OnTap Magazine

100+ Types of Base and Specialty Malts +32 (0) 87 662 095 www.castlemalting.com info@castlemalting.com Organic malts THE MANY FACES OF MEAD It’s interesting that mead makes it into the BJCP guidelines when it really has more in common with wine than beer, at least in terms of production and alcohol content. But as I look at the range of glasses strewn across our table and the line of varying bottles and cans we have just sipped from I do see a similarity. Like beer, mead seems to bring with it an air of experimentation. When I was reading up on what’s happening in the global mead scene I came across an article in which an honest writer admitted she didn’t know a thing about the beverage, not even how to drink it. “Do you serve mead chilled, room temperature, or warm?” she muses to her co-workers, who are unable to offer council. But having spent an afternoon tasting at the Cape Town Mead Company, I think the answer to that question is “yes”. Yes, you sometimes drink it chilled, like champagne. Yes, you sometimes drink it at room temperature, like a robust red wine. And yes, if the setting is right and the weather calls for it, you can drink it heated on the stovetop with your choice of fruit and spice. In fact there is so much variety in mead you’re bound to find something you enjoy, if you just take the leap and sample some. It makes me want to put up my Christmas tree TASTING TIME The Cape Town Mead Company runs tutored tasting sessions twice a month at their Maitland premises. Follow them on Facebook for dates of upcoming tasting sessions: facebook.com/MelaureaMead. Matawi is a contract brand produced at the Cape Town Mead Company