GET THEE TO A MEADERY
Check out Sunnyvale’s Rabbit’s Foot for mead, cysers and braggots
Dost thou enjoy renaissance fairs, jousting contests and Norse mythology? If so, then a trip to a local meadery is in order. What, thou asks, is a meadery? It’s a company that produces meads, which are by some accounts, the oldest fermented beverage on the planet.
Mead is a simple concoction of honey and water, and sometimes fruit and spices, fermented by yeast, and usually clocking in at 10 to 18 percent alcohol by volume. And surprisingly, it’s the fastest-growing alcoholic beverage category in the U.S. Of course, there weren’t a lot of meaderies to begin with, but the numbers doubled between 2013 and 2016. By the end of last year, there were more than 500 U.S. meaderies in operation, including Sunnyvale’s Rabbit’s Foot Meadery.
Established in 1995 by owner Mike Faul, it’s one of the nation’s oldest meaderies. There were 16 beverages on tap the day I visited, ranging from dry to sweet, still and sparkling. Add fruit and it’s called a melomel. If that fruit is apple, it’s a cyser. If spices are added, it’s metheglin. And when honey and grains are used together, it produces a beer-mead hybrid called a braggot.
Rabbit’s Foot’s basic mead is a delicate and sweet still spirit made with wildflower honey, and 12 percent ABV. Faul offers three variations of it, including raspberry, blackberry and Chocolate Raspberry Love (more on that last one later). He also makes three braggots, including one with an extra special bitter base, a dry Irish stout base and a pale ale base. All three taste like lighter versions of those beer styles, as honey adds fermentable sugars, but more delicate flavors than barley. The stout was my favorite of the braggots.
You’ll also find sessionable cysers in the 5 to 7 percent ABV range. The nine on tap the day I visited included a sweet honey-apple combination, as well as apricot, black cherry and boysenberry-blueberry, which was my favorite. The hibiscus-lemon was also quite tasty.
Sample a flight of four ($8) or a full pour ($6-$7), or go for a full bottle or crowler. No food is served in the tasting room, but you’re welcome to bring in outside fare. The facility is small though. Get there soon after it opens so you can find a seat. DON’T MISS >> The Chocolate Raspberry Love mead is one of the most unusual beverages I’ve ever tasted. The sweet mead turns into something special with the addition of fresh raspberries and Ghirardelli chocolate powder. It’s guaranteed to stimulate your taste buds, and probably improve your love life as well.
DETAILS >> Open from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and until 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays at 1246 Birchwood Drive in Sunnyvale; www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com.