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About Sierra Foothills MeaderyTM

Established in 2020, Sierra Foothills MeaderyTM offers year-round and seasonal meads through
our online store, through local restaurants, and other locations.

Email foothillsmead@gmail.com for questions about availability.

Sierra Foothills MeaderyTM is a proud sponsor of the
El Dorado County homebrew and commercial microbrew competitions.
(eldoradocountyfair.org/brew-competition.html)

What is mead?

In a few words, mead is like wine,
but based on honey and often with fruit and/or
spices, becoming as creative as the meadmaker.

What do you picture when you think of mead --
maybe Vikings celebrating victories in a
mead hall, maybe jovial times at Renaissance
festivals? Yes those are part of enjoying mead,
but not the goal at Sierra Foothills MeaderyTM.

Here the mead is an enjoyable, varied beverage
to be enjoyed with meals or relaxing for an
evening. These are not meads where you say
"that is enough", after a small glass. These meads
range from pleasantly dry to semi-sweet, and
appeal to your tastes. However you get
introduced to mead -- enjoy!

 SierraGold

This mead loves its home

We love our home in the El Dorado County
foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Terroir has a meaning here: the environment
produces unique vegetation that shows in its
blossoms that go into the local honey, and then
into the mead. This mead also showcases the
apples and other fruit from Apple Hill and other
local areas. The world-class orchards, wineries,
and breweries here are inspiration for these meads.

What's coming?

The goal here is innovation, with new ideas
making their way into tasty meads.
Your feedback and ideas for new products will be
most welcome, and you can watch for new products
as Sierra Foothills MeaderyTM grows.

Meet the meadmaker

Vitis_Californica

 

Before starting Sierra Foothills Meadery,
meadmaker Jim Price built his skills through
brewing mead, cider, and beer, winning
awards in each of these categories
in homebrew competitions.

Sierra Foothills Meadery now presents the
meads that have won awards in their
categories, in international, national, and
California state homebrew
competitions, including:

 

  • Sierra Gold: Dry traditional honey mead,
    featuring local Foothills wildflower honey.
    1st, 2017 Orpheus Mead Cup
  • Orchard in Bloom: Semi-sweet traditional honey mead,
    with complex flavors of California orange
    blossoms and berries.
    2nd, 2018 California State Fair
  • Apple Cyser: Cyser is a hybrid of mead and cider,
    here featuring our local wildflower honey
    and local apples.
    2nd, 2018 Domras Cup
  • Orchards and Fields: A blend of hops accents the
    flavors of the apple orchards.
    1st, 2019 National Homebrew Competition regional round
  • Apple Pie: Apple pie spice flavor and aroma adds to cyser,
    welcoming us to the autumn season.
    2nd, 2018 California State Fair
  • Winter Berry: Toyon ("Christmas Berry") bushes
    decorate the foothills as the holidays approach,
    while the bees gather the Christmas Berry
    honey that accents the cranberry flavor that
    we know as this season's flavor.
    1st, 2016 California State Fair,
    2nd, 2016 National Homebrew Competition regional round,
    3rd 2018 Valhalla Mead Cup
  • Coffee Mocha: Rich coffee blends with chocolate accents into a favorite.
    1st, 2020 California State Fair
  • Tropical Paradise: Mango and passion fruit lead to dreams of vacation.
    2nd, 2018 Domras Cup
  • Sunny Day: Peach and spice, yum.
    3rd, 2018 Mead Free Or Die
  • Red Chai: Chai spice and rooibos tea combine for nice evenings of sipping.
    2rd, 2018 Valhalla Mead Cup
  • Honey Rose: Zinfandel is a classic red grape in California winemaking.
    This mead used White Zinfandel for its character in a lighter drinkable mead,
    with a soft complexity from rose petals.
    1st, 2018 Mead Free Or Die
  • Vitis Californica: California Wild Grape is a species unique to Northern
    California, and brings a complex richness to a mead. This mead accented
    its character using local wildflower honey.
    Gold, 2016 El Dorado County Fair

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