Model: Monks Meadery Reyseglasa The Golden (Full or Half Case)
Condition: New
Made from: 100% Wildflower Honey
Style: Still
Alcohol: 12%
Volume: 500ml
Winery: Monks Meadery
Owner: Justin Schoendorf
Location: Georgia
A traditional dry mead made from 100% Wildflower Honey. With a hint of honey flavor, still and crisp, it’s dangerously easy to imbibe despite being 12% abv. Monks Mead is made from wildflower honey and water and naturally fermented with a champagne yeast.
A bottle filled with the history of the world. Known as the nectar of the Gods, mead has been part of mankind’s story from the very beginning. Imbibed by the Egyptian Gods, toasted by Romans, and indulged by Vikings after battle, mead’s history is rich with lore. Monks Mead is our modern version of mead, and we hope you make it part of your story.
Best served ice cold in a chalice or jeweled goblet
Wine is sold by the licensed winery
You must be 21 years or older to order
By placing an order you represent that you are at least 21 years of age
Alcohol cannot be delivered to a PO Box
Someone 21 years or older must be present to sign for the alcohol when it is delivered
We recommend shipping the wine to your business address
If visibly intoxicated upon delivery, you will not be allowed to receive the wine
Void where prohibited by law
About the Winery
Monks Meadery was started by two high school friends upon moving to Atlanta shortly after graduating college…
Like many recent grads, Martin Key and Justin Schoendorf found themselves relatively poor and possessing an insatiable appetite for craft beer.
At the time, the selection in Georgia was quite limited; Georgia did not allow beer above 6% ABV until 2004. They thought making their own beer was the answer to their dilemma and the two enthusiastically dove into home brewing beer.
Eventually, they stumbled upon an alcoholic drink made with fermented honey. Nicknamed “the nectar of the gods”, they were drawn to this ancient and relatively obscure beverage. For the next few years, they would make many different versions of mead. Finally, they got curious and decided to try some of the commercial meads on the market. They soon realized that none of what was available tasted anything like what they were doing. They developed a recipe suited to their tastes, their friends seemed to like it, so they decided to start a meadery and share their recipe with the world. And that is how Monk’s Meadery began!
What’s Included?
Half Case (6-Bottles) of Reyseglasa the Golden Mead Wine
OR
Case (12-Bottles) of Reyseglasa the Golden Mead Wine
“We recommend shipping the wine to your business address”
Why? I’m hardly ever there and nearly always at home. Also, I’m not sure the receiving department would know how to get it to me nor would my supervisor be too pleased with alcohol being sent to place of work. What world are they living in?
@medz Probably because they require someone 21+ to sign for the package. Agreed, though, this seems like a silly recommendation given how many people are still working from home.
@liquidbluenight@medz Even then, on shipments that require an adult signature I’ve never needed to sign for it myself. The delivery drivers just drop off the package and say that I signed.
@DanOR@medz No, this dated back to the same text pasted in from early Wine offerings where the site name started with “W.” The idea was that most people would be at that other evil “W” word… “Work”
Agreed that looking back it’s a silly recommendation that should be removed in my opinion.
But the delivery signature thing is a problem for me all the time even when I’m home! My drivers will not leave it anymore and often put up the “sorry we missed you” tag even though I was inside not far from the door.
@DanOR@datruandi@medz@pmarin I’ve caught them arriving in front of my house and then getting out of the truck to walk up to the door with the tag already filled out, without the parcel in hand. Needless to say, I got my delivery without having to drive six miles and wait half an hour for them to locate it at the will-call office.
@brainmist Hello, I’m Justin the owner and meadmaker at Monks. We make dry meads but I would say this has a great honey flavor and it’s clean and crisp.
It’s made from 100% wildflower honey by Monks Meadery in Georgia, so it’s deliciously sweet but won’t give you a stomach ache like a glass of boozy eggnog.
But the product specs say
A traditional dry mead made from 100% Wildflower Honey. With a hint of honey flavor
@Kyeh Sorry, You’re right in that it is a little misleading. I’m the owner and mead maker. By mead standards this is definitely dry. It has a great clean honey flavor and will present sweeter than it actually is. I think you will find this very enjoyable!
Their website has a 12 bottle sampler for $13/bottle but with free shipping and also 20% code so buying it here locks you into 12 of one flavor and saves maybe 0.66 a bottle (which maybe be less savings depending on sales tax).
@qazxto A little late to alter your buying decisions, but this also came with a 20% off code. So use the one on the site, enjoy mead, use this code the next time?
Haven’t tried yet. Hard to believe it’s beer^H^H mead o’clock somewhere this early in the morning, so will wait a bit while it chills and I find a crystal goblet.
@EvilSmoo I mead… your price calculation does leaves a sting. Doesn’t seem like a deal I’d be buzzing about. it is honey so I i-mead-agine it’s going to bee pricey compared to beer. I’m sure it’s going to fly off the shelf. Most apparently don’t check the forum to check the hive minds thoughts on deals.
@EvilSmoo A standard 12oz beer bottle is 355ml, so these are larger than that. BUT, they are smaller than a standard 750ml bottle of wine. If I had tried it before (and liked it), I’d say it was worth purchasing. Without knowing if I like this particular mead, I’m going to take a pass.
FWIW, this appears to me to likely be their house standard Monk’s Mead, which has a 3.55 average rating (out of 5) on Untappd. Probably decent, and worth a try if you want to check out what mead is at the lower cost offered here, but 3.55 is actually a pretty low rating for meads, which often rate highly on Untappd. But it’s also less expensive prices I often see for meads, so there’s that.
@obxer And that one’s explicitly a dry mead, not what a lot of folks may be looking for in this range, or expecting based on the somewhat contradictory information in the listing here.
@obxer Hello, my name is Justin and I’m the owner and mead maker at Monks. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Just so you know, this is a new mead for us. It’s a one off as we secured some specialty honeys specifically (we got a great Lavender honey from Savannah Bee Company) for this project. It’s a tad bit sweeter than our normal Monks Mead. It is also still (no bubbles) and so the honey flavor is even more pronounced despite the mead being dry. I’m excited in the way that this turned out. This is a very clean and drinkable mead, I believe we’re going to impress a lot of folks with it. In regards to quality, our Monks Mead received a gold medal in 2019 from the Mazer Cup. I use untapped when my head gets a little too big. Cheers to you!
@jschoendorf8@obxer Hats off to you for taking the time to give some info. I hope you do well. Usually we’re stuck buying 7 year old expiring battery packs for phones or melted candy corn or 500 counts of high corn fructose Belgian waffles, occasionally we’ll get some exciting adult oriented products which is always fun. it’s nice to producers with pride take the time to comment. I will say it was hard to find info online on this particular mead as meh pages were pretty much the only search engine listing when I looked.
@obxer@qazxto The reason you’re not seeing much about this particular product is that we just released it. In fact, we tapped our first keg of it yesterday in our tap room and so far it’s been received really well. I was also able to use some honey’s that I don’t normally get in quantity for this particular product and so it’s unique. I hope that folks that try this might consider the rest of our line up.
@Pufferfishy You’ll see a wide range in prices on meads in the same way you’ll see a wide range in wine. I’m the owner and mead maker and I always try to overdeliver on what I’m selling. This is a custom product specifically for Meh and we used a lot of great honeys to put it together. I’m not here to unload a product but introduce myself to the community.
Anyone else notice how small the bottles are? At 500ml that’s just over a pint (16.9oz) per bottle. Most wine bottles are 750ml, or just over 25oz, almost 1.5x larger. Those prices are really steep considering.
@senor_sriracha well, technically, 750ml is exactly 1.5x larger than 500. But I’ve seen most “craft” meads, and ciders too, have standardized on 500ml, whereas the 750s are more for the older ones made to compete alongside wine, often mass-produced.
@senor_sriracha Hello, I’m the owner and mead maker. We purposely picked the 500ml format for a few reasons. We’re trying to keep our prices down and this is a format that is popular enough that we’re able to get it consistently and at a reasonable price. Most of the meads we make are carbonated and so I need a bottle that can handle the pressure from the CO2 and a closure that’s inexpensive using a crown cap (versus swing top or champagne cork) The last reason is that at 12% this is basically two servings. Or with some of our lower abv meads, it’s just a single serving. So the 500ml is a nice format to share with someone. If we put our product in a 750ml, we’d have a lot less options for closures and it would be more liquid that one person would likely drink (no judgement if you drink a whole bottle of wine)
@pmarin@senor_sriracha Hello, I’m Justin and I’m the owner and mead maker… This is a custom product specifically for Meh and we used a lot of great honeys to put it together. I’m not here to unload a product but introduce myself and my brand to the community.
@jschoendorf8 I’m glad you told me this was carbonated, that wasn’t in the ad copy. I hope none of todays buyers are taken by surprise when they get it.
Edit: For anyone not familiar, Bunratty Mead (available in most liquor stores) is 14% abv.
@donver Hello, I’m the owner and mead maker. While meaderys that sell a lot of still (no bubbles) meads, have more options with 750ml formats. We purposely picked the 500ml format for a few reasons. We’re trying to keep our prices down and this is a format that is popular enough that we’re able to get it consistently and at a reasonable price. Most of the meads we make are carbonated and so I need a bottle that can handle the pressure from the CO2 and a closure that’s inexpensive using a crown cap (versus swing top or champagne cork) The last reason is that at 12% this is basically two servings. Or with some of our lower abv meads, it’s just a single serving. So the 500ml is a nice format to share with someone. If we put our product in a 750ml, we’d have a lot less options for closures and it would be more liquid that one person would likely drink (no judgement if you drink a whole bottle of wine)
@jschoendorf8 How sweet is this in comparison to other varietals, say Moscato, Reisling, etc? I’m assuming from what’s been said that this is the annual holiday wine that Casemates puts out, replacing the Cheer from over here. I’m in for a case regardless because I’ve never been let down in the many years of Casemates/wine.website annual holiday wine purchases, but I’m hoping this isn’t terribly sweet…
@maht87 this is going to have a similar amount of residual sugar that you’d find in a dry white wine. Less than moscato or sweet Riesling. There’s usually less acid in mead and so less sugar can still present sweet and that why I try to error on the side of dry. I’ll look forward to hearing your review.
@jschoendorf8 Thanks for the quick reply! I’m really glad to hear that and I’m looking forward to it more now! I’m definitely more of a dry person. I’ve had mead before, but I was around 13-14 years ago, so I didn’t remember much about it.
I would be all over this, I love mead and so do several of my friends, but… you can get better mead for only slightly more. Near me you can pick up a decent bottle for $20 for 750ml. So per 500ml you’re paying $11 here or $13 for something decent in store. And if you buy it in the store you don’t have to buy twelve identical bottles.
Not to mention that the label and bottle look like shit. Aesthetics matter! Bombay Sapphire and Star of Bombay, Tanqueray No. 10, Cascahuin, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, Aviation gin, Hendricks gin, Citadelle gin, Botanist gin, Zuidam korenwijn, Suze, Roku gin, Montelobos, Brugal rum, St. Germain, most scotches - beautiful bottles. Especially if you’re buying 12 you’re gonna end up giving away a few, and who wants to give away a bottle that looks like garbage? I mean, jeez, it doesn’t even have a cork!
C’mon meh, give us a better deal on mead. And if not, at least make it less ugly!
@werehatrack While I would say the label is nicer than what Meh got, it’s still not anywhere near good looking in my opinion. The font is a cross between Papyrus and Bradley Hand, two famously ugly fonts. And the bottle, beer colored with a hideous yellow cap, is even more hideous than the bottles Meh got. No wonder they show the bottle without the cap on their website.
FYI, read the write-up … it’s a custom designed label for Meh. And ties in with labels from the old site (Tøøthstejnn the Red, Triacipedis the White, etc.).
It’s not supposed to be a Retail label.
And have you tried their meads? Because if you haven’t (which you apparently haven’t! ) then you really can’t say you’ve tasted better!
Maybe if they had called it “owenversteeg the bitter”?
Alright-- I’ll take the bait and try something new. Case of 12 ordered. If anyone in the DC/MD/VA area wants to buy a bottle or trade for some other stuff casemates style, you know the drill, or maybe you don’t… (Whisper me). I’ll also be in Ithaca, NY around the holidays.
Gotta say, I was disappointed it wasn’t a red this year, but that didn’t stop me from buying a case. I’ve bought the holiday wine probably every year since 2006 (from the old site and the new) and have never been let down.
Received the Mead yesterday and opened a couple bottles (they’re small bottles, don’t judge). I have to say, my streak of lack of disappointment is still intact! As a bonus, this had to be the fastest shipping I’ve ever experienced with the holiday wine purchases!
@maht87 Mine is in the fridge and I am looking forward to trying it.
I’m on the same wavelength, as I have grown accustomed to the red holiday offerings, but assumed I would not be disappointed!
The mid year rose offering threw me for a loop!
@Drez143 I’ve been exercising restraint by not checking the offerings consistently, so I completely missed that! I guess I’ll have to readjust my priorities. That could have been interesting…
@Seeds We’ve got a sampler pack that has 10 different meads in it. Everything is dry yet distinctly different. Might be a great way to explore the world of mead! Cheers
Just shared a bottle with my dad, he says it’s good. I think it’s good too. This is a good flavor, I’ll be sharing some bottles with friends. Thank you very much @jschoendorf8
That mead should be totally fine. It’s sealed with a crown cap and that doesn’t allow the transfer of much O2. You’ll have to let us know what you think once you’ve had a chance to try it. Cheers! Justin
My SO and I both remember the bottle we tried a year ago being tart/sour. I kinda gave up and gifted all but this bottle, which got squirreled away in the pantry, to friends & family.
Fast-forward a year and this is really good. It’s not lying about being 12% ABV but it’s smoother and much sweeter than before. The honey is very easy to taste, but not overpowering. It’s like a smooth, sweet, high-alcohol cider.
I like it! I’m back on the mead train. Now if I can only find that letter from the box that gave us a discount code…
Not sure if that means we got a bad bottle the first time or they really benefitted from sitting for a year, but this is some good stuff.
Thanks for the info and (if all goes well tomorrow ) the go-ahead to give it another shot. This is what I thought I was buying. Nicely done!
I’m really proud of how that mead turned out. It’s really similar to our regular Monks Mead but we used lavender honey (lavender honey is more expensive than the GA wildflower we use in Monks) and we also didn’t add any CO2 so that it would be still. It turned out beautiful and I think was even “cleaner” than Monks. I’m also really proud of Monks… This year, we sent it in to two big mead specific competitions and we picked up a silver and a gold medal for it. So, we’re apparently doing something right. Cheers to you!
Specs
About the Winery
Like many recent grads, Martin Key and Justin Schoendorf found themselves relatively poor and possessing an insatiable appetite for craft beer.
At the time, the selection in Georgia was quite limited; Georgia did not allow beer above 6% ABV until 2004. They thought making their own beer was the answer to their dilemma and the two enthusiastically dove into home brewing beer.
Eventually, they stumbled upon an alcoholic drink made with fermented honey. Nicknamed “the nectar of the gods”, they were drawn to this ancient and relatively obscure beverage. For the next few years, they would make many different versions of mead. Finally, they got curious and decided to try some of the commercial meads on the market. They soon realized that none of what was available tasted anything like what they were doing. They developed a recipe suited to their tastes, their friends seemed to like it, so they decided to start a meadery and share their recipe with the world. And that is how Monk’s Meadery began!
What’s Included?
OR
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 19
Oof. Just add another tab to casemates to sell additional wine.
@medz did they not have the 2022 cheer wine blend this year?
@medz Not wine, but Mead. Different animal.
@MarkDaSpark gross. I don’t drink animals
@medz But you’ll drink “milk” from a nut?
@MarkDaSpark oh god, yes. Gimme that creamy nut juice!
/giphy nut-milk
“We recommend shipping the wine to your business address”
Why? I’m hardly ever there and nearly always at home. Also, I’m not sure the receiving department would know how to get it to me nor would my supervisor be too pleased with alcohol being sent to place of work. What world are they living in?
@medz Probably because they require someone 21+ to sign for the package. Agreed, though, this seems like a silly recommendation given how many people are still working from home.
@liquidbluenight @medz Even then, on shipments that require an adult signature I’ve never needed to sign for it myself. The delivery drivers just drop off the package and say that I signed.
@medz It’s cheaper to ship to a business address so meh saves a few $$
@DanOR @medz No, this dated back to the same text pasted in from early Wine offerings where the site name started with “W.” The idea was that most people would be at that other evil “W” word… “Work”
Agreed that looking back it’s a silly recommendation that should be removed in my opinion.
But the delivery signature thing is a problem for me all the time even when I’m home! My drivers will not leave it anymore and often put up the “sorry we missed you” tag even though I was inside not far from the door.
@DanOR
/giphy selfish
@DanOR @medz @pmarin same problem here. It may take me a minute to get to the door when I am upstairs and the driver left by then already.
@DanOR @datruandi @medz @pmarin I’ve caught them arriving in front of my house and then getting out of the truck to walk up to the door with the tag already filled out, without the parcel in hand. Needless to say, I got my delivery without having to drive six miles and wait half an hour for them to locate it at the will-call office.
In.
/image tinseled-glorious-griswold
Lol
On here I worry that it is mehd not mead.
But… I guess I gotta
/image shivering-ancient-snow
Hm. Hard to imagine this will compete with my local meadery (https://www.bootleghill.com), and I do prefer a sweet mead.
But maybe worth trying?
@brainmist Hello, I’m Justin the owner and meadmaker at Monks. We make dry meads but I would say this has a great honey flavor and it’s clean and crisp.
@jschoendorf8 I’m giving it a try, but be warned, I also give reviews.
@brainmist sounds great! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
This probably makes awful margaritas
@heartny Um. Yes? Why would you even try that?
@heartny so does chocolate milk, but…
/giphy illuminated-cold-manger
/showme A dwarf drinking a bottle of mead in a tavern
@dave That last picture on the sales page is AI-generated, isn’t it?
Also, this guy looks like he’s raising a salt shaker instead of a bottle of wine.
@dave @Kyeh I’m really more concerned about the teeth.
@dave @EvilSmoo @Kyeh can you say “periodontist”?!
@dave @Kyeh He’s trying to find out if you can make margaritas with it.
HONEY, I want to MEAD out some merriment, not BEE tested and BEAR my faults.
CT resident here, wondering if Meh got a permit to ship alcohol
we’ll see
@axpbandit CaseMates is the same company, so I’m sure they’re good
Wow even the name is cringe
Welp, I’m doing it. /showme crackling-decorative-spruce
@brainmist /showme has to be on the first line with nothing else in the comment, I believe.
/showme crackling-decorative-spruce
@Kyeh Hah, I’ve been screwing that up for days!
@brainmist Also has to be a comment and not a reply.
Gave in and got a case, should cover a decent portion of my Holiday gifts.
/giphy happiest-snowy-fete
So the write-up says
But the product specs say
Is it sweet or dry?
@Kyeh That seemed like a contradiction to me, too.
@Kyeh Sorry, You’re right in that it is a little misleading. I’m the owner and mead maker. By mead standards this is definitely dry. It has a great clean honey flavor and will present sweeter than it actually is. I think you will find this very enjoyable!
@jschoendorf8
Thanks for clarifying that!
@Kyeh Of course! Ask anything…
So does the coke bottle cap replace the screw on bottle cap?
Their website has a 12 bottle sampler for $13/bottle but with free shipping and also 20% code so buying it here locks you into 12 of one flavor and saves maybe 0.66 a bottle (which maybe be less savings depending on sales tax).
Passssssss!
@qazxto Monks Meadery https://monksmeadery.com/full-experience/
@qazxto A little late to alter your buying decisions, but this also came with a 20% off code. So use the one on the site, enjoy mead, use this code the next time?
Haven’t tried yet. Hard to believe it’s beer^H^H mead o’clock somewhere this early in the morning, so will wait a bit while it chills and I find a crystal goblet.
Wait, (for 6) so this is 12.67 PER BOTTLE for beer bottle sized bottles? 12% is decent I suppose, but I think I might be missing the point.
@EvilSmoo I mead… your price calculation does leaves a sting. Doesn’t seem like a deal I’d be buzzing about. it is honey so I i-mead-agine it’s going to bee pricey compared to beer. I’m sure it’s going to fly off the shelf. Most apparently don’t check the forum to check the hive minds thoughts on deals.
@EvilSmoo if this were a better deal I’d love to dip my proboscis into it. Have had mead a few times and it is heavenly nectar. Haven’t had this one.
@EvilSmoo @qazxto However proboscis dipping may be banned in some states. if this happens, make a beeline to another location.
@EvilSmoo @pmarin @qazxto And I think dipping has a different meaning in Georgia.
@EvilSmoo A standard 12oz beer bottle is 355ml, so these are larger than that. BUT, they are smaller than a standard 750ml bottle of wine. If I had tried it before (and liked it), I’d say it was worth purchasing. Without knowing if I like this particular mead, I’m going to take a pass.
Gf loves mead, in for a case
/giphy stuffed-sparkling-bauble
/image stuffed-sparkling-bauble
/giphy chilly-crimson-luge
FWIW, this appears to me to likely be their house standard Monk’s Mead, which has a 3.55 average rating (out of 5) on Untappd. Probably decent, and worth a try if you want to check out what mead is at the lower cost offered here, but 3.55 is actually a pretty low rating for meads, which often rate highly on Untappd. But it’s also less expensive prices I often see for meads, so there’s that.
https://untappd.com/b/monks-meadery-monks-mead/116807
@obxer And that one’s explicitly a dry mead, not what a lot of folks may be looking for in this range, or expecting based on the somewhat contradictory information in the listing here.
@obxer Hello, my name is Justin and I’m the owner and mead maker at Monks. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Just so you know, this is a new mead for us. It’s a one off as we secured some specialty honeys specifically (we got a great Lavender honey from Savannah Bee Company) for this project. It’s a tad bit sweeter than our normal Monks Mead. It is also still (no bubbles) and so the honey flavor is even more pronounced despite the mead being dry. I’m excited in the way that this turned out. This is a very clean and drinkable mead, I believe we’re going to impress a lot of folks with it. In regards to quality, our Monks Mead received a gold medal in 2019 from the Mazer Cup. I use untapped when my head gets a little too big. Cheers to you!
@jschoendorf8 @obxer Hats off to you for taking the time to give some info. I hope you do well. Usually we’re stuck buying 7 year old expiring battery packs for phones or melted candy corn or 500 counts of high corn fructose Belgian waffles, occasionally we’ll get some exciting adult oriented products which is always fun. it’s nice to producers with pride take the time to comment. I will say it was hard to find info online on this particular mead as meh pages were pretty much the only search engine listing when I looked.
@obxer @qazxto The reason you’re not seeing much about this particular product is that we just released it. In fact, we tapped our first keg of it yesterday in our tap room and so far it’s been received really well. I was also able to use some honey’s that I don’t normally get in quantity for this particular product and so it’s unique. I hope that folks that try this might consider the rest of our line up.
So is this made with genuine water from Lake Mead? If so, get it now, as it’s drying up!
/giphy holly-spiked-snowman
This seems overpriced.
@Pufferfishy Mead is expensive, because honey is expensive (especially good honey)
@jjoye Fair point
@Pufferfishy You’ll see a wide range in prices on meads in the same way you’ll see a wide range in wine. I’m the owner and mead maker and I always try to overdeliver on what I’m selling. This is a custom product specifically for Meh and we used a lot of great honeys to put it together. I’m not here to unload a product but introduce myself to the community.
Anyone else notice how small the bottles are? At 500ml that’s just over a pint (16.9oz) per bottle. Most wine bottles are 750ml, or just over 25oz, almost 1.5x larger. Those prices are really steep considering.
@senor_sriracha well, technically, 750ml is exactly 1.5x larger than 500. But I’ve seen most “craft” meads, and ciders too, have standardized on 500ml, whereas the 750s are more for the older ones made to compete alongside wine, often mass-produced.
@pmarin I think they’re trying to shrinkflate their products and hiding it behind the terms ‘craft’ or ‘artisan’. This is Meh.com, not Nieman Marcus.
@senor_sriracha Hello, I’m the owner and mead maker. We purposely picked the 500ml format for a few reasons. We’re trying to keep our prices down and this is a format that is popular enough that we’re able to get it consistently and at a reasonable price. Most of the meads we make are carbonated and so I need a bottle that can handle the pressure from the CO2 and a closure that’s inexpensive using a crown cap (versus swing top or champagne cork) The last reason is that at 12% this is basically two servings. Or with some of our lower abv meads, it’s just a single serving. So the 500ml is a nice format to share with someone. If we put our product in a 750ml, we’d have a lot less options for closures and it would be more liquid that one person would likely drink (no judgement if you drink a whole bottle of wine)
@pmarin @senor_sriracha Hello, I’m Justin and I’m the owner and mead maker… This is a custom product specifically for Meh and we used a lot of great honeys to put it together. I’m not here to unload a product but introduce myself and my brand to the community.
@jschoendorf8 I’m glad you told me this was carbonated, that wasn’t in the ad copy. I hope none of todays buyers are taken by surprise when they get it.
Edit: For anyone not familiar, Bunratty Mead (available in most liquor stores) is 14% abv.
@jschoendorf8 @senor_sriracha I’m sorry but no, Señor. This one is described as “Still” in the top post.
Also in a response the producer stated:
the message you were responding to described other carbonated products made at the same place as one of several reasons to use this bottle.
@jschoendorf8 @senor_sriracha
Thank you for the feedback and insight!
I noticed the 500ml bottles also. Mead at a meadery here sells in 750ml wine bottles.
@donver Hello, I’m the owner and mead maker. While meaderys that sell a lot of still (no bubbles) meads, have more options with 750ml formats. We purposely picked the 500ml format for a few reasons. We’re trying to keep our prices down and this is a format that is popular enough that we’re able to get it consistently and at a reasonable price. Most of the meads we make are carbonated and so I need a bottle that can handle the pressure from the CO2 and a closure that’s inexpensive using a crown cap (versus swing top or champagne cork) The last reason is that at 12% this is basically two servings. Or with some of our lower abv meads, it’s just a single serving. So the 500ml is a nice format to share with someone. If we put our product in a 750ml, we’d have a lot less options for closures and it would be more liquid that one person would likely drink (no judgement if you drink a whole bottle of wine)
@jschoendorf8 How sweet is this in comparison to other varietals, say Moscato, Reisling, etc? I’m assuming from what’s been said that this is the annual holiday wine that Casemates puts out, replacing the Cheer from over here. I’m in for a case regardless because I’ve never been let down in the many years of Casemates/wine.website annual holiday wine purchases, but I’m hoping this isn’t terribly sweet…
@maht87 this is going to have a similar amount of residual sugar that you’d find in a dry white wine. Less than moscato or sweet Riesling. There’s usually less acid in mead and so less sugar can still present sweet and that why I try to error on the side of dry. I’ll look forward to hearing your review.
@jschoendorf8 Thanks for the quick reply! I’m really glad to hear that and I’m looking forward to it more now! I’m definitely more of a dry person. I’ve had mead before, but I was around 13-14 years ago, so I didn’t remember much about it.
I would be all over this, I love mead and so do several of my friends, but… you can get better mead for only slightly more. Near me you can pick up a decent bottle for $20 for 750ml. So per 500ml you’re paying $11 here or $13 for something decent in store. And if you buy it in the store you don’t have to buy twelve identical bottles.
Not to mention that the label and bottle look like shit. Aesthetics matter! Bombay Sapphire and Star of Bombay, Tanqueray No. 10, Cascahuin, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, Aviation gin, Hendricks gin, Citadelle gin, Botanist gin, Zuidam korenwijn, Suze, Roku gin, Montelobos, Brugal rum, St. Germain, most scotches - beautiful bottles. Especially if you’re buying 12 you’re gonna end up giving away a few, and who wants to give away a bottle that looks like garbage? I mean, jeez, it doesn’t even have a cork!
C’mon meh, give us a better deal on mead. And if not, at least make it less ugly!
@owenversteeg Ordering the apparent equivalent direct from the source gets you a much nicer label, albeit at a slightly higher price.
@werehatrack While I would say the label is nicer than what Meh got, it’s still not anywhere near good looking in my opinion. The font is a cross between Papyrus and Bradley Hand, two famously ugly fonts. And the bottle, beer colored with a hideous yellow cap, is even more hideous than the bottles Meh got. No wonder they show the bottle without the cap on their website.
@owenversteeg @werehatrack Gee, jumping into this, seems like some folks have been drinking bitters!
@owenversteeg
FYI, read the write-up … it’s a custom designed label for Meh. And ties in with labels from the old site (Tøøthstejnn the Red, Triacipedis the White, etc.).
It’s not supposed to be a Retail label.
And have you tried their meads? Because if you haven’t (which you apparently haven’t! ) then you really can’t say you’ve tasted better!
Maybe if they had called it “owenversteeg the bitter”?
Meh!!!
I like a variety of mead, so I’m in for 6.
/giphy neighborly-polar-glitter
/showme a honey bee oozing mead from the wings into a funnel that fills a bottle.
/showme crackling-decorative-spruce
@mediocrebot @brainmist
Hmmm. I think it understood “crackling” as a noun and not an adjective.
/giphy splendorous-cherubic-celebration
First booze order in a long time. Since the last time I ordered mead, actually. I may be seeing a pattern form here.
Love the label …
/giphy tranquil-frosted-sugarplum
Alright-- I’ll take the bait and try something new. Case of 12 ordered. If anyone in the DC/MD/VA area wants to buy a bottle or trade for some other stuff casemates style, you know the drill, or maybe you don’t… (Whisper me). I’ll also be in Ithaca, NY around the holidays.
Gotta say, I was disappointed it wasn’t a red this year, but that didn’t stop me from buying a case. I’ve bought the holiday wine probably every year since 2006 (from the old site and the new) and have never been let down.
Received the Mead yesterday and opened a couple bottles (they’re small bottles, don’t judge). I have to say, my streak of lack of disappointment is still intact! As a bonus, this had to be the fastest shipping I’ve ever experienced with the holiday wine purchases!
@maht87 Mine is in the fridge and I am looking forward to trying it.
I’m on the same wavelength, as I have grown accustomed to the red holiday offerings, but assumed I would not be disappointed!
The mid year rose offering threw me for a loop!
@Drez143 I’ve been exercising restraint by not checking the offerings consistently, so I completely missed that! I guess I’ll have to readjust my priorities. That could have been interesting…
@maht87 So glad that we weren’t the ones that screwed up your satisfaction track record! Cheers
I don’t like honey, so mead usually isn’t for me, but these are delicious!
@Seeds Wait till you get to your second bottle…
@Seeds So glad to hear! A lot of honey products can be really sweet and I think that this is dry enough that it’s balanced. Have a great new year!
@jschoendorf8 exactly! It tastes like walking in a field on a summer day smells. I’ve gotta buy more - any flavors you’d recommend?
@Seeds We’ve got a sampler pack that has 10 different meads in it. Everything is dry yet distinctly different. Might be a great way to explore the world of mead! Cheers
My order seems to be stuck in Atlanta. I hope it arrives before Christmas and all intact.
Just shared a bottle with my dad, he says it’s good. I think it’s good too. This is a good flavor, I’ll be sharing some bottles with friends. Thank you very much @jschoendorf8
@Zxellon So glad you hear you enjoyed it!
My half case arrived! I’d begun to worry but it came just in time. The mead was beautifully packed and the first bottles will be opened on Christmas.
@spiralroad Glad you got it in time! Hope you enjoy
How long we figure unopened mead lasts?
I have one random website that says “decades”, so I can trust that, right?
@stinks Not really. Even with optimal storage, flavors can shift and .the contents can go bad.
@stinks You could ask the maker directly: @jschoendorf8
That mead should be totally fine. It’s sealed with a crown cap and that doesn’t allow the transfer of much O2. You’ll have to let us know what you think once you’ve had a chance to try it. Cheers! Justin
Big hat tip – I also got an email response before 8am this morning, eastern time. :amaze:
We’ll give it a shot tonight; thanks!
@jschoendorf8 Sorry, finally got to it tonight.
My SO and I both remember the bottle we tried a year ago being tart/sour. I kinda gave up and gifted all but this bottle, which got squirreled away in the pantry, to friends & family.
Fast-forward a year and this is really good. It’s not lying about being 12% ABV
but it’s smoother and much sweeter than before. The honey is very easy to taste, but not overpowering. It’s like a smooth, sweet, high-alcohol cider.
I like it! I’m back on the mead train. Now if I can only find that letter from the box that gave us a discount code…
Not sure if that means we got a bad bottle the first time or they really benefitted from sitting for a year, but this is some good stuff.
Thanks for the info and (if all goes well tomorrow
) the go-ahead to give it another shot. This is what I thought I was buying. Nicely done!
@stinks Glad to hear we’ve converted you over to the mead side! There’s a discount code on our website when you enter your email address- just FYI
I’m really proud of how that mead turned out. It’s really similar to our regular Monks Mead but we used lavender honey (lavender honey is more expensive than the GA wildflower we use in Monks) and we also didn’t add any CO2 so that it would be still. It turned out beautiful and I think was even “cleaner” than Monks. I’m also really proud of Monks… This year, we sent it in to two big mead specific competitions and we picked up a silver and a gold medal for it. So, we’re apparently doing something right. Cheers to you!
@jschoendorf8 congratulations. Meade competitions right up there with chocolate or coffee competitions