What are you drinking?

If you were anywhere in the world besides here in the USA, I’d just say your drinking Mead. But here Mead is defined as “being wholly made of Honey, sugar, water, or hops. If you search for a definition of Sugar in the regulations it says cane sugar or the various artificial sugars. Maple syrup is not a sugar under regulations, its made the exact same way as the artificial sugar xylitol (made from Birch sap as an artificial / Non fermentable sugar) so if I use maple syrup in my formula to make this mead it can not be called mead. It has a really long confusing name instead. I’ll use my Pomegranate mead as an example, I use 120 pounds of honey 1qt of pure pomegranate concentrate and 1 gallon of maple syrup, then after pasteurization, I back flavor it with 8qt of pomegranate concentrate. By regulation this is not mead it is “Honey, Pomegranate, maple syrup wine with Pomegranate added” I can not say Mead anywhere on the label as you the customer might actually think your drinking mead. If you were to read this description in the store, then what is it? Is it a honey wine flavored with pomegranate and Maple syrup? or is it a Pomegranate wine flavored with Honey and Maple syrup or is it a Maple syrup wine flavored with Pomegranate and Honey? It could be any of those combinations and honestly I been thinking of trying out a Maple Syrup wine flavored with Honey it sounds like it would be fantastic. And why do you have to say Pomegranate twice? Meh you know reasons. As it was put to me “because that is what you are making” and “because your label of Pomegranate Acerglyn Mead is misleading”

So what is a Mead? By world standards its any alcohol made that has at least 51% of the sugars to make it are from Honey. In the US its 100% give or take the above ingredients. So in theory, I could use 10% honey and 90% cane sugar and still call it Mead, as the amounts don’t matter. What I’ve actually made in that scenario is a low alcohol rum with some honey in it to add some complexity.

So lets go further down the Rabbit hole :) I had this statement on my label: When you drink Mead, you are drinking 5000+ years of preserved history. Mead is one of the few ways in which you can touch a time when life was lived on natures terms. I had to change it to: When you drink Honey wine, you are drinking 5000+ years of preserved history. Honey wine is one of the few ways in which you can touch a time when life was lived on natures terms. IDK if it will get approved I’ll let you know. Because its not made “wholly of honey, sugar, water or hops” This statement leads you the customer to think you are drinking Mead.

Seems per volume is to confusing so it has to be by volume, which is totally different. Also Government warning was not bold enough for their liking so I made it bigger. This is the third time this month, I’ve submitted this label with the Sulfite test attached to the request showing this mead is negative for sulfites. It seems they don’t read comments and don’t look at attachments even though that is were your suppose to put it. I will most likely need to call to have that fixed.

At this point in my experience with this agency, is that the only thing they really seem to understand about mead is that it is not Wine, you are regulated as wine under the chapter of “Other than standard wine” but its defiantly not wine. I agree with them here, Mead is not wine even though it shares some similarities. Mead should be its own category and if you are actually concerned about peoples safety you would need to understand that mead is its own category. You would need to be more concerned about what corks are being used and PH of the mead rather than “By vs Per” in alcohol content". A simple ingredients list (not required presently) would make it easy for anyone with allergies. A statement of pasteurization would clear up most sulfide problems (I do like that you are required to have your mead tested for sulfides). Presently they are more concerned that if I put on the label that pineapples were historically used as a medicine you might think that my Pineapple mead is now a medical cure for what ails you. Mead was used as a kind of vector to bring certain herbs and spices thought to help with certain ailments. Depression, stomach issues and constipation to list a few. There are far better ways to cure these issues now but at the time it was thought to be the best solution. I personally have used Mint to calm an upset stomach and honey mixed with lemon to help with coughing when i have a cold. I have also found Mead to be very helpful to relax at the end of a hard day of work.