If you stop by Maryland Meadworks these days, you can still try some fall drinks.
The Hyattsville meadery at 4700 Rhode Island Ave., is nearly finished with this fall’s Figgitiboudit, a fig mead made from 20 pounds of figs harvested from a single location in College Park in October.
Meanwhile, it still has on tap ExorCyser, a half-mead, half-cider combination; Cranpa, a cranberry pomegranate mead; and pumpkin spice mead.
Owner Ken Carter told the Hyattsville Wire that the seasonal drinks are in part inspired by the general spirit of experimentation in mead making right now.
“American mead makers are really pushing the limits of ingredients,” he said.
Mead has taken off in recent years, growing from 60 producers in the U.S. in 2003 to 450 in 2020, and a recent report projected it will soon be a $2.26 billion market globally.
Carter said he’s planning collaborations with Vigilante Coffee, Denizens Brewing Co. and Franklins, as well as a mead using Tupelo honey from Louisiana, considered to be one of the finest quality honeys in the world.
A previous collaboration with Denizens produced a braggot — a combination of mead and beer — made with Miambo honey from Tanzania, Pilsner malt, a Belgian strong ale yeast, and Styrian Goldings hops.
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