Honey is my Gift

It’s close enough to May Day that I’ve got my sandals out of storage. Despite the lingering chill and the snow from a fortnight ago, I’m in a Van Morrison sort of mood, daring Spring to come. Maybe that’s why I decided to try Wychwood brewery’s honey ale, BeeWyched.

I was feeling optimistic– I’ve never met a honey ale that agreed with me. I’ve tried Young’s endearingly-named Waggle Dance and The Black Isle’s Heathered Honey Ale among others. To my palate, the combination of the earthy sweetness of the honey clashes with the other beer-y flavors. But I will try anything by Wychwood. I confess the beer drinker part of me is stuck in junior-high, playing Dungeons and Dragons and listening to metal. Maybe that’s why I love all Wychwood brews, right down to their Dungeon Master Guide label art.

BeeWyched did not disappoint. With a nose full of flowers you dive right into amber sunlight in the first sip. There’s a ruby grapefruit-rind hoppiness that keeps it from being too cloying and feels in perfect harmony with the sweet finish. Ovid’s Flora, the Goddess of flowers, seems to float in soft white head of this beer:

“Tis I who call the winged creatures, which yield honey, to the violet, and the clover, and the grey thyme..Honey is my gift.”

With: seeded bread toasted and slathered with fresh Welsh goat cheese.

While listening to Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl