By Laura Menard for Indiana On Tap
Before the big craft beverage boom, mead was probably something that conjured up images of Renaissance festivals, and cider was the backup option for people who didn’t drink beer. Here in Indianapolis, however, mead and cider have begun to enjoy their fair share of the craft spotlight, especially in our up and coming neighborhoods. In Fountain Square you’ll find locals eagerly awaiting New Day Craft’s annual Imperial Breakfast Magpie release, while across town on the near East side, the new Ash & Elm Cider is generating quite a bit of buzz. Mead and cider seem to be a new horizon for the Indianapolis craft scene, so I took the opportunity to chat with New Day Craft’s Michelle Aguirre to find out what it is exactly about this brand of beverage that has everyone clamoring for more.
So, what is the difference between mead and cider?
The way that I describe the difference to customers in the Tasting Room is that cider is apple based alcohol and mead is honey based alcohol. We use fresh pressed apples for cider and wildflower honey for our mead as the base of fermentation, instead of using grapes like other wineries.
What kinds of flavors should a first time taster expect?
Generally speaking cider can run the gamut from bone dry to super sweet with pronounced apple flavor. Not all ciders are apple based, though. Mead I feel tends to have a richer flavor and texture than cider due to the honey. Mead and cider can be carbonated or still (non-carbonated) as well.
What are some similarities between mead/cider and craft beer?
The mead and cider scene is as every bit as diverse as craft beer scene. Personally I feel like New Day fits in more with the craft beer crowd because our product is carbonated. They’re approachable and easy to drink. We have a lot of crossover customers that appreciate both craft beer and also craft cider and mead. Our ReThinker is a dry hopped mead with Cascade and Columbus hops and it’s a great gateway mead for a beer drinker to try.
Personally, what is your favorite mead or cider?
This is a difficult question. I have so many favorites! I narrowed it down to two that I geek out over. New Day’s Paulding Light is a cranberry lime mead. It’s a seasonal and I can’t have it as often as I’d like. It’s really tart and tastes like summertime in a glass. B Nektar’s The Dude’s Rug is a chai spiced cider. It doesn’t hurt that the label and name is a Big Lebowski reference.
Will there be any upcoming opportunities for us in the city to get familiar with new and different types of mead/cider?
I’m excited to say that I’m helping New Day put on Indiana’s first mead and cider festival. Our Meadful Things and Outciders Festival is on September 3rd at the Circle City Industrial Complex. It’s where our production facility is located. We’ll have over 30 mead and cider makers from all over the place participating with unlimited sampling. We’ll have food trucks, Bashiri Asad and Shelby County Sinners are playing, FACE will have animals for adoption and Yelp will have a photo booth. Bee Roasters is providing coffee, soda and water for the designated drivers. Tickets range from $10 – $50 and they’re on sale now. You can purchase them through Eventbrite or in our Tasting Room. If you’re a fan of our Imperial Breakfast Magpie (black raspberry mead aged in bourbon barrels) I would suggest buying a VIP ticket. That’s when all the cider and mead whales will be tapped. It’s going to be a hell of party and a great opportunity to try different mead and ciders to see how really diverse they can be.
There you have it! The Indiana craft beverage scene wouldn’t be complete without our friends making mead and cider. While tasting rooms around Indiana may not be able to compete with breweries in terms of sheer numbers, the flavors, innovative recipes, and good times are certainly enough reason to give our cider and mead makers a visit.
