Review: Bee Boyzz Small Town Hopped Carbonated Mead

I was at the local LC a week ago and this immediately popped out at me. Lately nothing's really excited me but any time I see a product with an old grain elevator on the label, I have to buy it.. It's probably the farm boy in me. Today's sampling is Bee Boyzz Winery & Meadery's Small Town Hopped Carbonated Craft Mead. 

From the label: Our beer inspired carbonated mead is made from local Manitoba hops, marrying the bitterness of hops with the subtle sweetness of mead that creates a unique gluten free IPA beer tasting beverage. 5.0% ABV

Appearance: Light amount of cloudiness to it, some clarity to it. The first thing that it reminded me of as soon as I was pouring it was Dead Horse Cider's Far From the Tree Hopped Cider. It has a faint lemon yellow appearance to it, lots of bubbliness going on in the body as it's being poured, a bit of a fizz on top, quickly diminishes to just a couple dozen bubbles that require a microscope to view. 

Aroma: Sweet, syrupy, honey, slightly tart, slightly boozy. There's notes of stone fruit, lemon and a floral/grassy presence all coming from the hops.

Taste: The hops are the predominant flavour this time around, which surprised me. I get a heavy floral flavour with stone fruit, lemon, hint of pine and dill and a bit of grassiness to it. Moderate honey notes, sweet but not syrupy sweet like many Meads I've sampled over the years. Very dry on the palate, hint of apple for aftertaste.

Overall Thoughts: I'll buy this again. Spring is popping out early this year so after the year of COVID, this was nice to have on the deck while enjoying the sun. It's a tad sweet, floral, a bit piney and even has a hint of dill. Definitely recommended for someone who wants something with a bit of a hop profile but not necessarily want a beer.

I still recall a decade back wondering why Manitoba didn't have a booming Mead industry - we have some of the best honey in the world so it only makes sense to promote the heck out of it. Ten years later, there's many breweries and wineries/meaderies that are making Mead now days, about time!