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1997 BJCP Mead Guidelines
A mead made primarily from honey, water, and yeast. Honey should be expressed in aroma and flavor. The mead should have a neutral acidity-sweetness-tannin balance.
Uses generic honey or a blend of honey.
Made from honey from particular flower source (clover and wildflower honey are unacceptable in this category). The brewer must name the varietal honey. Examples inculde buckwheat, orange blossom, star thistle, fireweed snowberry, raspberry blossom, mesquite, heather, alfalfa, tupelo, etc.) The mead should showcase the distinctive taste of the particular varietal honey.
A mead made with fruit. The fruit may be expressed in the aroma, the taste and color of the mead in widely varying degrees. Honey should be expressed in aroma and flavor. There should be an appealing but not necessarily equal balance between the honey and the fruit character in both the aroma and taste.
Should have distinct apple character in aroma and taste. Color should be straw.
Should be either straw to golden color or have a pink to purple cast. The mead should have a definite grape wine character, but should also have a balanced honey character. Grassy white wine character or buttery (diactyl) chardonnay character is appropriate in pyment (or hippocras) only.
Should have a distinct and intense raspberry flavor. Raspberry tartness and tannin should be balanced by honey sweetness, tartness and tannin should be balanced by honey sweetness though the finish may be dry or sweet. Honey flavor and aroma should still come through. The mead should have a deep red-purple color.
Should have a deep reddish brown color. Cherry may be subtle or very strong depending on variety of cherries used and may partially mask the honey character. Some almond character from the cherry pits is okay and can be a plus. This melomel may range from a light cherry hydromel to a heavy, sherry-like after dinner drink. Some oxidation may be appropriate to give this mead a sherry or port like character.
Has many similarities to cherry melomel. Color ranges from pale to a deep purple or reddish brown. Plum character should be apparent in both the aroma and taste, balanced with the honey character. Some oxidation may be appropriate to give this mead a sherry or port character.
Should have a fresh strawberry aroma. May not have any discernible strawberry color. Strawberry taste may be delicate. Good examples will have a definite strawberry character in the aroma and taste, but will probably be delicate meads in order to be balanced.
May not have nay discernible blueberry color. Blueberry taste may be delicate. Good examples will have a definite blueberry character in the aroma and taste, but will probably be delicate meads in order to be balanced.
May be Boysenberry, Marion Berry, Morat (mulberry), Blackberry, Cranberry, Elderberry or others. Most berry melomel will have a distinct reddish to purple color. Berry flavor and aroma should be present and balanced with honey character. Berry melomels have a tendancy to be overly tannic; a good tannin-sweetness balance is desired.
May have a fresh peach taste or add a more subtle fruitness. Instead of having a fruit-honey balance, peach melomels are unique in that the peach taste blends in the honey taste, giving a whole greater than the sum of the parts. Slight cloying quality okay. Color should be a pinkish golden.
Should have a pink-orange tint. Apricot taste and aroma may be strong, with an accompanying strong honey character. The acid-sweetness balance in this mead is particularly hard to attain, as apricots tend to be very acidic.
May be more acidic (tarter) than other melomels, but should still have a good acid/sweet balance. May be made with orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, tangerine or other citrus fruits. Little or no expression of fruit in the color. Citrus character may be hard to discern unless compared to a traditional mead. Honey character will probably dominate, but citrus should be still come through.
May include papaya, mango, kiwi, guava, pomegranate, or other tropical fruits. Should express fruit character, but may be difficult to judge to less familiarity with the fruit tastes. Color may be straw (kiwi) to orange golden (mango, papaya, guava) to purplish (pomegranate). Fruit may be expressed as an enhanced fruitiness blended with the honey flavor.
Less grape pears may give a deep golden color. A purple color fading to pink over time is normal for very ripe prickly pears. Prickly pears lend a dry, dusty or powdery taste, overlaid on a sweet background. Honey should be a prominent and accentuated by the prickly pear.
Other fruits/combinations. See general melomel description.
A mead made with spices or herbs. The spices should be expressed in the aroma and flavor of the mead, but usually won’t appear in the color. There should be a pleasing but not necessarily equal honey-spiced balance in the mead. Metheglins containing more than one spice should also have a good balance between the different spices, through stronger spices tend to dominate. Often a blend of spices may give a character greater than the sum of its parts.
May contain Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Nutmeg, Citrus Rind, Mace, or other mulling spices. Most metheglins in this subcategory will contain a blend of these spices. If several spices are used, spices should be blended together. A common problem is overdoing the ginger, as it tends to dominate. Honey should be very noticeable and should blend well with these spices. B. Beer Spice Metheglin Beer Spice Metheglin May contain Coriander, Cardamom, Curacaco Orange Peel, Woodruff or other spices often associated with beers. Spices should be evident and balanced with honey character. May be reminiscent of a Wit Beer or Berliner Weisse. The mead will probably be light in order not to overwhelm the delicate spices.
May contain Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Anise, Maple Syrup, Sassafras Root or other mellow or rounded tasting spices. These spices all have smooth tastes, in contrast to the more piquant spices in the other subcategories. The flavor of the spices may be blended with that of the honey more than be balanced with it. Acidity-sweetness balance is particularly important, as these metheglins will have a tendency to be cloying. Some cloying character is acceptable. Anise has a flavor similar to licorice.
May contain Oregano Basil, Thyme, Bay Leaves, Sage, Rosemary, Garlic or other Italian food, enhancing and augmenting the tastes present in the meal. Mixtures of these spices may be more common than individual spice metheglin. The mead may be light to balance the honey and spice character, with the exception of garlic metheglins.
May be made from Rose Petals (Rhodomel), Dandelion Petals, Lavendar Petals, Tea Blends (Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe, Bergamot, Chamomile, Jasmine, etc.) Heather Tips, Hop Cones (Miodomel), Honeysuckle Flowers or other flower petals. In most cases, these metheglins will be hydromels in order to showcase the fragile taste and aroma of the flower petals. Metheglins made wih teas and hops will be the exception to this, and will be stronger in body. Honey character should be present, but will be light to balance the delicate flower character.
May contain White Pepper, Black Pepper, Mint, Spearmint, Peppermint, Lemon Grass, Curry Powder, Grains of Paradise, Juniper Berries, Spruce, Mustard Seed, Fennel Turmeric, Fenugreek, Cumin or other peppery spices. These pungent spices provide a fitting counterpoint to the sweetness of the honey. Honey should be prominent but balanced with the spice character.
(Capsimel, named for the spicy chemical capsacin and the genus of the chile plants, capsicum) May contain Jalapeno Peppers, New Mexico Green Chiles (Sandia, Espanola, Hatch, Numex Big Jim, Rio Grande), Red Chiles, Poblano Chiles, Mexican Pequin, Pepper, Anco Chiles, Chipotle Chiles, Tabasco Peppers, Cayennne Peppersm Cascabel Peppers, Thai Peppers or other chiles or peppers. The metheglin may vary widely in amount of heat. Always judge capsimels last in a flight. The taste of the chile should be evident as well as the heat. A strong sweetness and honey flavor will be necessary to balance the chile flavor. Chile character should also be present in the aroma.
See general metheglin description. A mead made with malted barley or wheat (also spelled Bracket or Bragget). The majority of the fermentable sugars should come from honey (otherwise it is really more of a honey ale). A braggot should have good malt character in the aroma and the flavor. Hop bitterness, flavor and aroma may be present, but are not required. There should be a good balance between the beer aspect and the mead aspect of a bracket, especially |
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