A Friend with Mead..

is a friend indeed! Or so I surmise. I just wrapped up preparing my inaugural batch of mead this evening. Also known as honey wine, mead is at its simplest, fermented honey and water. One can add all manner of fruits and/or spices to the honey and water, though the resultant beverages are technically referred to by other, more specific names (melomel, pyment, and metheglin are made from honey and fruit, honey and grapes, and honey and spices, respectively). I just went for a basic, standard issue mead, one that I intend to bottle still, not sparkling. I picked up some local Colorado honey (clover and star thistle) and in performing some initial quality control testing, I discovered what I already knew was true but had never confirmed personally...Fresh honey is fucking amazing! Yes, that's right, the honey in the cute little bear at the supermarket - you know the one that's been sitting there for 1000 years? He can't hold a candle to fresh, unprocessed, local honey.

Anyway, I have been an avid homebrewer for about 10 years now and have always intended to try my hand at mead and cider but never wanted to tie up a fermenter for the requisite 6 months to a year. But since moving, and chasing the little guy around, I haven't gotten my act together to brew, so I figured in honor of Mead Day (as decreed by the American Homebrewers' Assn..err..Brewers' Assn now), I'd whip up a batch.

So, we'll see how it goes. It was really easy, and clean, especially compared to brewing in the kitchen. I relied on a bunch of helpful advice from Bob at Brew at Home in Westminster for ingredients, as well as the bible of meadmaking - Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker.

Anyway, I know I mentioned in my last post that I'd be taking on Disneyland in my next post, but you know what, it's just not that interesting. Suffice to say, I was going to comment briefly on the following:

1) Their security screening when you go into the park is laughable.
2) I find it impressive that they've indoctrinated all of their concession workers so thoroughly that they can sell you a bottled water (most likely Anaheim municipal water) for $5 with a straight face.

and finally..

3) Even after charging $56 for an adult and $46 for a child between 3 and 9 for a single day, single park ticket, they still feel the need to charge you $10 for parking.

The Happiest Place on Earth?! Maybe so if cleaning out your bank account for a day of fun makes you giddy with delight.

But hey, the little man had a grand old time, so it was worth it - my bitching on this topic stops now.