Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Pyment mead honey wine
In the early 1500s with new trade routes open and sugarcane from the Americas creating a new source of sugar, honey producers were faced with a dilemma, not unlike blockbuster's dilemma with the popularity of Netflix. As honey production waned, so did mead production. In order to stretch mead, producers started mixing it with grape wines that would eventually leave mead in the dust. Hidden Legend Winery is proud to introduce our own version of this transition wine called pyment. This delightful mead is made from world class Montana honey just like all of our meads and is combined with just the right amount of red wine to create something very special. We are going to call it The King's Pyment. We will have it for sale by the beginning of April 2011. We have a little that can be sampled right away in our tasting room. Stop by and try it! Or visit HiddenLegendWinery.com to learn more.
Friday, April 2, 2010
making mead
I have been working in the wine industry and specifically with mead for over three years now, but I just made my first batch of mead on my own. They keep me chained in the office... :) I was amazed at how smoothly it went. I made a pure honey mead from Montana clover honey from the Bozeman area. I made it in a European style, which is to say that it is about 12.5% alcohol and has between 6 and 7% residual sugar. It is made from nothing but honey water and yeast. It turned out great. It tastes like the honey I started with about six weeks ago but with a little alcohol flavor like one would expect from 12.5% alcohol. It is a very smooth, sweet wine. I made it as a test run for a European (old world) style mead for Hidden Legend Winery which I am part owner. I had the help and guidance of our master mead maker Ken Schultz, so I could always ask him what one measurement or another meant and whether any adjustments would be advantageous. But I am convinced that anyone can make their own mead if they desire, especially with a little guidance from a book, mead maker, or web resource. It is fun and gives one a sense of accomplishment as well. I am going to start another batch in the coming weeks and will keep a regular log on here for you to follow if you like.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Mead doesn't put on heirs
Mead (honey wine) doesn't put on heirs. It is a naturally delicious drink that is made in the same fashion as wine but without all the fluffing. You can enjoy mead if you've never liked wine because it is a drink all its own. At the same time, you can enjoy mead if you like wine because it is a smooth and delicious drink. If you like the flavors of honey then you can just sit back and enjoy a nice cool glass of mead without worrying if you know enough about wine to enjoy it because it just plain tastes good. Be careful you don’t drink too much though, because one thing it has in common with wine is a 12.5 % alcohol content. You don't have to worry about whether it is dry enough to impress your friends or from the right region of the world because it is the oldest fermented beverage on the planet and most of your friends have never heard of it before. It is a drink that legends are made of and is a part of many legends. It can be made with just honey or have fruit added to create many different flavors. This means you are practically guaranteed to find a mead that you will love, because these fruit flavors are ones that you already know and are sure to enjoy in the form of mead. If you’ve never had mead give it a try. It tastes great!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thorvald's Mead
Mead (honey wine) has probably been around as long as mankind has roamed the earth collecting honey from wild hives and then later domesticating bees. Mead dates back to pre-history so we don’t know its exact origin but, we can take a guess. It is likely that is was discovered by accident. This has been the case with so many of the things we eat and drink today like cheese or Champaign. It was probably discovered when honey got wet and diluted enough to allow fermentation to start and then was refined over time.
The problem with mead making has been the natural preservatives in honey which can make fermentation challenging. Mead also took much longer than grapes to ferment with the yeasts of those times. Mead’s only advantage was the existence of honey everywhere while grapes were only in a few places. The spread of grapes around the known world and better ships and transportation systems left mead behind, but not dead.
Mead’s history is filled with stories of conquering heroes, villains, and intrigue. It was the preferred drink of Robin Hood’s merry men as well as the Knights of the Round Table. Regular folks as well as kings and queens have enjoyed mead equally. Mead has been forgotten by many but this ageless drink has not disappeared and will outlast us all. Its history is filled with intrigue and it has become a Hidden Legend. Thorvald (the Viking) is our connection to the past. He has fought in many battles for many different reasons but always drank mead. He has enjoyed meads from many lands and gotten to see the advancement of wine making technology to the point where we can now easily ferment honey and control the outcome. With age, Thorvald has put down his sword in order to enjoy the finer things in life. The evolution of mead to the point where it is comparable to the finest grape wines in flavor and sophistication is more exciting to him than storming the fortified towns of the Englishmen he tormented. While Thorvald remains a simple man, his pallet has evolved and he demands perfection. The ingredients in our mead are the finest in the world. From the honey that is produced in Montana with pride, to the wild berries collected from the mountains and valleys of the Rockies, only the best will do.
The problem with mead making has been the natural preservatives in honey which can make fermentation challenging. Mead also took much longer than grapes to ferment with the yeasts of those times. Mead’s only advantage was the existence of honey everywhere while grapes were only in a few places. The spread of grapes around the known world and better ships and transportation systems left mead behind, but not dead.
Mead’s history is filled with stories of conquering heroes, villains, and intrigue. It was the preferred drink of Robin Hood’s merry men as well as the Knights of the Round Table. Regular folks as well as kings and queens have enjoyed mead equally. Mead has been forgotten by many but this ageless drink has not disappeared and will outlast us all. Its history is filled with intrigue and it has become a Hidden Legend. Thorvald (the Viking) is our connection to the past. He has fought in many battles for many different reasons but always drank mead. He has enjoyed meads from many lands and gotten to see the advancement of wine making technology to the point where we can now easily ferment honey and control the outcome. With age, Thorvald has put down his sword in order to enjoy the finer things in life. The evolution of mead to the point where it is comparable to the finest grape wines in flavor and sophistication is more exciting to him than storming the fortified towns of the Englishmen he tormented. While Thorvald remains a simple man, his pallet has evolved and he demands perfection. The ingredients in our mead are the finest in the world. From the honey that is produced in Montana with pride, to the wild berries collected from the mountains and valleys of the Rockies, only the best will do.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Mead for Everyone
Mead is one of the oldest fermented beverages in the world. It predates history so no one is really sure where it was first made or by whom, but it has been written about in some of the oldest recorded literature. Literature like Beowulf where all the Vikings got together and drank mead in the "Mead Hall." Mead has been found preserved in jars on ships that sank in the Mediterranean and is believed to be the root word of medicine as Hippocrates used mead as one of his foundation medicines. What is mead? you ask....
Mead is wine made from honey. Don't let this mislead you though, it is wine because it is made in the same fashion as grape wine through cold fermentation, but it stands on its own as a unique drink that can be drank in its pure form or blended with any flavor imaginable. It is interesting to note that Hippocrates used mead in medicine because mead maintains a lot of the health qualities of honey. Meads also do not require sulfates in the fermentation process because of the preserving qualities of honey which make oxidation a moot point. This is also cool because you can keep an open bottle around for weeks and the honey wine will not change like grape wines do after you open a bottle.
Whether you have never heard of mead or just read about it and have never given it another thought, you should try mead. There are plenty of meaderies in the United States though it is not always easy to find mead in your local wine store. The Internet has changed things a little in that if you live in a state that allows it, you can order mead and have it shipped to your door. Hidden Legend Winery is a good place to buy mead because they produce award wining meads and if you order three or more bottles you will get free shipping. Another option is to make your own mead by combining honey, water, and yeast. There are dozens of recipes available by just doing a simple search online. Whether you go to someplace like Hidden Legend Winery or make your own, you should try mead, it is arguably the oldest fermented beverage on the planet.
Mead is wine made from honey. Don't let this mislead you though, it is wine because it is made in the same fashion as grape wine through cold fermentation, but it stands on its own as a unique drink that can be drank in its pure form or blended with any flavor imaginable. It is interesting to note that Hippocrates used mead in medicine because mead maintains a lot of the health qualities of honey. Meads also do not require sulfates in the fermentation process because of the preserving qualities of honey which make oxidation a moot point. This is also cool because you can keep an open bottle around for weeks and the honey wine will not change like grape wines do after you open a bottle.
Whether you have never heard of mead or just read about it and have never given it another thought, you should try mead. There are plenty of meaderies in the United States though it is not always easy to find mead in your local wine store. The Internet has changed things a little in that if you live in a state that allows it, you can order mead and have it shipped to your door. Hidden Legend Winery is a good place to buy mead because they produce award wining meads and if you order three or more bottles you will get free shipping. Another option is to make your own mead by combining honey, water, and yeast. There are dozens of recipes available by just doing a simple search online. Whether you go to someplace like Hidden Legend Winery or make your own, you should try mead, it is arguably the oldest fermented beverage on the planet.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Honeywine, also called mead, is the original medicinal wine, so........Drink to your Health!
Mead is Drinkable Honey, and it is known that it retains the numerous nutritional qualities of honey. The National Honey Board says that mead has similar health benefits of white wine due to the antioxidant characteristics of honey. The immune boosting properties of honey are retained in mead as well.
Hippocrates, the most famous father of medicine, promoted the use of honey in all kinds of healing ways. He also used elderberry tincture as a staple medicine, often combining this elderberry wine with raw honey to make it more palatable. Hidden Legend makes a Wild Elderberry Mead that is healthful as well as delicious! Honey was a dominant ingredient in many ancient medications and the mythical medicinal powers attributed to mead are because of the use of honey in the winemaking process. Honey is considered to be a disinfectant and alcohol can be used as an expectorant. When herbs are added to make various forms of metheglin (spiced mead), the medicinal qualities of the herbs are infused into the mead. Cultures all over the world made their own unique blend of metheglin to cure whatever was needed. Aborigines made mead from rare medicinal herbs and Europeans used over 100 different herbs in some mead that were designed as a complete Cure-All!
Mead is essentially a wine made by fermentation of honey using yeast. It is one of the oldest wines made by mankind and was often associated with health generating, aphrodisiac or magical powers in ancient literature and mythology. In Norse mythology for instance the “mead of Suttungr” could convert a layman to a scholar. In ancient Ethiopia “none except nobility and the highest chiefs and warriors were privileged to drink Tej( mead). Tej was considered to be the most treasured of gifts to be given to visiting royalty as evidenced by the fact that Makeda, Queen of Sheba, carried mead to King Solomon of Jerusalem.
Mead was a ritualistic drink of the Maya culture. When the Spaniards banned it in order to convert the natives to Christianity, many Mayans began dying off due to the missing health benefits of their mead.
Many languages have a word similar to “honeymoon” which refers to the drinking of honeywine during the first month of marriage. Such a commonality lends acceptance to the fact that many ancient societies believed honeywine was a drink that promoted health, an increased sex drive and the resulting fertility, especially of male offspring and so honeywine became the traditional wedding wine.
Hidden Legend Winery proudly carries on the traditions of the ancient meadmakers. The meads are made with the highest quality ingredients and finished to perfection in a natural way by our winemaker. We believe our wines retain the ancient mystical properties to enrich the lives of those who choose to drink them!
Hippocrates, the most famous father of medicine, promoted the use of honey in all kinds of healing ways. He also used elderberry tincture as a staple medicine, often combining this elderberry wine with raw honey to make it more palatable. Hidden Legend makes a Wild Elderberry Mead that is healthful as well as delicious! Honey was a dominant ingredient in many ancient medications and the mythical medicinal powers attributed to mead are because of the use of honey in the winemaking process. Honey is considered to be a disinfectant and alcohol can be used as an expectorant. When herbs are added to make various forms of metheglin (spiced mead), the medicinal qualities of the herbs are infused into the mead. Cultures all over the world made their own unique blend of metheglin to cure whatever was needed. Aborigines made mead from rare medicinal herbs and Europeans used over 100 different herbs in some mead that were designed as a complete Cure-All!
Mead is essentially a wine made by fermentation of honey using yeast. It is one of the oldest wines made by mankind and was often associated with health generating, aphrodisiac or magical powers in ancient literature and mythology. In Norse mythology for instance the “mead of Suttungr” could convert a layman to a scholar. In ancient Ethiopia “none except nobility and the highest chiefs and warriors were privileged to drink Tej( mead). Tej was considered to be the most treasured of gifts to be given to visiting royalty as evidenced by the fact that Makeda, Queen of Sheba, carried mead to King Solomon of Jerusalem.
Mead was a ritualistic drink of the Maya culture. When the Spaniards banned it in order to convert the natives to Christianity, many Mayans began dying off due to the missing health benefits of their mead.
Many languages have a word similar to “honeymoon” which refers to the drinking of honeywine during the first month of marriage. Such a commonality lends acceptance to the fact that many ancient societies believed honeywine was a drink that promoted health, an increased sex drive and the resulting fertility, especially of male offspring and so honeywine became the traditional wedding wine.
Hidden Legend Winery proudly carries on the traditions of the ancient meadmakers. The meads are made with the highest quality ingredients and finished to perfection in a natural way by our winemaker. We believe our wines retain the ancient mystical properties to enrich the lives of those who choose to drink them!
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