What is mead?
Describing the term ‘mead’
Even though it’s the oldest alcohol beverage known to man (yes, really!), mead is not well known in today’s craft beverage world.
The term ‘mead’ refers to an alcohol that is made from honey.
We are well aware that most people have never heard about mead before, so this is something we often are explaining. Beer is made from grain, wine is made from grapes, and mead is made from honey. At least, that’s the simple version of this. In reality, ‘mead’ can take many different forms, just like a beer or a wine.
In the beer world, there is everything from a malty lager to a hoppy IPA. In wine, you could have a sweet Reisling all the way to a dry Cabernet.
The same goes for mead. There are styles of mead that are most similar to a dessert wine- boozy, sweet, and still, made with various blends of herbs or fruits. Or, you can get a pure mead, made to feature just the honey varietal itself with no other fruits or flavors added. For these meads, you’ll notice that a buckwheat honey, which is dark and reminiscent of molasses, is very distinct from a light and floral orange blossom honey.
So what makes our mead different?
At The Buzz Meadery, we prefer brewing a style of mead called a session mead. This means that is is crafted to be drank sessionally, because it is roughly half the ABV of a traditional mead, and sits at 7-8% ABV (compared to an 11-14% ABV for a traditional mead).
Our mead is light, refreshing, and not too sweet. We use wildflower honey that was sourced locally from Maryland hives, and let the mead ferment all the way out so little residual sugar is left, which is why it’s more dry rather than being a sweet mead.
We then add whatever fruits are seasonally available from our local farmers, and hand press all of the fruit juice in house. We source things hyper-locally, and are getting all of our fruits, veggies, and herb additions from farmers 30 minutes away or less (some even 1 mile or less from the meadery!).
This gives our meads a pure and delicious flavor, because those fruits are picked at the height of the season and added after fermentation so you taste the true essence of each fruit.
We carbonate our meads, which is why they are so light and refreshing. Not only is this the kind of beverage we prefer, but it also fits perfectly to our lifestyle and location, which is by the beach. Our mead is best enjoyed on a hot summer day, right by the water :)
YUM, that sounds amazing. What meads are available now?
We produce everything in small batches- just 2 BBL at a time. That is great for us, because we can be creative and play with lots of different flavors. But it also means that we sell through the most popular flavors in usually two weeks or less.
Find out what’s currently on tap. Click here for our updated mead list.
We promise that it will be delicious, and also that it will feature whatever is seasonally available.
