Many thanks to the guests and to the beekeeper and mead producer Jürgen Piller, the guest of honor at the big mead tasting last Saturday.
For the second time we have brought Jürgen the Metprofi to our house and numerous friends of cultivated mead culture have accepted our invitation. For more than 25 years, Jürgen has been known as Georg von Rotenturm at medieval markets and as the maker of the Eisenfaust Met, which is famous beyond the borders. His mead is a rare variety that does not contain any sulphites (unsulphurised). He lets his mead mature and ferment completely in large tanks for months, so that no additives are necessary when bottling Eisenfaust mead.
But Jürgen is not only a professional for his own mead, but also an expert when it comes to assessing other types of mead. He knows all varieties of mead, from fruity mead varieties to colorful mead to related spiced wines with honey. He is also great at classifying and judging beer with honey or mead.
On Saturday, the guests had the rare opportunity to taste more than 10 different types of mead personally under the guidance of Mr. Eisenfaust. In addition to pure mead from Germany and Austria, purple unicorn blood and cherry-red blood eagle could also be tasted. But not only small manufacturers were eyed, also mead varieties produced in large series such as the original Viking mead, mead from berry wines, as well as Katlenburger mead were included in the tastings. Some guests were very enthusiastic about the original Viking mead from the north German Viking country, as well as the Teufelsmead from the berry wines in Minden.
In the end, however, the guests preferred the little beekeepers and mead makers and so, in addition to the Eisenfaust mead from Burgenland, the Hypocras (spiced wine with honey) from Upper Austria and the elderberry mead from Lower Austria did best. The biggest wow effect was with Hypocras, because nobody expected this wine to taste like apple compote or apple strudel. In unison, the brew was judged to be sensationally good.
The following products were tasted and discussed:
- Eisenfaust mead (sulfite-free), Piller beekeeping, Burgenland
- Eisenfaust Met Frizzante (sulfite-free), Piller beekeeping, Burgenland
- Eisenfaust mead with gin (sulfite-free), Piller beekeeping, Burgenland
- Einhornblut Mead, Ragnarök Beekeeping, Lower Austria
- Blutalder Mead, Ragnarök Beekeeping, Lower Austria
- Vanaheim Mead, Ragnarök Beekeeping, Lower Austria
- Weißer Hypocras (spicy wine with honey), Steyrer Bräu, Upper Austria
- Bock beer with forest honey, Ried brewery, Upper Austria
- Original Viking Met, Behn company, Germany
- Red mead, Katlenburger company, Germany
- Teufelsmet, Beerenweine company, Germany
- Honey caramel honey wine, company Beerenweine, Germany
- Honey vinegar (double fermented honey), Thun beekeeping, Italy
- Habanero chili paste with honey, Biohof Rohrauer, Burgenland
- Canela spice honey, company EZA, Salzburg
- only at the 3 p.m. meeting: Viking Legende Met, Behn company, Germany
Fresh bread and water were served to neutralize.
If you didn't have the opportunity to attend the mead tasting or to inquire about mead in the world honey shop, you can order your favorite mead online in the web shop and have it delivered. Here is the link to the range of drinks: https://welthonig.at/collections/geranke