Apis Dwójniak Kurpiowski

Brewed by Spółdzielnia Pszczelarska Apis
Style: Mead
Lublin, Poland

So it’s New Year’s Eve and everyone has their own bottle of bubbles and even more folks are rocking cans and bottles of cheap suds or high end IPAs. Rebel yells fill the house as the hour approaches. I’m having fun but I’m also a nerd. I need a glass. I need to rate. Even at a party. I get the bottle open with the aid of a pocket knife for the foil and a corkscrew for the cork. Before the beverage is even poured I can smell alcohol and cassis. I pour some for myself, I pour shots full for others. The faces of my friends is the most enjoyable part of this mead. Much more enjoyable than the puzzled looks I get as I write this down in a kitchen at a raging party. One person cringes another seems pleased. They all doubt my ability to work through the rest of the bottle. I succeed. Sweet and thick with loads of honey and berry flavors. Not completely unlike a Lees Harvest but still obviously a different genre of drink. Today the combination of this bottle and many cheaper less noteworthy bottles fills my head with rocks. I’d say it was worth it. The last notes I took of 2007 becomes my first rating of 2008. Onwards towards 1000!

Bottle, 75cl. (RBNAG 07) Considering it’s high score, and it’s wonderful cousin Poltorak Jadwiga, I had high expectations for this one. The weren’t fullfilled. It looks nice, with a clear, golden body, but from there on, something is missing. The nose has honey, some heather and alcohol, but it’s far from outstanding. The flavor is honey-sweet and sugary, with some flowery notes, but still just a little better than mediocre. I also find it a bit too heathery and bitter. It has a quite full body. I may have sounded too harsh now, because it’s a really nice mead, but as mentioned, it disappointed me. (071103)

Beautiful amber color. Very nice aroma of mountain honey. Sweet and well balanced, with a sweet caramel taste and very light herbs and pine needles. Very good.

Bottle at RBNAG 07. Dark golden colour with no head. Aroma is alcohol, honey, sweet. Flavour is sweet, honey, alcohol, heather. Nice mead.

750ml bottle @ RBNAG’07. Clear orange, a bit oily body with no head. Nice aroma of honey, heather and alcohol. Flavor is very sweet and dominated by honey and a tiny hint of acid. Quite nice, but a prefer the Jadwiga.

Dark golden to copper colored body. No head, no carbonation. Aroma of dried apricot, toffee and honey. Delicate and pleasant sweetness iin the flavor; honey, fruits, brown sugar and notes of butterscotch. Thick oily mouthfeel. Full body. Fruity acidity and alcohol heat in the finish. Very nice. (Bottle @ RBNAG’07)

(11/3/07, 750ml bottle, thanks kmweaver) Clear dark amber body, some legs. Aroma is sweet, boozy, caramel, honey, some cane sugar. Taste is sweet, honey, light maple syrup, alcohol. Sticky full body. Tasted right after Jadwiga, showing that while this mead is decent, it can’t hold a candle to that amazing nectar.

Sampled bottle, RBNAG 2007 in Grimstad. Deep/warm golden colour. No carbonation. Aroma of honey and raw alcohol. Very sweet flavour of honey and oak.