We were recently in Maine as part of our road trip. We found mead!
Near Bar Harbor (we were visiting Acadia) we found Atlantic Brewing. In addition to some good blueberry beer and excellent bbq from the co-housed Mainely Meat, there was a bragget [sic] on the menu. It was a dark and malty brew with a strong alcohol flavor on the finish; there was no bite to the alcohol though which was rather nice. Not much in the way of honey notes--the malt was the dominant flavor. Not bad, and the bar is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.
In Portland we arrived at Maine Mead Works. Two of the meadmakers were behind the bar (and I think they were younger than us! we're behind) and we chatted about their meads while sampling the lineup. All solidly-made products; the only complaint we had was that they could use a little bit more acidity (or tannin, or something) to round out or punch up the finish. Sounds like they are starting to experiment more now that they've got their feet under them, so I'm expecting some good stuff in the near future. Their lavender mead was the best I've ever had, and I generally don't like the taste of lavender in my food so I was more than pleasantly surprised. The prices were reasonable and they ship to an assortment of states (but not CA!); look them up! We bought a bottle of the hopped mead. The hops provided that little something to perk up the honey. A tea mead is supposed to come out soon too.
Near Bar Harbor (we were visiting Acadia) we found Atlantic Brewing. In addition to some good blueberry beer and excellent bbq from the co-housed Mainely Meat, there was a bragget [sic] on the menu. It was a dark and malty brew with a strong alcohol flavor on the finish; there was no bite to the alcohol though which was rather nice. Not much in the way of honey notes--the malt was the dominant flavor. Not bad, and the bar is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.
In Portland we arrived at Maine Mead Works. Two of the meadmakers were behind the bar (and I think they were younger than us! we're behind) and we chatted about their meads while sampling the lineup. All solidly-made products; the only complaint we had was that they could use a little bit more acidity (or tannin, or something) to round out or punch up the finish. Sounds like they are starting to experiment more now that they've got their feet under them, so I'm expecting some good stuff in the near future. Their lavender mead was the best I've ever had, and I generally don't like the taste of lavender in my food so I was more than pleasantly surprised. The prices were reasonable and they ship to an assortment of states (but not CA!); look them up! We bought a bottle of the hopped mead. The hops provided that little something to perk up the honey. A tea mead is supposed to come out soon too.
