Wench’s Revenge

Fall 2026 release 

15%abv

This batch was inspired by the barrel the mead aged in. After numerous references to the barrel having the appearance of a pirate keg, a back story for this batch came to be. 

This particular batch was the creation of the wench who was aboard the ship. She was a creative, strong-willed woman who wanted to make her claim and captain the ship. The best way for her to do this was by staging a mutiny, but of course, the men were not just going to follow her lead. They needed to be put under her spell. The most useful tool she had for this was the “green fairy”; thus came the inspiration for adding tarragon. However, she wanted to add a delicate touch that would create a more inviting nose. That is where the lavender comes into play. Did the wench succeed in creating an inviting and alluring beverage? Why don’t you decide for yourself? 

Mead Details 

Ok, this mead is a complex blend of just the right elements. 

We blended blueberry, raspberry, and apple and added it to the aged pirate ship cast, which originally held a Sherry, then a Rye Whiskey from Detroit City Distillery.  

So this barrel had some amazing flavors coming out. 

After about 9 months we pulled it out

and added lavender and tarragon.

There’s a few different yeasts that we’re used in this.  

We used LalvinC (blueberry), D47 (raspberry), and 71B (cyser)

This mead was approximately 1 year and 10 months old before bottling 

Karl’s tasting notes 

Wench’s Revenge

It’s always a pleasure to have a mead like this be thrown my way for analysis, and future bottling! The Wench’s Revenge is another mead that had its first debut as a passionate test mead on our Tasting Room’s menu. Concocted by one of our co-owners, Alicia, originally the Wench’s Revenge was another entry in her ideas for personal mead batches. Now, admittedly it’s been awhile and rather than asking, I thought it would be fun to re-experience this mead! All I can assume going in? Lavender!

Mhm! Lavender indeed! A huge part of the initial nose. I could get a wonderful lavender aroma blended with tart-smelling fruit notes. Let me get back in there. Sweeter than I thought too! The nose is a lush blend of sweet and tart fruit, tannic honey and lavender. Dare I also guess a wine yeast was used? I get that yeast note that I recall from the meads made from some wine yeasts we’ve used in the past. One way to find out!

That is indeed a decadent sweet/tart experience. Berries intermingling gorgeously on the first sip, woven together in a perfect lavender bow. Not too much, not too little. The wine yeast notes blend all this into a balanced mead so far. More research is required! This is not a sweet mead, yet there is enough sweetness to promote the berries and floral notes. This is very Alicia; I could see myself double-fisting a gin with this mead or perhaps using the Wench’s Revenge as a gin cocktail reagent. It’s an uncanny expression of what she loves in a mead(and/or drink): mainly lavender, not too much sweetness, a fruit that you can ponder over, and the use of flowers/herbs/spices. I would say that this Revenge should be served cold, but honestly, a chilly room temp OR shaken through gin and ice works fine instead!