If this Blackberry Melomel is any indication, Stonekeep Meadery will be a fine addition to our Pennsylvania wineries, breweries and now meaderies. I'm no mead expert so read these notes with that in mind. To date I've tasted about ten different meads from dry to sweet to slightly fruit flavored and even some homemade mead.Appearance: Deep chestnut bordering on burgundy. Clear.
Nose: Full blackberry, dominates the nose. Not just a hint, its big.
Taste: Round blackberry up front, tartness balanced with sweetness, the honey is there in sweetness and as a subtle backdrop. I'm not very good at explaining that earthy honey flavor just yet, but, its there in the finish.
Mouthfeel: This was slightly chilled above room temp. Warming, clean, lively. Dry finish.
Drinkability: I found it quite drinkable. It reminded me of a Belgian raspberry lambic beer. Not as sweet as Lindemans Framboise and that's a good thing :-)
Overall this is a delicious drink. Not only would it complement the right dessert, perhaps cheesecake, but, it would stand alone and even go well with a meal. I'm thinking grilled salmon with a waldorf salad...hmmm...I'm getting hungry. One thing I noticed. This isn't like the mead that is generally available at our local liquor stores in Southeastern PA. I'm not sure why. Perhaps its because it isn't mead. Its melomel. Maybe its due to the skill of the brewer. Either way, I'll be trying more from Stonekeep Meadery.
NOTE: As Marc from Stonekeep points out. This is mead. Its just a variant made with fruit.
5 comments:
Adam - We tried to find Stonekeep Meadery, but the address is a house in Birdsboro. The neighbors say its "Marks House," and he is a "Renaissance Man," but no meadery. Maybe he is opening it up in a different location. He should take down his home address until the new place is up and running. Thanks for the help, maybe next year.
I see. Well, you know what they say don't shoot the messenger.
Checked out your blog. I used to live down that way years ago.
I hope you get to taste Stonekeep someday. I know they are just getting rolling and I'm not sure if they have a storefront. Sounds like they don't.
Hey Adam - Marc from Stonekeep here. Thanks for the write up. We currently don't have a public tasting room or a store front but the PA Winery association put our address in its brochure anyway. We are working on getting something in the way of a store front up and we can keep you updated with that progress. In the mean time, we will be having 'invitational' prvate tastings and we're going to see if we can work out some sort of public tastings at a local bar or something. Anyone can send an email to info@stonekeepmeadery.com to be put on our mailing list until the website actually gets online.
Oh, Marc here again. Melomel is a subcategory of mead (what you get when you add fruit to mead) Another subcategory is metheglyn (what you get when you add herbs or spices to mead). The TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau - formerly the ATF) doesn't recognize wine made from both honey and fruit as "mead." To them, mead is honey (and maybe hops) and that's it, if you add something else, it can't be labeled "mead."
The mead wiki page actually has a decent subcategory listing, under Mead variants.
Thanks Marc. Much appreciated. I'll send you an email so I can get on your mailing list :-)
Keep up the good work!
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