by stambrose | May 16, 2016 | Mead
It was a steamy morning in the Indus Valley, and the humble farmer surveyed his new tree while whiping sweat from his brow. It had borne him a yellow fruit, similar to the citron he knew, but it was just a bit different. He bit the new fruit. And he regretted it. The lemon had entered this world, and begun a journey of many millenia.
Fast-forward to 2016, and St. Ambrose Cellars. The lemon has reached perfection. There can be none more lemon. John Lemon, a mix of fermented honey and lemon flavor, has arrived to taps for the summer season.
The Lemon
Our creation story of the lemon may not be 100% accurate, but the history of the lemon is thought to have begun somewhere in the general area many thousands of years ago. Thought to be a derivative of the bitter orange and the citron, lemons have spread across the globe thanks to their versatility and many uses. The lemon has been used a source of citric acid for cleaning supplies, to marinade fish, to help prevent scurvy, and to launch a million small-business owners into their entrepreneurial careers.
In addition to being absolutely delicious, the lemon has health benefits – making John Lemon a healthy addition to any diet. As alluded to, lemons have been used to help treat scurvy because of their high Vitamin C content. They also contain high amounts of citric acid, flavonoids, B-complex vitamins, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and fiber.
The porch at St. Ambrose Meadery
We aren’t doctors. And this isn’t medical advice. But it sure seems like a John Lemon a day might help you keep the doctor at bay. You’ll enjoy the process either way.
Pick up your John Lemon at stores that carry our draft meads (locator here), in the tasting room, or online. It’s only around for the summer, so be quick!
by stambrose | Apr 27, 2016 | Live Music, Mead, Tasting Room
Here comes the sun…
The bees are buzzin in our fields and you can be too, this Friday, as our old friend John Lemon returns to our taps this weekend.
As draft meads go in the tasting room, this one seems to have a cult-like following, not unlike it’s namesake. We have been awaiting its return for many moons and couldn’t be happier to re-release it on the same day our “house band”, Alfredo, hopes to have its cd release party, as part of our Friday Night Music Series. While its up to the goddess of fed ex to deliver their goods on time, our Mazers promise to have loads of our lavish lemon flowing all day long.
Join us starting at
noon for an all day happy hour, where glasses of all our draft meads will be half off to celebrate the return of the “prodigal sun”…. Just in time for Beltane, the halfway mark between vernal equinox and summer solstice! And join us for the cream on top,
Alfredo Improvisational Quartet, from 6-9, with those happy hour specials continuing on into the evening.
As always, drink responsibly, soak it all up with one of our delicious food pairings and bring your DD– we’ve got Sassy Sarsaparilla– a non-alcoholic Honey and Chaga beverage, on tap, for them, too!
by stambrose | Apr 7, 2016 | Mead
If you won either the random drawing or the prediction pool. we’ll be in touch shortly! Congratulations to Black Madonna draft, the 2016 St. Ambrose Mead Madness Champion!
by stambrose | Mar 28, 2016 | Mead
After two weeks of heavy competition, we’re entering the home stretch of Mead Madness. The regions are boiling down to their finals – with the winners ready to move on to the Final Four and championship.
Red Wine Region
2013 Crescendo, after a tough battle with the 2012 Crescendo in the first round, has moved on into the regional final against perennial favorite Pinot Noir. Can the best of the best red wine blend take down this traditional grape? Both have scored similar vote totals on their way to this matchup. Crescendo prevailed against the 2012 version and handled Syrah in the second round. That was a big win – Syrah was a pre-tournament favorite to make a run. Pinot Noir has had perhaps an easier run, taking on Cab Franc in the opening round and downing our Cottage Red table wine in the second round.
[poll id=”30″]
White Wine Region
In this region we’ve seen multiple close contests, with a majority of the matchups coming down to just 1 or 2 votes. Vin Gris has made it here by defeating Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. Secret Beach continues something of a Cinderella run. After defeating Late Harvest Riesling by just one vote in the first round, Secret Beach scored a close victory over the 2013 Riesling (which is now sold out in the tasting room!). Who will move on to battle the Red Wine champ?
[poll id=”31″]
Still Mead Region
In the traditional still mead bracket, we’ve seen some upsets. While Tupelo Ambrosia and Star Thistle had a first round duel, they were both popular picks to make the finals. But neither is here today – Razzmatazz (riding the momentum of its Gold Medal at the Mazer Cup) is lining up against the powerhouse Royal Reserve for the regional title. Can the fruity flavor of the original St. Ambrose mead overtake the two-years-aged dessert deliciousness of Royal Reserve? You decide!
[poll id=”32″]
Draft Mead Region
Our popular draft meads all have loyal followings, but only two remain. After a tough battle with John Lemon, the apple pie in a bottle X.R. Cyser has advanced to face the ever-popular Black Madonna in what is certain to be a titanic fight for the regional championship. Sour blackberry or apple cinnamon? These two bountiful bouqets of flavor will both leave you satisfied, but only one can emerge the winner.
[poll id=”33″]
by stambrose | Feb 23, 2016 | Mead
The Tasting Room here at St Ambrose is a great place to try out all of the innovative flavors and old favorites our wine and mead makers have been working so hard on for your enjoyment. Whether you’re new to our meadery, you’ve been here a time or two, or, you’re a seasoned pro to bellying up with us again, you’ll find the girls waiting to serve you a complimentary tasting selection of any six of our tasty libations. If you’re new to mead, come on in, and be sure to try a sample of our delicious Dancing Bare Ambrosia. Dancing Bare is a great “cross-over” to the mead side for white wine enthusiasts. A copious blend of white wine grapes and honey, fermented together, Dancing Bare Ambrosia is also known as a pyment.
What’s a Pyment?
A pyment refers to all the constituents of mead blended and then fermented with grapes or grape juice. A pyment can also be produced from sweetening a wine with honey or by mixing wine and mead after fermentation of each has been completed.
The goal of a pyment is to have a wine flavor with the soft honey finish of a mead, melding complexities for balance in sweetness, acidity and tannin. Any variety of grapes will work to produce a pyment, but we use wine grapes (as opposed to table grapes).
Each year, a grape variety will take on different aromas and flavors, depending upon the growing conditions during the growing season. Factors such as rainfall and temperature have the most significant impact. So, although you can find any number of descriptions of a grapes personal variety, the final qualities of each harvest will not always take on all of the descriptors. The flavor will tell you the story of the season with subtle nuances of flavor, aroma, texture.
The Dancing Bare Difference
Pyment can be made with just one type of grape or can include a blend of grapes or grape juice, depending on the desired characteristics. Our Dancing Bare Ambrosia utilizes the Cayuga and Seyval Blanc grapes, selected for the balance of acidity and sweetness inherent to these varietals. Using our own Star Thistle Honey from our Sleeping Bear Farms very busy bees, the final product is semi sweet with fruity notes, floral undertones, and a crisp finish.
Dancing Bare is at its peak of enjoyment on the porch swing in August or after a full moon skinny dip all summer long. We encourage you to open a bottle in June after you’ve picked up a pound of asparagus from the Harris Farm out on Indian Hill Road and fire up the grill for the ten-pound lake trout you caught the night before. By all means, it also pairs nicely with comfort food and a cozy fire in the midst of winter.
Look for the Bee Goddess label on the beautiful cobalt blue bottle on our shelves or at your favorite wine store. Let the nectar of the hive and the celebrated noble wines of Michigan make you a believer in “All You Mead Is Love”.
by stambrose | Feb 4, 2016 | Mead, Wine
The big news? Pardon us, but we want to make sure that everyone knows we have our mead available in convenient 16.9oz bottles for all to enjoy. You can find them online, at stores throughout Michigan, and right here in our tasting room.
Our Drafts
We’ve got five of our honey & pleasure packed draft meads available in 16.9 ounce bottles. A shout out to our new bottling system and our production guys for getting these out of the tanks and into your hands! You’ll find our most loved and innovative flavors have been bottled and are available here in the tasting room, regionally at your favorite shop, and online. Our customers wanted a way to ship or fly with our drafts and we found it! The bottling process allows for all the bubbly fun that makes our pours so unique to cross state lines and time zones because it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!
This shareable size can be a great introduction to trying out yet another flavor to love of our carbonated honey wine or a great way to mix and match your favorites! Our draft meads are a hit in the tasting room and beyond and we are so excited about this newest way to spread the love!
Here in the tasting room you will find these select five flavors bottled, on our shelves & good to go!
Like true love and hot yoga class, this one really gets your heart pumpin’ with notes of cinnamon, apple, maple syrup and of course honey.
That moment when sweet cherry meets spicy ginger and nothing is ever the same…
Our signature Sour Mead using lacto-yeast fermentation and good vibes –where bold blackberry gets funky and invites you to Bee One With The Universe.
Also using some of those friendly probiotics, Razz is slightly sour with just a hint of that luscious raspberry sweetness. Our newest take on raspberry draft mead is sassy enough to make you blush and sweet enough to make you say more, please.
A love song to the peppery ginger root, perfectly accompanied by orange zest, this slightly sour mead is not for the faint of heart!
Coming soon (think spring!) we will add everyone’s favorite, John Lemon, to the bottled varieties available. We’re so excited about it we plan to have a release party! So stay tuned, and until then, stop in, belly up & cheers with us for 5 more ways to enjoy the nectar of the gods…
Cider in Traverse City
Our friends at Taproot Ciders have opened up in Downtown Traverse City! If you’re in town, give them a look sometime.
Winter Beverage Expo
Wuerfel Park in Traverse City’s Chum’s Village will host the 2016 Winter Craft Beverage Expo on Friday, Feb. 5 – featuring St. Ambrose meads and wines and many other Northern Michigan beverages!
