Wine can indeed be made without grapes; when you do it with honey you’ve got mead. And even though mead is made with honey, not all meads are super sweet—often the brew is fermented with other fruits and herbs so the end result can be very dry and tart, depending what the brewer is going for. Almost every early civilization has made some form of mead, making it the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage, and today it’s the fastest growing segment of the alcohol market. There’s a huge range of flavors of mead, which is why it can be so interesting to taste and learn about.
This Sunday August 5th, five NY meaderies will come together at Honey’s (93 Scott Avenue) for a mini mead fest where they’ll celebrate the bee-inspired bev by offering free samples, and sharing tips with home brewers. Mead Day includes interactive workshops for aspiring meadmakers, as well as tastings by five local NY meaderies: 810 Meadworks, Honey’s own Enlightenment Wines, Salt Point Meadery, All Wise Meadery and Mysto Mead.
From the organizers: “From sour meads, to sparkling meads to black currant and botanical meads, New York is making some of the best honey wine in the country. Come taste for yourself!” The free event starts at 12pm for industry folk and 2pm for the public, and will be hosted inside Enlightenment Wines’ meadery among working fermentation tanks and oak barrels, right next to their tasting room/bar Honey’s.