Gordon Hull

Gordon Hull from Heidrun Meadery in Pt. Reyes Station joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Heidrun Meadery is a 26-year-old company. They are open 7 days a week, from 5 to 11. They specialize in Mead, which is wine made with honey instead of grapes. Their mead is unique because it is sparkling, made the same way as champagne. They also make different flavors of mead from different varieties of honey. They also have beehives and make honey that they use to make mead. Their meadery is a converted dairy farm.

They are the only producer of champagne-style mead in the world. They make a base wine that is still, in stainless steel tanks. Before bottling they add sugar and get a secondary fermentation to create a natural effervescence. Mead is the oldest fermented beverage in the world. It predates beer and wine by thousands of years.

In the studio they are tasting a mead that Gordon sent them, made from honey that comes from Tanzania, which has a very distinct flavor. The honey comes from the African bees which are very aggressive. Because of that, the people who extract the honey use smoke to distract the bees, and the smoke plays a part in the flavor of the honey. It has a distinct, peaty, pine-resin flavor. He describes it as a cross between a fine champagne and a peaty Scotch whiskey.

Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.

Heidrun Meads are available at Bottle Barn.

In Norse mythology, Odin is the highest god and lives in Valhalla. He lives by drinking mead which comes from his mythological goat called Heidrun.