Un-corking a new blog post

This is that first step, just to get started. The hardest step of beginning a habit.

Over a decade ago, I made a simple batch of mead, and it was nice after a year. Every batch after that was terrible. I suspect it was terrible because it had gone completely dry and I didn’t know about back sweetening!

Late 2024, a group of brewers in Ontario decided to make batches of mead using the same recipe just different local honey. Then we put it in a french oak barrel for a year. It came out gorgeous! Like a Chardonnay on the sweet end. That got me started. Maybe I could make mead again.

I started a five gallon batch of blueberry mead. Since my eldest daughter’s heraldic badge is a goose with a blueberry sprig in its beak, I decided to make some heraldic meads. I made an apple bunny spiced cyser for my youngest, an erably acerglyn for my wife, and I have yet to start a batch of braggot for myself. Aside from those one gallon batches, I also made a batch of fortified fruitcake mead, inspired by City Steading Brews. It is fantastic!

I have so many more ideas to try, and I am super excited for them.