Novice wine, mead, and cordial tasting at Pennsic War
- Thread starter Pewter_of_Deodar
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Congratulations on the triplets!
Anyway... back to the Novice Tasting...
We had a dozen or so in attendance. We tasted something over a dozen batches in two hours. We had both Baron Sean and Vicki giving expert opinions and advice.
As an aside here, Vicki mostly lurks here and posts a few things and you never really get an appreciation for the depth of her knowledge until you are at an event like this with the girl. She is a wealth of experience and info as well as a sexy wench... :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
We tasted one beer (excellent), a wine with a wonderful grape nose and taste, and a number of meads including Vicki's Meadowfoam (which was really nice).
I brought two batches, not to show off but to use to discuss problems. The first was Chocolate Mead done according to the SCA related recipe that is floating around on the web. There isn't a lot good to say about it other than maybe that it has a rich golden color. It tastes powdery to me. There isn't even a hint of chocolate in the nose or the taste. So now Vicki can back me up when I say that that particular recipe isn't worth wasting the honey on. My second sample was a Spiced Cyser that was really good last year and has not aged well. The apple has receded while the spices have become more pronounced. While it is drinkable, it is now no better than average IMHO.
Because there were a number of cysers sampled, Baron Sean brought out a bottle of Cyser that had been aged on oak. To me, it was a best of show type of cyser but some wench, not to mention any names (cough Vicki cough) ran off with the bottle after the event and snarled and showed her teeth at anyone even reaching towards it. :
: : But that mead, which uses the traditional methods I tend to discuss here, is the way I want to eventually make my meads. I now have a target to try to attain...
I hope that everyone that attended went home with some idea of improvements they could make in their next batch although our discussions got sidetracked at times. Next year everyone that attends is under strict orders to bring a 3 by 5 card with the recipe and the process they used to make each sample. For now, plan on the afternoon of the Wednesday of War week...
Pewter
Congratulations on the triplets!
Anyway... back to the Novice Tasting...
We had a dozen or so in attendance. We tasted something over a dozen batches in two hours. We had both Baron Sean and Vicki giving expert opinions and advice.
As an aside here, Vicki mostly lurks here and posts a few things and you never really get an appreciation for the depth of her knowledge until you are at an event like this with the girl. She is a wealth of experience and info as well as a sexy wench... :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
We tasted one beer (excellent), a wine with a wonderful grape nose and taste, and a number of meads including Vicki's Meadowfoam (which was really nice).
I brought two batches, not to show off but to use to discuss problems. The first was Chocolate Mead done according to the SCA related recipe that is floating around on the web. There isn't a lot good to say about it other than maybe that it has a rich golden color. It tastes powdery to me. There isn't even a hint of chocolate in the nose or the taste. So now Vicki can back me up when I say that that particular recipe isn't worth wasting the honey on. My second sample was a Spiced Cyser that was really good last year and has not aged well. The apple has receded while the spices have become more pronounced. While it is drinkable, it is now no better than average IMHO.
Because there were a number of cysers sampled, Baron Sean brought out a bottle of Cyser that had been aged on oak. To me, it was a best of show type of cyser but some wench, not to mention any names (cough Vicki cough) ran off with the bottle after the event and snarled and showed her teeth at anyone even reaching towards it. :
: : But that mead, which uses the traditional methods I tend to discuss here, is the way I want to eventually make my meads. I now have a target to try to attain...I hope that everyone that attended went home with some idea of improvements they could make in their next batch although our discussions got sidetracked at times. Next year everyone that attends is under strict orders to bring a 3 by 5 card with the recipe and the process they used to make each sample. For now, plan on the afternoon of the Wednesday of War week...
Pewter
Lori, congrats on the new arrivals!! There is a bottle of meadowfoam awaiting you, and I'll bring it to Maryland with me Labor Day weekend.
Pewter, I had a *great* time 'judging' the novice meads with the Barons. It was fun to explore our differing opinions on the various meads presented to us. And yes, you're right. That chocolate mead was a waste of honey. I'm sorry you had it turn out that way. Unfortunately, it is *very* difficult to make a good chocolate mead.....
UDV, best thing you can do is make a nice traditional with that. Drop me an email and I'll give you my recipe. The meadowfoam I've got now is *very* nice, and it only took about 2.5 weeks to do the entire ferment.
Vicky - back from War, tired and playing catch up....
Pewter, I had a *great* time 'judging' the novice meads with the Barons. It was fun to explore our differing opinions on the various meads presented to us. And yes, you're right. That chocolate mead was a waste of honey. I'm sorry you had it turn out that way. Unfortunately, it is *very* difficult to make a good chocolate mead.....
UDV, best thing you can do is make a nice traditional with that. Drop me an email and I'll give you my recipe. The meadowfoam I've got now is *very* nice, and it only took about 2.5 weeks to do the entire ferment.
Vicky - back from War, tired and playing catch up....
