B. Nektar Zombie Killer

Brewed By: B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale, Michigan  

Purchased: 500ml bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Mead, 6.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Oh shit, we're doing meads now. Just wait until you see a cider on here. About B. Nektar:

B. Nektar is a meadery founded in 2006 by Brad and Kerri Dahlhofer, with the held of their friend Paul Zimmerman. They opened their doors in the August of 2008. The meadery makes a variety of eclectic meads, going beyond the basic honey mead. You can check out their website here.

Tonight's libation, the Zombie Killer Cherry Cyser, is a limited release and is made with Michigan tart cherry juice, apple cider, and star thistle honey. 

The initial couple of drops into the glass start out pink/red, but the mead quickly turns into a light, transparent, cider-looking, honey/amber/gold. The mead is light and very transparent, almost veering towards watery. There's a nice ring of carbonation on the side of the glass, and this looks carbonated. Bright light tells a similar story, as you get a very light gold/honey/amber color, with some red tones. It looks the part of a wine/cider/mead. 

B. Nektar Zombie Killer

The aroma is bright and cidery, and features big apple cider, sweet honey, and some cherries, apples, fresh green grapes, and juice box juiciness. 

This is a wonderful little treat, as the mouthfeel delivers a huge punch of honey thickness, and you get trailing honey on the back end. The front is loaded with apple cider and cherry juice. There's lots of honey on the back end. The cider/cherry juice up front has nice carbonation, and is very cidery with nice dryness and a hint of apple tartness. The honey on the finish is refined and tastes like the real organic shit that bees make. BBBZZZZ.

This is ridiculously addicting, and a bit of a standard-bearer for what can be done with meads and ciders. Pretty good stuff. Complexity is good with cider and juice up front, and lots of honey on the back. Palate depth is wonderful too, with bright, tart, crisp/dry cider and juice up front, and mellow mead/honey in the back. At 6.0%, this is stupid drinkable. This really need to come in a 24-pack. The carbonation is lively and helps prop this up.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm gonna toss this a Light Divine Brew. I love ciders, and find myself trying them on a more regular basis. The lower ABV coupled with the cider-like qualities of this mead make it incredibly approachable and drinkable. But it also has some excellent flavors to boot. Pair this with a fruit salad, grilled chicken, white fish, fruit pie, and warmer weather. This is great...and the 500ml bottles go for around 6 or 7 dollars. That's not a terrible price, but grab a few bottles. You'll thank me later.

Random Thought: I had high hopes for Dexter Season 8, and it even started off pretty great...but it's already falling into a somewhat predictable groove, so hopefully some interesting stuff will start happening.