〈Brewer's Note 〉This is it

It’s been a year and a half since I last brewed "This is it." For those meeting it for the first time, this is the very first mead we released after founding ANTELOPE. It’s a low-alcohol, carbonated finish that retains the sweetness of honey.

"Since we’re a meadery, we should make something that really highlights the honey."

This bottle is a faithful recreation of that idea, and after many twists and turns, it has finally returned.

〈Elementary→High School〉

When ANTELOPE first started, we were definitely first-graders at "mead school." We couldn't see how the market moved, and we hadn't firmly established the direction for the meads we wanted to create.

"This is it" was the first-year student of a mead born from those circumstances.

Since we were using honey, we felt we needed something that truly represented it. To obtain our sparkling liquor license—which we also considered for the possibility of brewing beer alongside mead—we were required to use barley malt as an ingredient. Of course, from a tax perspective, even a single grain of barley for a 300L batch would suffice, so we could have taken a "gray area" approach. However, malt contains a wealth of nutrients for yeast, and I felt it was my role as someone who had studied beer brewing to utilize that, so we used 5kg of malt per 300L.

"This is it" served as a staple for a long time after our facility began operation, but as we began making various other meads, this was the only one that made me ask, "Did I make this because I truly wanted to?" I know it’s not a simple binary choice between market-in and product-out, but I still felt that this mead leaned too heavily into a market-in approach, so I stopped production a year and a half ago.

However, over the past year, many customers asked, "Are you not making 'This is it' anymore?" By slowly facing the potential charm this mead possesses, I was finally able to reach a place where I could say I'm "making it because I want to." The taste is straightforward, but perhaps that’s just fine. I hope that everyone, whether they are meeting us for the first time or haven't seen us in a while, can enjoy a drink together.

〈Tasting Note〉

A bottle with a nostalgic, gentle honey sweetness. It is a sparkling mead made mainly from honey, yeast, and water, without the use of fruits or spices. You can taste the inherent, gentle sweetness of the honey. It has a profile that can be enjoyed by everyone, from those who don't usually drink much alcohol to those who love it.

Style: Sparkling Mead

Alcohol: 6%

pH: 3.67

Residual sugar: 75.0g/L

Volume: 500ml

Since you can taste the sweetness of the honey, it pairs well with freshly baked bread, hard cheeses, and of course, prosciutto and smoked foods.

〈Mead making〉

The recipe is exactly the same as it was a year and a half ago. We brewed it without changing a thing, and I don't think there will be any major brush-ups in the future either.

We did a protein rest on the malt, pulled it, and pasteurized it after adding the honey. The yeast is EC1118. We finished it with a residual sugar level of 75g/L. Then we heat-treated it, carbonated it, and bottled it.

Sometimes the bitterness of the Myanmar honey or the subtle nuance of the malt is described as being "beer-like," and I always think to myself, "Are there really beers this sweet?" But that’s perfectly fine as it is.

There is a beauty in changing, and there is also a beauty in not changing. I’m telling myself that these past two years have allowed us to grow to at least the "upper-class level" of mead school.