Beer Man: Honey enhances festive Black Fang mead

Todd Haefer | The (Appleton, Wis.) Post-Crescent

Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.

This week: Black Fang

B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale, Mich.

www.bnektar.com

The December holiday season is a time of special beverages, whether it be holiday beers, Tom and Jerries or champagne. A decidedly different yet appropriate choice to kick in the new year is mead.

A true mead is fermented with honey, although fruit and spices can be added. However, there are many wineries in the U.S. that cheat by calling some of their products mead, when in reality they are just adding honey to wines they have made.

These generally just taste like sweetened white wines. True mead has incredible floral aromas from the honey used and is soft on the palate.

B. Nektar is a meadery based in Michigan and its Black Fang is a festive mead made with the addition of blackberry juice, cloves and orange zest.

It poured a purple color with red highlights and the aroma of the blackberry and clove was immediate and inviting. Meads do not form a head and can be carbonated or still; Black Fang has a nice medium carbonation similar to what you might find in a typical cider.

The blackberry flavor was fresh and enhanced by the sweetness from the honey. The clove flavor was intense and bordering on overkill, but it was tempered by the honey and the delicate orange that came through more in the aftertaste.

The smooth mouth feel and medium-sweet honey ended in a slightly tart finish, with the clove and orange lingering for a bit. Black Fang, at 6% ABV, was a nice change of pace from beer.

B. Nektar offers an impressive number of unique meads, including Kill All the Golfers, infused with lemon and black tea; Zombie Killer, made with cherries and apple cider; One-Eyed Ian, a pineapple mead with toasted coconut and aged in rum barrels; Zombies Take Manhattan, cherry and apple mead aged in rye whiskey barrels. There are many more.

B. Nektar distributes in 17 states, and Washington, D.C., mostly east of the Mississippi River, but also California and Alaska. It has a Where to Buy link at the top of its home page. Availability is listed by state, county and retail or tavern establishment.

Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.