Well……

Mixed results with this lot. Firstly, the Gluten-Free batch has turned out wonderful and crisp. It is certainly sweet, but not overly so like a standard Mead would be. The hops qualities are subtle, and I think counter-act the sweetness of the honey. This is wonderful when it is super cold.

Not my particular cup of tea, but I don’t mind drinking it. Those who don’t like beer and most females love it! To me, its more like a glass of bubbly than an ale – remembering of course that there is no malt in this whatsoever.

The malted version on the other hand turned out terribly!! I believe that I have here my first infection. In the dim dark days of being a beginner-brewer, I was always warned about infections and the need for good sanitation practices. The crusty old experts would always say, “you’ll know when you have an infection”.

And yes, for all you who ask how you know when you have an infected batch… you’ll know it! Like I do with this batch. So 10 Lt of Snail-Ale now awaits the slugs and snails that have shown up with the rain….

I can also add here that Cascade hops IMHO are definitely not the hops of choice for a mead/braggot! The original recipe had hops with gentler, subtler flavours and bitterness – Cascade, whilst wonderful in an American-style Amber (such as Mountain Goat’s Hightail Ale), is certainly not suited to this kind of taste.

Remembering that a Braggot is essentially a mead made with malt! It lies somewhere between a beer with honey and honey with beer…

Ultimately, I have been disappointed with these brews. The original Midsummer Night’s Mead was a gem. Perhaps in making a larger batch, we don’t just multiply the numbers by a particular factor. Perhaps also this is to do with the quality and type of honmey used. I had no control over the honey this time around, and I don’t know what type it was, as a friend bought it for us. The original used ‘Brewer’s Honey’ which is available from my local HBS – perhaps this stuff isn’t as strong in flavour. Clover honey is what is usually used in traditional mead recipes, as it is sweet and not too overpowering. Whilst I don’t mind the strong Eucalypt honeys that we can get here in Australia on toast, that strong aroma could interfere with the complex flavours we play around with in beers and braggots.