Groennfell Meadery
  • Our Meads
    • Year-Round
    • Seasonal
    • Buy Mead Online
    • Mead Finder
  • About
  • Blog
    • Articles
    • Videos
    • Thursday Fun Facts
    • Cocktails
    • Homebrew Recipes
    • Food Recipes
  • Contact
    • Marketing Materials
  • Store

What the Heck is Wassail?

12/29/2014

1 Comment

 
Or, “Why You Should be Drinking Wassail on New Year’s Eve.”

Winter Warmer Mead from Groennfell Meadery
At the Midwinter Fest, Groennfell Meadery went through 76 gallons of Wassail. While few people bothered to ask at the time, we’ve been getting a flurry of e-mails and questions in the tasting room about… well… what exactly they were drinking.

Like everything from a long time ago, the origins of Wassail are mostly the stuff of legend. Here are the facts:

Wassail, the term, comes from “waes hael” which means “good health.” The base alcohol was beer or mead, with cider and sometimes wine being thrown in for good measure. It was always spiced and traditionally served piping hot. And, last but not least, it was associated with New Year’s rather than Christmas.

This last fact isn’t startling once you realize two things: First, Wassail was extremely popular in Britain long before Christianity was. And second, Christmas trumping New Year’s as the major winter holiday is a pretty new thing; well into the 14th Century gifts were given on New Year’s Day rather than Christmas.

From Wassail itself we get the idea of Wassailing.[1] Wassailing was the practice of going from door-to-door singing, caroling, or generally making a ruckus until the owners gave you something to drink and eat. Early wassailing songs all reference having a “Happy New Year.”

While our Wassail is served at cellar temperatures rather than piping hot – a fact you could remedy with the help of this article -  it is based on a very old recipe which was modified to exclude the curdled milk and whole chunks of apples.

So, when you drink our Winter Warmer, know that you are drinking a piece of history.

Or, to put it another way, you should pick up a growler of the stuff for your New Year’s Eve Festivities and spout facts from this article until your friends send you a-wassailing elsewhere.


[1] All alcoholic beverages should have an associated verb, and Groennfell has recently compiled a list which will be made available soon. Be Excited.


1 Comment

Ask the Meadmaker Ep 25: Kiss Me at Midnight

12/27/2014

0 Comments

 
In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about making a Bochet, carbonating with priming sugar, the benefits of conical fermenters, how Groennfell's mead would compare with what the Vikings drank, and more!
Further Reading:
Traditional Mead
Carbonating Mead
Mead Varieties
0 Comments

Thursday Fun Fact 12-25: OSHA Approved

12/25/2014

0 Comments

 
Thursday Fun Fact 12-25 - Groennfell Meadery - OSHA Approved. Festive as Hell. Merry Christmas from Groennfell Meadery!
0 Comments

Literally Swimming in Alcohol

12/22/2014

0 Comments

 
Canning Factory c. 1898Ricky's Apartment, c. 1898
It’s the end of Harvest Season here in New England and that means Preserving Parties! While we’ve done videos about canning and smoking before, today we’re going to go in a surprising new direction: Preserving with Alcohol!

Alcohol preservation comes in two major varieties: fermenting fruit to keep it through the winter and packing in alcohol.

If you don’t understand the concept of fermenting fruit, you’re probably on the wrong blog. At some point, we’ll finish our analysis of nutrient survival during fermentation, but until then it’s probably best if you eat apples to stay healthy and drink hard cider to get tipsy.

So, let’s talk about Alcohol Packing which is, on the face of it, a very easy concept:
Step 1: Wash, Rinse, and/or Clean Fruit
Step 2: Put Fruit in Jars
Step 3: Pour in Alcohol
Step 4: Wait a Long Time
Step 5: Eat

Here are the basic ground rules:
  • Any fruit works, but if your fruit has an impermeable skin, you have to either section the fruit or lacerate the skin.
  • You need a fairly high-proof alcohol source for sake of safety: 80 proof is recommended, but 60 or even 40 should be just fine. This means you can blend a pint of brandy with a cup of Valkyrie’s Choice or Dirty Mayor and be in the safe zone.
  • Most people add more sugar and spices to their mix.
  • Any alcohol works, but remember this is a marriage of flavors. If you put apples in vodka you’ll apple-y vodka and booze-y apples. If you put apple slices in brandy with a cinnamon stick and a few tablespoons of honey you have: Magic.
  • Wait a long time. Like, much longer than you want to. Three months is a reasonable aging time, but six months is better.

Now what? Well, it depends on what you’ve made. Small fruit and things like lemon peels make great garnishes in cocktails. Slightly larger whole fruits can be treated like an edible shot.

We’ll be releasing several of our favorite recipes in the next few weeks, so make sure to visit our Recipe Blog. Or, better yet, subscribe with RSS Here!

Oh yeah, and the New York Times had a pretty OK article about Fruit Packing HERE.

0 Comments

Holiday Hours 2014

12/20/2014

0 Comments

 
Holiday Ornament at Groennfell Meadery
Need a Seventh Night Hanukkah gift? Still shopping for Christmas? Really need some mead for New Year’s Eve? Just need a place to escape from your family?

Then you probably want to know our Special Holiday Hours!

In addition to our normal hours, we will be open:
Noon - 4 PM on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24th) and
Noon – 4 PM on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31st).

And of course, as always, you can give us a call during our off hours to see if we’re in… there’s a good chance we are and would be more than happy to help you!

Can't make it to Colchester before the holiday? There are lots of other places you can find our mead in Vermont! Check out our Mead Finder.

The tasting room will be closed on Christmas Day and January 1st.

0 Comments

Thursday Fun Fact 12-18: Axiom of Choice

12/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Thursday Fun Fact 12-18 - Groennfell Meadery - Assuming an infinite number of Variety Cases of Groennfell Mead, you would have no problem always having a bottle of Mannaz. But if you had an infinite number of cases of Mannaz, you would need to apply the Axiom of Choice to be able to drink one each day for eternity. It’s true... sort of. (Well, only if you’re obsessed with Set Theory, actually.)
0 Comments

Midwinter Fest a Success!

12/15/2014

0 Comments

 
Thank you to everyone who came out to Midwinter Fest on Saturday! We had a fantastic time, and we hope you did too. Here are a few of the highlights from the evening.
We ate over 155 pounds of hog, this is about 1/9th of it.
This little dude is probably the number one fan of the Fatheads.
Midwinter Fest drew well over 200 people.
So Freakin’ Festive!
Enthusiastic Revelers abound. Here are two of them.
Even the tanks got into the spirit of things.
0 Comments

Ask the Meadmaker Ep. 24

12/13/2014

0 Comments

 

A Very Special Holiday Special

In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about mead styles, how he got interested in mead, brewing with Birch Sap, and more.
Further Reading:
Brewing with strange ingredients
Metheglins of history
0 Comments

Thursday Fun Fact 12-11: Hashtag No Filter

12/9/2014

0 Comments

 
Thursday Fun Fact 12-11 - Groennfell Meadery - This is Ricky the Meadmaker. This image has not been doctored in any way.
0 Comments

All Ready For the Mulling Pokers

12/8/2014

2 Comments

 
Swedish Glogg - Photo by Mr. ChoppersPicture Credit: Mr. Choppers
It's the time of year when hands and bellies want something warm at eventide, and few things fit the bill better than mulled beverages.

Now, you might expect us to wax poetic as to why mead is the best beverage to mull, but you're wrong. The staff of Groennfell will mull just about anything that has alcohol in it: wine, beer, cider, mead, you name it.

Although we have gotten about a dozen requests for instructions on how to mull mead, we're going to do one better and give you our general rules for mulling anything.

A Mulled Beverage - as we define it - is any non-dairy beverage[1] which has been warmed up and spiced (it needn't have alcohol, but it probably should).

The Rules of the Road
  • You probably want to aim for 13-18% alcohol content; this may mean adding liquor
  • Carbonated beverages lose their CO2 as they're heated; account for this with more liquor
  • Sure, you can buy pre-mixed mulling spices, but why would you? Mix your own!
  • If you use smaller spices like cloves or cardamom, put them in a spice bag
  • Brandy, rum, and vodka tend to be better liquors for mulled beverages than whiskey or gin
  • Feel free to drink whiskey while waiting for your mulling to finish
  • Try putting in fruit for a fun (or startling) surprise at the bottom of your mug
  • Low and slow is the name of the game, try to keep it right around 185F for at least three hours
  • We don't add any sugar to ours, but you may... it's your drink

There you have it. What's our favorite mead to mull? Surprise! It's not one of ours!

Our favorite meads to mull are Apple Cyser from Maine Mead Works and Vanilla Beans and Cinnamon from Redstone Meadery.  Get mulling!

[1] For an excellent warm, spiced dairy drink,  we suggest a Cup of Hot Jones.  Ask Ricky for his recipe some time...

2 Comments
<<Previous

    Blog

    Groennfell Meadery is Vermont’s premier craft meadery. Inspired by Old Norse legends, brewed with extraordinary ingredients, Groennfell’s meads are unlike anything you’ve had before. Crisp, clean, and astoundingly drinkable, the only way to explain any one of Groennfell’s meads is to try one yourself.

    RSS Feed

    Recipes using Mead

    Categories

    All
    About Mead
    Announcements
    Articles
    Ask The Boss
    Ask The Meadmaker
    B Corp
    Bees And Honey
    Bevv
    Cocktails
    Colchester's Mead Hall
    Construction
    Contest
    Distribution
    Drink Your Values
    Events
    Firkin Friday
    Food
    Friendly Viking Fund
    Gifts
    Holiday
    Humour
    Infographic
    Kolbitar
    Legal Matters
    Logo
    Mead History
    Meadmaking
    News
    Photos
    Playlists
    Podcast
    Poem
    Quizzes
    Recipes
    Renaissance Faire
    Sale
    Science
    Seasonal
    Skillful Saturday
    Survey
    The Feast
    Thursday Fun Fact
    Updates
    Vermont Craft Mead
    Videos

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013


    Newsletters

    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2016
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016​
    • Older
    Sign up for our emails!
Home  |  Our Meads  | About  |  Blog  |  Contact  |  Store
650 Industrial Park Rd. Saint Albans, VT 05478
(802)497-2345
Privacy and Use Policy