the Mazer Cup (yet?) so you can send me anything, anytime. :) I've had a couple meads tasted by some folks here, so I'm glad to return the favor. My wife will be conscripted into tasting too, so you'll get two sets of feedback for the price of one!
 
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