Mead appealed to David Lane because of the fermentation challenge: it’s hard to make a bad wine, but easy to make a bad mead.
“Honey sometimes needs various chemical nudges,” he said. “It’s a big puzzle figuring out how to get the chemistry just right for each varietal.”
His Oregon-based brand, Wild Nectar Mead, is made with honey from local honeybees. Interacting with their beekeepers made Lane even more passionate about mead. He learned about the dangers of honeybee extinction and the importance of local pollinators. He calls it his “bee-cause.”
Each mead flavor reflects the essence of a variety of honey, such as basswood, clover or wildflower. Lane says he loves these flavor differences.
Lane also has taken a different approach to production. Many purists believe a good mead needs months-long fermentation. Lane has tinkered with a process that takes only a month.
“(Mead) has a long history, but then it fell out of favor with history,” Lane said. “So it feels like a comeback drink to a lot of people.” Read more (auburnpub.com)