Local Honey for Mead

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:31 pm

Have any of you meadmakers out there ever tried Noble Bee Honey in South Amana?

They have pretty competitive prices for non-pasteurized honey -- $32/gallon with free local delivery to Cedar Rapids or Iowa City (i.e. they'll drop it off at your house).

TappedOut · Post by **TappedOut** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:28 pm

I've gotten some from a guy in Ely who goes to some of the Farmers markets. I think it's called Ridgeview farms. Awesome honey, and also fabulous grass-fed beef. They go to the Mt Vernon winter farmers markets. IIRC $35/gallon.

tompb · Post by **tompb** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:48 pm

I've bought honey from Noble Bee. You will have to wait till the farmers market starts. The phone number listed on his card and the website is wrong. He has some great honey though.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:45 pm

Where did you hear they do delivery?? I wasn’t aware of this, I usually just catch them at the farmers market downtown. I’ve ran into quite a few apiaries but few do much in bulk quantity, lots more choices out of state.

But I’m not surprised.

From: DrPaulsen [mailto:brew-recipes@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 4:32 PM
To: brew-recipes@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Local Honey for Mead

Have any of you meadmakers out there ever tried Noble Bee Honey in South Amana?

They have pretty competitive prices for non-pasteurized honey -- $32/gallon with free local delivery to Cedar Rapids or Iowa City (i.e. they'll drop it off at your house).

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:35 pm

I called them up today and placed an order. They told me on the phone that they deliver to CR & IC on Tuesdays (no fee). I found their number with The Google.

tompb · Post by **tompb** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:14 am

Cool. I'll have to buy some again.

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:36 am

Just a quick update.

Matt (the owner of Noble Bee Honey) dropped off 1 gallon of clover and 1 gallon of basswood (the only two they have left) at my house yesterday morning. $32 each with free shipping to my door...hard to beat that.

I gave each a quick sample and they tasted fantastic. Even the clover honey was noticeably more complex than what you can find in the store.

carrisr · Post by **carrisr** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:04 am

Most honey you find in a store, including "clover" honey, is a blend of multiple sources. This tends to dilute many of the more subtle nuances. On top of that, it is frequently pasteurized, which will destroy much of the quality. Honey has natural antibiotic qualities so it really doesn't need to be pasteurized or have preservatives. Not to mention when the goal is to produce large quantities, quality frequently suffers.

Randy