The Drink Of Kings: Apis Mead and Winery

A few years ago, Cohort taught me how to make a lovely beverage that I'd only heard about in books and movies. Mead, the drink of kings (and Vikings) has origins dating back to around 6500-7000 BC and is made from fermenting honey with water. Sometimes the brewers add various fruits, spices, grains, or hops and the alcohol content of mead can range from 8% ABV to more than 20%. Depending on how it's made, mead can be still, naturally sparkling or carbonated; it can also be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. 

Cohort makes a very good mead. His beverage stands up well to most commercially available mead. For years we tried different mead makers, none could hold up to Cohorts homemade batches. And then it happened....

Apis Mead and Winery

Apis Mead and Winery located on Main St in Carnegie, PA. The bar area is small, but the space is warm and cozy with booths along one wall and high tables on the other side. The walls are full of brilliant artwork (for sale) from local artist Joe Deckart. Cohort and I ordered 2 flights which covered everything on tap plus a specialty Pineapple Coconut Sangria (yummy). My favorite was a tie between the Lemon Bourbon 8% - a nice tart lemon mead aged in bourbon barrels and the Hopped Pineapple 11% - a soft pineapple flavor, not too sweet with a light hop taste.

Mead Flights

They don't serve food, but during special events they have food trucks and live music. You can review upcoming events on their website http://apismead.com/

Along one of the back walls they have a shelf full of board games and Cohort chose Othello; it was my 1st time playing. While settling the tab we noticed a sign "What's In The Box?" If you guess correctly you get a small prize. Wouldn't you know it....Cohort guessed correctly and we had a bonus glass!! We shared a Raspberry Blackberry 10% and more fruity than some of the other flavors, but still divine. If you haven't tried mead, now is your chance.

PROS: Great people, good drinks, board games! 

CONS: I-376 construction makes getting into Carnegie more challenging than normal and looks like this may continue throughout the summer.