Earle Estates Traditional Honey Mead

Brewed by Earle Estates Meadery
Style: Mead
Penn Yan, New York USA

This is the first mead I have ever tried in my life so I chose a traditional mead, more true to the style. Served slightly chilled in a white wine glass. Pours a hazy, pale white wine appearance with a slight greenish hue. Really nice, slow syrup-like legs coating the glass. Aroma is honey, grapes(white-wine), alcohol, flowers, light mint and some unpleasant harsh, almost eyewatering scents of something! I couldn’t quite figure it out. Flavor is sweet honey and grapes again with some apple. Somewhat cloying with some tangy funkyness on the tongue. Medium bodied. Dry, sweet alcohol finish. Very similar to a nice riesling(sweetness factor) but this mead has so much more going than that. I would like to think this was a good introduction into the world of meads, but there is obviously better out there.

750ml - It’s the palate that really makes the product here. There is no real bouquet, just a vague waxiness. Flavors come and go with an overall honey (big surprise) pleasantness. I like this.

A very basic mead. Slightly on the sour side for my tastes. I detected virtually no aroma.

Why do I continue this? This stuff pours a crystalline color, virtually no color. Aroma reminds me of mint, but not fresh mint, like Scope or something artifical and not pleasant. I am becoming a mead junkie, but these guys are just not my cup of tea.

Bottle... Water-clear mead. Aroma of white wine, honey, camphor and menthol. Cloyingly sweet, medicinal flavor with only a rumor of tanginess. Full-bodied with feather-soft carbonation. Finishes sweet and tart... more sweet than tart.

Courtesy dsnowden. Pours just the lightest light yellow color. Somewhat syrupy looking. Minty aroma. The honey was there with some frutiness. The taste was very sweet. Alot of apple and honey in the flavor. Also got a little bready flavors to it in the finish. The apple really lingers in the finish also with some minty mouthwash flavors too. Drinkabe, but flawed.

Extremely light and almost nondescript golden pour with a light moss green tint, really close to a neutral non-coloration scheme. Fat, evenly spaced legs droop down forming archways like those seen in a typical capital building. Floral and raw, unrefined honey leads in the aroma. Caustic alcohol follows, a chemical infiltration similar to chlorine tablets. Lily, cactus and likewise floral notes really provide an earthy/perfumed substantial component, whether fo rgood or bad I’m unsure. Absent are any intrusive alcoholic or chemical notes in the flavor. Sweetness is medium and wandering. Honey is just (over)loaded with floral notes, hints of earth and lavender-esque perfumes. Actually quite tasty though completely unorthodox and startling. Light herbal mint precedes the conclusion of each sip and wanders into the finish. The conclusion of each sip is lightly drying and lightly astringent, soft honey lingering. The mouthfeel is lively for such a flat beverage style. Light spiciness intermingles with honey sweetnes and provides a sense of balance. Not bad, certainly forgettable. A unique outlook is this meadery’s strong suit, but not a saving grace with most bottled examples of styles provided.

At the meadery: Love this place. A decent mead., but my least favorite of the three. Very sweet.