Shady Grove Wolf Valley Pear Mead

Brewed by Shady Grove Meadery
Style: Mead
Lake City, Tennessee USA

750ml. Lightly hazy topaz with some gentle bubbling in the glass. Aroma of pear, musty grape, vanilla, honey and earthy beeswax. Flavors are similar plus some vinous alcohol notes. Light-medium body is tingly, warming and lightly dry on the finish.

Clear effervescent yellow with a quick white fizz. Aroma is lightly flora, quite vinuous, with alcohol hints, pears peek over all of that. Taste is dry, big florals, some sweet pear is there in the finish but muddled with the alcohol bite.

Bottle. Pours a pale straw color with good sparkling carbonation and quickly falling legs. The aroma is quite vinous, with a lot of floral honey tones as well; also some alcohol and cidery notes. The flavor is like a very dry perry, with honey coming out toward the finish. Some bitter floral notes emerge throughout. Fuzzy mouthfeel.

Bottle split with Tronraner and friends. Pours a very light golden color with noticeable carbonation and a small, fizzy head even. This mead smells much more vinous than Shady Grove’s other offerings. There is faint pear, but mostly hints of a dark fruit boquet. The honey is very subdued in the nose. This brings a thin, drying palate, especially for a mead. Again, less honey is noticed here than in their other meads. That is a statement given Shady Grove’s very subtle offerings. It’s quite tart overall and hints at vanilla and more pear than the scent would have me believe.

Brewer’s reception Knoxville Brewer’s Jam. Most of my meads have been homebrews so that’s what I have to compare this to. Light yellow and lacked any sparkle. Slight cloudiness. A little pear aroma, but overall the aroma just wasn’t there. Thin palate delivers a slightly fruity, wine like medicinal taste. Too young perhaps?

Pale yellow with a gentle carbonation. No Head. Faint aroma of pear and honey (surprise). First sip is pear, then a rather unpleasent flavor of, I don’t know, cough medicine, maybe? The whole thing seemed discombobulated somehow. And this is the first ime I’ve thought a mead could’ve used MORE honey character.