GotMead Live Radio Show

9-12-23 Tonight at 9PM ET, we'll be talking with Don Miller, head distiller and owner at Texas Rivers Distilling Company in Freeport, Texas. Texas Rivers Distilling Co. was created in February of 2019 in Brazoria County… “Where Texas Began”. They are an LLC registered with the State of Texas as a Distilled Spirits Manufacturer and engage in Distillation and Rectification of craft spirits. They make Bourbon, Rum, Sour and Sweet Mash, and Indian Corn (Milo) Whiskey; all sourced from Texas Grains, as well as Honey Spirits. All their Recipes bear the name of a different river or waterway in the Lone Star State. Don and a few friends were hanging out, back in 2014, and got to talking about the the show ‘Moonshiners’. One of the group mentioned seeing a website that sold stills for a reasonable price. Don pulled the trigger and put up $200 for his share and to get his friends to get on board. They made some pretty awful stuff at first, as they were learning to use a still. But Don was stubborn and kept researching. He found some ‘tried and true’ grain bills and they ended up being ‘just ok’. So, Don dove into all the things like water chemistry, yeast healt, brewing, distillation, fluid mechanics, chemistry and esterification. He studied books and online, and got up with uncles and his dad (who’s a preacher now), who used to run moonshine back in Tennessee. They started out with five gallon batches, two at a time to fill their 10 gallon still, and netted about 2 gallons of drinkable spirits. They started getting together one weekend a month. Then Don really got the bug, and started distilling throughout the month, mostly so they could have fermented mash to run on the group weekend. That turned into mashing four days a week and distilling every weekend. At that point Don had 20K sunk into the hobby, and he hit up his friends and asked them to pitch in for more equipment and grains. That lost two of the group. They figured Don was delusional and obsessed. But one stuck it out, and he and Don are partners today. Don brought the time and drive, and the friend and partner brought a modern barn and additional cash flow. Flash forward about two years and they were buying grains from a brew and wine supply store in Houston every week. They had a “sample counter” where customers could leave their brews and wines for others to try and leave notes for feedback.Don started sneaking a bottle of our whiskey in and leaving it, picking up the previous week’s empty bottle.. One day the owner of the store calls out to Don “hey you!” Don stopped, palefaced, and turned around.. .”me?” And he said “yea, you. Are you the one leaving this whiskey every week?” Don admitted it was he. He asked if they were a legal distillery.. and Don replied “Not exactly..” still unsure where this was going. He replied “I hope you plan to go legal with it. I mean, I don’t care what you do wherever you are doing it, but this stuff needs to be in store shelves.” Don replied “do you think it’s good enough?” He said “good enough? This is the best Bourbon I have ever tasted, and no I don’t mean homemade… I mean THE best.” Don knew Scott Birdwell was a nationally recognized beer judge, and his private spirits collection would make Spec’s jealous. Don went back to the barn and talked to his friend Jason Wierzbicki about what had happened. They did a LOT more taste testing with people they knew … more than 300 people and they all agreed with Mr. Birdwell.. so Jason and Don decided to start working on going legit. In January of 2019 they scraped up $7500 to send Don to Moonshine University in Louisville, KY for a six-day distilling course. This was so we would be able to answer the question on the license application of “Where did you receive your training “.. with a straight face. When Don got back from Kentucky, Jason asked him “So… what did we learn?”.. Don replied “that we are already making it better than they are teaching in Kentucky.

8-15-23 Tonight we're talking with Ben Chaney, owner of Scale and Feather Meadery in Avondale, Arizona. Scale & Feather is a small meadery run by three friends, Ben and Tamara Chaney are high school sweethearts who are going strong with 25 years together. Amber DeGiso is a graphic design specialist–creates cool labels and logos. They specialize in using local ingredients to produce their products. Chaney and one of the other founders, Matt Cross, took a class at UC Davis to learn more about honey wine. Their first foray into the mead business was making it for friends’ weddings. Decorated like an ancient mead hall complete with a flickering chandelier, the tasting room’s theme is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Chaney says a highlight of the space is a dragon head with glowing eyes that’s poised above the bar. Scale & Feather is also located next to a Nintendo-themed brewery called 8-Bit Aleworks. Ben has been making mead at home since 2011, and inspired by friends living their dreams, He decided that it was time to play with the big boys and, along with his wife and friend, opened Scale and Feather Meadery in 2019. A Native Arizonan, Ben graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree and has over 18 years of advertising, marketing, and event management experience. Ben completed the UC Davis Advanced Mead Making and Business of Mead Making course and won a silver medal from the Arizona Society of Homebrewers before going pro. Scale & Feather Meadery has received bronze medals from the National Honey Board in 2021 and Texas Mead Cup in 2022. Spicy meads started in 2019 and have since become a focus point for sales as in Arizona sweet and spicy seem to be a winning combination. Join us to see what Ben, Tamara and Amber are up to and talk mead! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows August 29 - Kent Slaymaker at Slaymaker Cellars September 12 - Don Miller at Texas Rivers Distilling Company September 26 - Ali Fox at Dragon Meadery October 10 - Brian Galbreath at Unpossible Meadery Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Aug 17 - MeadKrieger - Old Norse Mead, Loveland, CO - Free Trivia by Geeks Who Drink Aug 17 - Elgin Meadery, Elgin, TX - Beekeeper 'Mead" Up Aug 18 - Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, Medina, NY - Mulberry mead release Aug 19 - Arthurdale Heritage, Arthurdale, WV - Mead Workshop and Tasting Aug 19 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Honey 5k Fun Run Aug 20 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland, OR - Mead and Magic Saturday Aug 25 - Good Omen Mead, Escondido, CA - Latin Night (Salso, Bachata, Cumbia) Aug 26 - World of Beer, Melbourne, FL - Cider and Mead showcase Aug 26 - B. Nektar, Ferndale, MI - Italian Honey and Mead Pairing by Bees in the D at B...

8-1-23 Tonight at 9PM Eastern we're headed out to Colorado, to talk with Mike and DJ from Honnibrook Meadery. AJ and I met Mike and DJ at the 2019 MeadCon and MazerCup, and I was *blown away* by their salted mango session mead (and all their other meads). These guys are doing something right, and if you haven't tried it, you need to. Kevin visited them in 2022 and loved their meads. Honnibrook Craft Meadery has been open for 4 and a half years now and the guys are really dialing in on serving session meads, refreshing meads below 8% ABV that are easy drinkers. The meadery is located just a little over a mile south of downtown Castle Rock Colorado in a man cave garage unit. They have over 85 approved mead recipes and offer 20 meads on tap along with mead slishees or mulled meads, depending on the season. They're currently up to 15 barrels a week in their production. They are up on Vinoshipper, so you can get their meads for your very own! DJ and Mike are both longtime home brewers that met at church and started brewing beer religiously every weekend for about ten years, experimenting with all the spectrum of styles. DJ even worked part-time as an assistant brewer at a very successful Denver Brewery to learn a lot about the beer business. DJ also has a culinary degree and worked as executive chef at the local country club. Their experimenting was not limited to beer, and they made several meads too. The meads received such a positive response they changed their focus to mead completely. They have attended the mead making classes at UC Davis to hone their craft and understand the commercial side of mead making and tinkered on draft mead recipes for several years with the focus on being professional mead makers. They both have won awards individually and together in the amateur and professional mead competitions. DJ is working full time at the meadery and Mike has his day job working in IT, so the meadery is open Tuesday-Sunday evenings and you can even set up an appointment. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows August 15 - Ben Cheney at Scale and Feather Meadery August 29 - Kent Slaymakers at Slaymaker Cellars September 12 - Don Miller at Texas Rivers Distilling Company Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Aug 3 - Maniacal Mead, Ypsilanti, MI - Mead Hall Thursday Aug 4 - Kinsale Mead, Cork, Ireland - Mead-Ella - Kinsale Mead at BarBarElla Cork Mead Masterclass Aug 4 - Good Omen Mead, Escondido, CA - Latin Nights featuring Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia Aug 5 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Honeygirl Meadery, Durham, NC - National Mead Day featuring Kelly Jackson Live Aug 5 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - National Mead Day

7-18-23 We are back from our hiatus with a new episode of GotMead Live. Tonight we're talking with Brian Woerner, founder of the World Honey Exchange. World Honey Exchange curates specialty honeys from places such as Chile, Columbia, Ethiopia, Mexico and Tanzania. They have provided honeys for meaderies to make unique meads. Brian Woerner is the Founder of World Honey Exchange, a company focused on creating and furthering linkages between honey producers and end makers of many kinds. Brian began beekeeping in 2012 in Guinea, west Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer. He subsequently worked for a small honey startup in Cambridge while doing graduate research at Boston University. While studying and working in the Northeast, Brian worked to further beekeeping relationships in various places, including Tanzania & Colombia, before starting WHE as a wholesale honey company. Operational since 2019, WHE has become known for specialty honeys and worked extensively in the specialty craft beverage with partners including Heidrun Meadery in California, Deschutes Brewing in Oregon, and Lamplighter and Aeronaut Brewing in Massachusetts. Join us to learn more and see what Brian is up to with World Honey Exchange! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows August 15 - Scale and Feather Meadery Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events July 20 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - Dungeons and Dragons and Mead July 20 - Wildflyer Mead, Navasota, TX - Bingo Night July 22 - White Bear Meadery, Maplewood, MN - Yoga and Mead July 22 - Honey Wines Australia Meadery, Broke, New South Wales, Australia - Honey and mead tasting July 22 - Orpheus Mead Fest, Golden, CO - Mead Festival - tasting and bottle sales July 22 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Emma Nobbe music July 22 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Axe Throwing at the Meadery July 25 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Golden Boar release and BBQ feast day July 29 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Making Mead class Aug 3 - Maniacal Mead, Ypsilanti, MI - Mead Hall Thursday Aug 5 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - National Mead Day Aug 5 - White Bear Meadery, Maplewood, MN - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Alternative Beverage, Belmont, NC - National Mead Day Aug 5 - Hunters Moon Meadery, Severence, CO - International Mead Day open house Aug 5 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI -Drink Mead, Learn Things - Celtic Mythology: Where to Begin? Aug 5 - Hickory Tree Farm Apiaries, Kent City, MI - Mead Make and Take class You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live, let us know at gotmead@Gotmead.com

11-29-22 Tonight we're chatting it up with Manny Elgarresta, friend, mead maker, previous co-host on Gotmead Live and denizen of Miami. Manny has been making mead for quite a while, and has even converted his garage to making mead, enhancing it so he could make mead and beer in the Miami heat. He has cooling systems, freezers as fermentation enclosures and has even decorated his mead cave with a ton of Star Wars memorabilia, much of it due to late nights with mead on Ebay and other sales sites. Manny Elgarresta is a native New Yorker now residing in Miami Beach, who got into homebrew after moving to Miami in 1987 and finding that the variety of beers was limited to Budweiser and Coors with some exotics like Beck's. After the craft beer boom made beer brewing kind of moot, he looked for a new way to use his fermenter and found mead. For a little over 10 years he's been trying to perfect a high heat traditional, making gallons of JAOM for the holidays and annoying gotmead podcasters with yeast questions. Special for tonight, our last show of 2022, Manny has obtained 10 *gallons* of rare Florida Keys mangrove honey, and another 5 gallons of Keys wildflower honey. 180 pounds of rare, organic, unprocessed honey. And here at GotMead Live, Manny is offering these honeys to 10 special folks, to make a really special mead. We will be choosing talented mead makers from our faithful listeners to get a gallon of honey, and make a special mead from it. We intend to feature those meads on GotMead social media and here on GotMead Live in the spring. The rules are simple: receive the honey (there will be shipping costs, Manny is giving the honey for free) create a mead that showcases the honey post to Gotmead (social and/or forum) the recipe and technique be willing to come on the show later to discuss what you did, why you decided the approach you took, and how it turned out be willing to get a bottle (can be like a 375) to us on GML so we can enjoy it with you! (and cheer your mead) So join us tonight to talk meadmaking, combatting the heat, varietal honeys and other great meadmaking info! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows We are off for December, see you January 10! Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Dec 1 - Hierophant Mead, Mead, WA - Spokane Valley Winter Market Dec 2 - Bragging Rooster Beer & Mead, Warrenton, NC - Live music by the Mary Selvidge Band Dec 3 - For You Brewing Supplies, Terre Haute, IN - Mead Competition Dec 3 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Community Solstice Party, including Ugly Sweater Day and the return of Coffee Mead! Dec 3 - Gladheart Wine & Brews, Roanoke, VA - Kinnfolk Mead and Cocktails - music by Kinnfolk Dec 4 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - December First Sunday Sound Bath

11-15-22 Tonight we're headed to Illinois to talk with Luke Goucher and Carson Souza, proprietor and head brewer/meadmaker at Obscurity Brewing and Mead. Obscurity Brewing and Mead was founded 6 years ago, and has been open for the last 2.5 years, with Obscurity Mead Hall being open for about 1.5 years. The brewery side is a brew pub in Illinois that features would class Beer, BBQ, and Braggots. They focus on making the best product they can. The Mead Hall is a small niche tasting room with production. They specialize in ciders, still meads, sparkling session meads, and pyments. Or basically anything they can get weird with. Luke Goucher is a real estate tycoon, restauranteur, and commercial banker with the absolute love and passion for mead and craft beer. He is an alumni of Augustana University. Luke grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. It's his visionary sight that brought along Obscurity as well as many other things. Father and husband, he never sleeps trying to see the bigger picture. Carson Souza grew up in New Jersey and went to college for music. But he never left food and beverage the whole time. He's been a commercial brewer for the last 15 years on and off. Luke actually got him fermenting mead. His passion grew from there. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows November 29 - Manny Elgarresta - Mangrove honey and mead making challenge Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Nov 15 - Moonjoy Meadery and Bottle Shop, Durham, NC - Mead n' Make: Quirky Tarot Nov 16 - KingView Mead, Lebanon, PA - Name that Tune and Trivia Night Nov 18 - Bragging Rooster Beer and Mead, Warrenton, NC - Flannel Party! Nov 19 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Getting Ready for Turkey Day - mead and Thanksgiving food pairing Nov 19 - Moonjoy Meadery, Lenoir, NC - Mead and Mindfulness Nov 23 - Bootleg Hill Honey Mead, Davenport, IA - Jim & Leigh Acoustic Nov 23 - Haley's Honey Meadery, Fredericksburg, VA - Thanksgiving Food and Mead Baskets Nov 24 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Temecula Turkey Trot - Harvest Honey Run 5k Nov 26 - Honey & Hops Brew Works, Front Royal, VA - Music & Mead - Featuring: Gunner Heathe Nov 26 - Graham Ordinary, Bedford, VA - Drink Mead, Bee Thankful Nov 26 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland, OR - Small Business Saturday Nov 27 - Wildflyer Mead, Navasota, TX - Goat Yoga! Nov 27 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Holiday Artisan Market - Sip and Shop Dec 1 - Hierophant Mead, Mead, WA - Spokane Valley Winter Market Dec 3 - For You Brewing Supplies, Terre Haute, IN - Mead Competition Dec 3 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Community Solstice Party Dec 4 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Holiday Pop Up Market Dec 7 - Over the Moon Farmstead, Pittsfield,

Tonight we're talking with Chad Wiltz, owner and meadmaker at Garagiste Meadery in Tampa, Florida. Chad has been making mead since 2014, and opened Garagiste in late in 2017, after winning the Home Meadmaker of the Year in early 2017. Chad had a life-altering event (though he didn't realize it at the time) in 2014, when he visited a small meadery in Michigan and tried their meads. And that started a quest for him. He wanted to have more mead that was THAT good, and headed back to Tampa to give it a shot, making home meads Having no local meadmakers to draw from, this gave him the luxury of being unafraid to experiment with flavors and ingredients not associated with meads. Some experiments failed and others worked great, all had a powerful influence on how he saw mead and what he thought mead could be. Like any hobby he dove face first into meadmaking. His goal was simple, to create memorable experiences through mead using locally produced ingredients to the extent possible. Soon he was sharing those meads with friends and they shared them with others. A phenomenon of sorts was born and fast forward another year and he was being invited to pour at local festivals. In early 2016 he decided to make Garagiste Meadery a legitimate business. The original concept was a side job of sorts, he'd make mead between the other day jobs. In April 2016 he launched a crowdfunding campaign to get started. Without much expectations or fanfare they put themselves out there. The campaign closed a month later making Garagiste Meadery the largest publicly funded Meadery in history. After some soul searching we decided that we'd throw our fate to the winds and let the voice of the people be heard. Garagiste Meadery would be a full Meadery with a Tasting Room and become the family business. As the Meadery came together they felt the impetus to get better. Still making home meads as they worked their way towards opening, and opened in late 2017. Thankfully, some great meadmakers embraced them and helped refine Garagiste Meadery to where they are today. Join us to talk with Chad! And get a 20% listener discount by using GOTMEAD = 20% at Garagiste! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows November 15 - Luke Goucher - Obscurity Mead and Cider/Obscurity Brewing - Elburn, IL November 29 - Manny Elgarresta - Mangrove honey and mead making challenge Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Nov 2 - Over the Moon Farmstead, Pittsfield, NH - Mead and Read November - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Nov 2 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Mead Hall Trivia Nov 4 - Pye Road Meadworks, Odessa, FL - Murder and Mead - murder mystery event Nov 5 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - 3rd Anniversary Party Nov 5 - Wandering Bard Meadery,

10-18-22 Tonight on Gotmead Live at 9PM ET, we're looking forward to talking with Keith Seiz with the National Honey Board. We usually like to have Keith and Alison on during National Honey Month in September, but this year we're doing October. We'll be finding out what the Honey Board has been up to, and talking about their Honey20 Project, the Mead Crafters Competition (5th year!), and the Honey Spirits Competition, as well as their other involvement with honey in craft beverages. We'll dig into how it went with the Mead Crafters Competition, and what's coming in future competitions. We'll also be talking with Keith about his MeadCon talk around mead positioning itself as the next big thing, and follow the track of spirits-based RTD. And of course, honey. Seems that the demand for honey in the last year is the largest ever, and it keeps growing. For the last eleven years, Keith has traveled the country educating bakers, distillers, brewers and now mead makers about honey and its many uses. It’s his passion, and one that has him working with bees and meads, two of his favorite things. Before working for the National Honey Board, Keith served as editor and associate publisher of a trade publication that covered the wholesale baking industry. Come on in and have a listen! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Oct 19 - Lilly Belle Meads, Lancaster, NY - Mead and Massage Oct 19 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Mead Hall Trivia Oct 19 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - Cigar Night! Oct 19-30 - Hierophant Meadery, Mead, WA - Harvest Festival Oct 21 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Autumn Mead Pairing Dinner Oct 21 - Gypsy Circus, Knoxville, TN - Birthday Mead Release: Chai and Cosmopolitan Oct 22 - The Brimming Horn Meadery, Milton, DE - Mead O'ween Spooktacular Oct 26 - Stardust Cellars, Greensboro, NC - Mead Tasting at the Loaded Grape Oct 27 - WildFlyer Mead Co, Navasota, TX - Adult Coloring Night - Halloween Theme Oct 29 - The Viking Alchemist, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Mischief '22 Oct 29 - Brix Urban Winery and Market, Sainte Genevieve, MO - All Hallows Mead Oct 29 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Mead-O-Ween Oct 29 - Trazo Meadery, Clarksville, TN - Mead Mayhem Oct 29 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Halloween Party - Tasting, Dinner and Costumes are Encouraged Oct 30 - WildFlyer Mead Co, Navasota, TX - Halloween at the Honey Farm Nov 5 - Wandering Bard Meadery, Greenville, SC - Guided Mead Tasting - Special Reserve Bottles and Introduction to Mead Making Class Nov 6 - Lilly Belle Meads, Lancaster, NY - Sunday Brunch Nov 12 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Live music with Bacon Nov 12 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland,

October 4, 2022 - Tonight we're headed to the west coast, to talk with Mark Tanner, owner of Seattle Mead Company and Deception Cellars in Washington state. Mark is a Seattle native, and retired Army Lt. Colonel. He's been homebrewing for over 25 years, and making mead professionally since 2018. Mark got interested in mead a while back, and was the first Washington resident to pass the BJCP Mead exam, and went on to teach prep classes for the first two BJCP Mead exams in Washington. Mark opened Seattle Mead Company in 2018, and just opened a tasting room in Anacortes, WA, just north of Deception Pass, as northwest as you can get and still be in the United States. Seattle Mead Co has a flagship mead line that is berry-forward and ranges from off dry to medium sweet. Deception Cellars offers meads designed to mimic dry fruit forward jammy red wines. They age on oak, and are positively made to age for decades (though you can drink them now too!). The Deception Cellars meads are currently taking about 18 months to properly age, oak and blend. He's gone on to take a number of medals with his meads, and most recently picked up a few at the Mazer Cup. Mark is very intense on his meadmaking, and we're going to dig deep tonight on what he's doing. Join us! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows October 18 - Keith Seiz, National Honey Board Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Oct 5 - Hierophant Meadery, Mead, WA - Drink Mead at Green Bluff Harvest Festival Oct 5 - Over the Moon Farmstead, Pittsfield, NH - Mead and Read - "At the Edge of the Orchard" by Tracy Chevalier Oct 6 - Bragging Rooster Beer and Mead, Warrenton, NC - Music Bingo Night Oct 8 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - Open Mic Night and Mead Oct 8 - Ogden City Brew Supply, Ogden, UT - Mead Making Workshop Oct 8 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Beginning Home Mead Making Class Oct 8 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - Twilight Queen Release Party Oct 9 - Bragging Rooster Beer and Mead, Warrenton, NC - DIY Workshop! Oct 13 - Wildflyer Mead Co, Navasota, TX - Book Club - this month "The Last Thing He Told Me" Oct 15 - Bragging Rooster Beer and Mead, Warrenton, NC - Poses with Pints - Yoga Class Oct 15 - Graham Ordinary, Bedford, VA - Mead in the Mountains - Honeymoon Edition! Oct 15 - Honey & Hops Brew Works, Front Royal, VA - Music & Mead featuring Bearded Harmony Oct 15-16 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Meadtoberfest! Oct 21 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Autumn Mead Pairing Dinner Oct 22 - The Brimming Horn Meadery, Milton, DE - Mead O'ween Spooktacular Oct 29 - The Viking Alchemist, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Mischief '22 Oct 29 - Brix Urban Winery and Market, Sainte Genevieve, MO - All Hallows Mead

9-20-22 - Tonight is a night of mead and madness, as we welcome the Minnesota Mead Mafia gang to the show. Right on the heels of the Valkyries' Horn Mead Competition, this bunch of maniacal mead makers have a lot of great info to bring, and even more craziness. Matt Weide likes to make mead. He is also on the AMMA home board, Founding board member of the Valkyries Horn Mead Competition, 2014 Mead Maker of the Year and a BJCP endorsed mead judge. However, he mostly likes to drink mead. Nathan Steigman is a Saint Paul resident. He got into Mead making back in 2017. Nate is a recovering competition addict. He appreciate all categories of Mead, discovering “new to him” honey, and experimenting with fruits, yeasts, spice flavors and wood/barrel aging. He still drinks the mistakes and eats his broccoli often. He sometimes asks profound questions and sometimes gets profound answers. Josh Holbrook has been home brewing for since 2011 and making mead since 2013. He discovered mead at his local homebrew club when a club member brought a bottle of an attempt at Curt Stock’s Triple Berry Melomel. Clouds parted, angels sang, and Josh became obsessed with mead. Josh has won numerous medals for beer, cider and mead, including AMMA National Mead Maker of the Year in 2020, and a couple Best of Shows at competitions such as Minnesota Mashout and Hoppy Halloween. He is also a certified BJCP judge and mead judge as well as a novice beekeeper, and one of the organizers for Valkyries Horn Mead Competition. One of Josh’s long term mead goals is to make mead with each of the 300+ varietal honeys found in the United States. He has 44 under his belt already and shows no signs of stopping. Al Boyce has been a homebrewer since the early 1990’s. He tasted his first mead at Bunratty Castle in Ireland, and was hooked. Orange Blossom is his favorite honey, Sangiovese is his favorite grape, and 71B is his favorite yeast. He is obsessed with Jamaican Sorrel (hibiscus), and vows to keep making Sorrel meads until he finally gets it right. He recently moved to a lake home in central Minnesota where he lives with his wife Beth and his Golden Retriever Cooper. In November of 2017 Adam Bystrom suddenly got a craving for that sweet nectar we all know; mead. With no meaderies in the area and little to no availability at liquor stores he decided to learn how to home brew. Since then mead has been the exclusive beverage he's fermented with a particular focus on session meads. He's been fortunate to win awards in a number of competitions all around the country and is a proud member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association. Josh Mahoney has been making mead since 2008. He is a BJCP mead judge, and is addicted to collecting Mazer Cups. Josh thinks JAOM is underrated, and his favorite spice is vanilla. (and extra points if you can tell us who that pic looks like). This show should be both info-rich and a riot. Join us!! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam),

9-6-22 Tonight at 9PM Eastern we're headed out to Colorado, to talk with Mike and DJ from Honnibrook Meadery. AJ and I met Mike and DJ at the 2019 MeadCon and MazerCup, and I was *blown away* by their salted mango session mead (and all their other meads). These guys are doing something right, and if you haven't tried it, you need to. Kevin visited them in 2022 and loved their meads. Honnibrook Craft Meadery has been open for 3 and a half years now and the guys are really dialing in on serving session meads, refreshing meads below 8% ABV that are easy drinkers. The meadery is located just a little over a mile south of downtown Castle Rock Colorado in industrial warehouse space and hosts a 12 tap tasting room in addition to a very modern production facility. They are up on Vinoshipper, so you can get their meads for your very own! Honnibrook is now looking at opening a second tasting room in the area, which should expand their local availability. And now they're doing several braggots in collaboration with some of the local breweries! DJ and Mike are both longtime home brewers that met at church and started brewing beer religiously every weekend for about ten years, experimenting with all the spectrum of styles. DJ even worked part-time as an assistant brewer at a very successfully Denver Brewery to learned a lot about the beer business. DJ also has a culinary degree and worked as executive chef at the local country club. Their experimenting was not limited to beer, and they made several meads too. The meads received such a positive response they changed their focus to mead completely. They have attended the mead making classes at UC Davis to hone their craft and understand the commercial side of mead making and tinkered on draft mead recipes for several years with the focus on being professional mead makers. They both have won awards individually and together in the amateur and professional mead competitions. DJ is working full time at the meadery and Mike has his day job working in IT, so the meadery is open Tuesday-Sunday evenings. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows September 20 - the Minnesota Mead Mafia (the Sugarbelt Gang) Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Sept 7 - Over the Moon Farmstead - Pittsfield, NH - Mead and Read - this one is A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw Sept 10 - Ridge Meadery, Richmond Hill, ON, Canada - Mead & Music Saturdays Sept 9-10 - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition, Minneapolis, MN Sept 10 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - Open Mic night and Mead Sept 10 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Twin City Days Sept 11 - Bragging Rooster Beer and Mead, Warrenton , NC - Woodworking workshop with AR Workshop Sept 13-17 - Mazer Cup International Mead Competition, Kansas City, KS

Tonight at 9PM ET, we will be talking with Dan Kesterson at Antelope Ridge Mead in Colorado Springs, CO. Dan is the father of 2 boys, and he is an Army Veteran, Mechanical engineer, and the mead-maker at Antelope Ridge Mead. He started making mead when he received 30 lbs of local honey from hives on his Father-in-law's ranch in South Dakota. He immediately switched his focus from brewing beer to making mead after his first batch was a success. In 2019 they started planning to open a meadery where they live in Colorado Springs. Antelope Ridge Mead focuses on pyments, whole-fruit fermentation, and session meads. They pride themselves on high fruiting rates and strive for balance and drinkability in each mead - using only natural ingredients. Their most popular mead is their PB&J Grape session mead, which has already earned two medals (Orpheus and Mazer) in their first year in business. Dan has racked up some impressive wins with his meads: Gold Medal - Candy Crush - Pyment -2021 Orpheus Cup International Gold Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - Session Mead - 2021 Orpheus Cup International Bronze Medal - Direct Current - Melomel - 2021 Orpheus Cup International Gold Medal - CC Crush - Pyment - 2021 Mazer Cup International Silver Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - 2021 Mazer Cup International BEST OF SHOW MEAD - Sangria Azteca - Fruit Mead - 2022 Colorado State Fair Commercial Wine Competition Bronze Medal - Solstice - Spiced Mead - 2022 Colorado State Fair Commercial Wine Competition Gold Medal - And Then He Served Us Blueberry Pancakes - Anything Goes - 2022 Orpheus Cup International Silver Medal - Sangria Azteca - Specialty Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International Silver Medal - Winter Cranberry - Fruit and Spice Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International Bronze Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - Sweet Session Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International Bronze Medal - Solstice - Fruit and Spice Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International Come on and listen and hang out with us as we talk mead and explore what Dan's up to, and maybe find out how he's kicking medal butt with his meads! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Aug 13 - 14th Annual Mead Night - Temecula, CA - home and commercial mead sharing, backyard fire and a honey tasting. Bring bottles to share! Aug 13 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Fairy Hair for Everyone Aug 19 - Bragging Rooster Mead, Warrenton, NC - Dog adoption event Aug 22-23 - American Mead Makers Association - MeadCon 2022 in Baltimore, MD - tickets on sale now! Aug 27 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - A Visit with CLAWS - bird rescue Sept 4 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - First Sunday Sound Bath Sept 9-10 - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition, Minneapolis,

7-12-22 Tonight we're chatting with Jeremy Kyncl, co-owner of Hierophant Meadery in Washington with Michelle, his wife, with two locations on the Green Bluff loop in Mead, Washington and a tasting room on Whidbey Island. Jeremy and his wife Michelle have a background in herbs and are focused on local-sourcing their mead ingredients and creating a uniquely local product. They love the 'back-to-nature' aspects of mead making, and all the nuances that plants can add to the mix at various stages of growth. Jeremy is a trained herbalist and behind the deliberately crafted lineup of off-dry meads, and uses responsible sourcing practices and regional honey (often from fellow producers who work along the lush Green Bluff farming loop), both playing fundamental roles. Originally from Colorado, Jeremy Kyncl began homebrewing in college. He was making mead, gruit and beer – including saisons, doppelbocks and wormwood-infused ales – when he met his wife, a Central Valley High School graduate who had grown up in Liberty Lake, in 2008. They were both working on bachelor of science degrees in herbal science at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington, where they began to dream of starting a meadery. Michelle Scandalis is an Herbalist, Ayurvedic Practitioner & Meadmaker specializing in ancient herbal preparations and blending techniques. She holds a degree in Herbal Sciences from Bastyr University, where she met Jeremy. Her favorite meads to make are complex metheglin styles. She considers the act of making them, "Guerrilla Herbalism," and hopes to bring appreciate of plants back to the human palate. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows July 26 - Dan Kesterson at Antelope Ridge Mead in Colorado Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events July 15 - Big Lost Meadery and Brewery, Gillette, WY - Mead and Greet July 16 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Viking Night with mead and cider July 17 - White Winter Winery, Trego, WI - Great Northern Railroad Mead and Cheese Train Ride July 23 - Orpheus Mead Fest Tasting and Awards Ceremony, Golden, CO July 23 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Intermediate Mead Making Class July 27 - Over the Moon Farmstead, Pittsfield, NH - We Mead to Paint July 30 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - A Visit with CLAWS Aug 6 - Honey Girl Meadery, Durham, NC - Mead Day Aug 6 - Hunters Moon Meadery, Severence, CO - Mead Day Aug 6 - The BottleHouse, Cleveland, OH - Mead Day Aug 6 - Hierophant Meadery, Whidbey Island, WA - Mead Day Aug 6 - Amrita Park Meadery, Winter Mead Festival, Kin Kin, Queensland, Australia - Mead Day Aug 6 - Laurel Highlands Meadery, Greensburg, PA - Mead Day Aug 6 - Wandering Bard Meadery, Greenville, SC - Mead Day Aug 6-7 - B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale, MI - Mead Day

Tonight at 9PM ET, we're hanging out with Bob Slanzi, beekeeper, meadmaker, industry influencer and general all around pretty cool guy. We're going to ramble around and talk mead both here in the US and in Europe. Bob Slanzi has been keeping bees and making award winning meads for years He is very active in the meadmaking, homebrew and beekeeping communities, having held offices in both his clubs in NY in the past. he is the past president of the Home Governing Committee of the American Mead Makers Association, and very active in helping bring the word of mead to everyone. He is the person who set up and maintains the monthly deals the American Mead Makers Association has for members. Bob was a speaker at the 2022 European Mead Makers Association Conference and judged at their Mead Madness Cup mead competition. He is known for his meads, and isn’t afraid to try new flavors, like seaweed or toasted walnuts. Bob likes to experiment, and talks about layering flavors in meads to get the result you want. Join us as we talk with and chat about what he's making, and what he's seen and learned. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 25 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Mead Tasting at Mariblu Southcenter - Active Adult Living 55+ May 25 - KingsView Mead & Cider, Lebanon, PA - Lebo Fun Run May 26 - KingsView Mead and Cider, Lebanon, PA - music by Derrick Beattie May 27 - KVLT Mead, Tacoma, WA - Beyond the Grid - music May 28 - KVLT Mead, Tacoma, WA - Safeword! Kinky Queer Comedy Show May 28 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - A Visit with CLAWS - Wildlife rehabilitation May 28 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Memorial Day Party May 29 - WildFlyer Mead, Navasota, TX - Social Knit - knit, crochet and crafting (and mead) May 30 - Bryant's Dry Cider, Richmond, VA - Magic and Mead Mondays - play Magic The Gathering and drink mead May 31 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - Tuesday Night Trivia! June 1 - KingView Mead, Mt. Lebanon, PA - Buzzworthy Trivia Night June 3 - 1912 Brewing, Tucson, AZ - Mead and Music, featuring Superstition Mead June 3 - Windchaser Meadery, Williamsburg, VA - Advanced Meadmaking class June 4 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Zoe Vox music June 9 - WildFlyer Mead, Navasota, TX - Book club - Jurassic Park June 10 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland, OR - Wyrd's Moving Castle - a themed ambiance organized around the works of Miyazaki and the beloved Japanese culture June 10-13 Kvlt Mead, Tacoma, WA - Legions of the Order - Metal Band Festival - 3 day convocation for the Order of the Black arts June 13-19 - Maine Mead Works, Portland, ME - Mead and Cheese Pairing all week June 15 - KingView Mead, Mt. Lebanon,

4-26-22 Tonight on Gotmead Live, we're talking with Rachel Lipman, owner of Loew Vineyards, in Mt. Airy, Maryland, one of the oldest vineyards in Maryland. The mead production in the Loew family dates back to the mid-1800's in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a few prominent meaderies and distribution all over Europe. Rachel is one of the youngest winemakers in Maryland (if not the youngest), and she's pushing the boundaries in a male-dominated industry. Rachel is the granddaughter of Wolfgang Loew, and he adopted the name William when he came to the US after World War II, having been the only member of the family to survive the Holocaust, and he did so by being in the Underground. William ended up in Maryland after some time in Indianapolis, and when he arrived, he felt compelled to start making wine at home, remembering his childhood and the smell of the barrels in his family's meadery. He practices and tweaked, and became very well versed in creating a palatable bottle of wine. He kept this up, and when he retired from his 'day job', Bill found a great 37 acre piece of land in Frederick County and planted grapevines. At the time there were only a handful of grape growers and wineries in Maryland. Now the torch has passed to the next generations, and Rachel, the eldest granddaughter, has taken over. Rachel grew up learning about the family history and the winery, and immersed herself in the industry, getting a Bachelor's of Science in Plant Science and a Bachelor's of Arts in Communication. She also studied in France, interned at an organic vineyard in the Loire Valley. She also completed the Washington State University Enology Program. Rachel now manages most aspects of the operations for the vineyard, winery and tasting room. Including winemaking. Rachel makes her families' mead. They have a dry, semi-dry and semi-sweet mead, and make a cyser and a pyment (which has multiple vintages). She spent quite a bit of time uncovering her families mead-making past. While things were shut down during Covid, she dug through Polish documents, magazines and newspapers to learn more about the family business. She learned that her families' meadery was in a district that had warehouses, vodka distilleries, several other meaderies, and a beer garden. Her families' meadery took up an entire city block! At the time in the 1800's when the Loew family were meadmaking, they distributed internationally. And of the ten kids that they had, two of them started meaderies of their own. The rest got into winemaking. One son established the first national meadery and beeswax facility in Poland. He and his wife had three sons, one of which was Wolfgang, Rachel's grandfather. Rachel is now carrying one the family winemaking, and has updated the winery with all new equipment, and is looking to a future of providing her family's wine and mead to the customers of the future. Join us as we talk with Rachel and explore the rich mead (and wine) history she is part of. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and ...

4-12-22 Tonight at 9PM ET we'll be getting together with RJ Cassle, head brewer and meadmaker at Bragging Rooster Beer, Mead and Cider in Warrenton, NC, just a half hour from Vicky's place. RJ is hard at work in getting Bragging Rooster to opening, which should be very soon! Robert J. Cassle aka RJ is a level 43 character in this game called life. He calls himself a jack of many trades and master of some. RJ spent 10 years in the military, 4 years in law enforcement, a few years as a Subway sandwich artist, and 20 plus years as low voltage/security technician. RJ has a love for growing plants, throwing axes, and bringing people together. About 9 years ago he was told that the alcohol budget was too high and that he needed a hobby. Enter mead! RJ's best friend was doing home brew beer at the time, and they really didn’t need another excuse to hang out, but brewing became one. Except, the friend asked if RJ was interested in brewing mead. RJ had no idea what he was talking about, so he did some research. He absolutely fell in love with it. He thought the history was amazing, and wanted to learn more. He and his friend started brewing on weekends and RJ started volunteering at Honeygirl Meadery in Durham on bottling nights. Diane at Honeygirl was the best mentor to get him from homebrewing to commercial brewing. RJ imagined the whole Bragging Rooster as just a meadery until the day he was introduced to some people who wanted to open a brewery but had no commercial brewing experience. He partnered up with them and they took Bragging Rooster from just mead to beer, mead, and cider and that is what they are opening in Warrenton, NC. Join us to talk with RJ and find out what he's done with meads, and where he is planning to take Bragging Rooster when they go live! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows April 26 - Rachel Lipman - Loew Vineyards Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events April 13 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Mead Hall Trivia Night April 14 - Wildflyer Mead, Navasota, TX - Book Club - April book is 'Britt-Marie Was Here' by Fredrik Backman April 15 - Kings Beer and Wine, Phoenix, AZ - Mead tasting featuring Celestial Artisan Meadery, Scale & Feather Meadery and Schramm's Mead April 16 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Mead and Making Floral Hair Wreaths April 16 - Build Guild, Ft. Wayne, IN - Mead Making workshop April 20 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland, OR - DJ Lordfiregiant Metal - Rock and Roll night April 21 - Wildflyer Mead, Navosota, TX - Watercolor Basics April 22 - Three Leg Run!, Chester, VA - Blue Guitar Trio is playing (beer, wine and mead) April 22 - KingView Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One, playing acoustic music April 23 - Potter Township VFD, Monaca, PA - Knights of the Round Table Mead Tasting Fundraiser

3-29-22 Tonight we're talking with Pierre Rodrigue, home meadmaker in Alberta, Canada. Pierre has been with us before, he's an award winning meadmaker who likes to work with juice, and like us, is a flavor maven. Pierre has been fermenting wine since 1985. Early batches consisted of kits, and fruits and berries. As there weren’t a lot of publications then and zero internet, he learned a lot by trial and error. Pierre began mead making in the fall of 2016, and has won several medals and Best of Show at Canada’s Mellarius Cup. His penchant for all juice meads is fairly well known on social media, where he moderates GotMead, Modern Mead Makers, Home Made Wine Making, and his own page, Mead and Wine Crafting. In his spare time you can find him drawing, baking, cooking, curing and smoking meats, or long distance target shooting. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows April 12 - RJ Cassle - Bragging Rooster Meadery in Warrenton, NC April 26 - Rachel Lipman - Loew Vineyards Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Mar 31 - HoneyGirl Meadery, Durham, NC - Queen Bee Virtual Mead Tasting of 3 meads from HoneyGirl. Order your tasting kits to join in! April 1 - Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT - Spring Mead and Read April 2 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Sip and Paint with Cateleya Jewelry Studio April 2-3 Mountain Run Winery, Culpeper, VA - Mead and Mayhem 2022 - 2 day full contact armored combat fighting event April 3 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Honey and Mead Tasting Class April 3 - Skål Beer Hall, Seattle, WA - Spring Mead Festival - seven local meaderies on hand to pour: Æsir Meadery - Everett, WA Artivem Mead - Bellingham, WA Ethereal Mead - Battleground, WA Hierophant Mead - Freeland, WA Contrivance Mead - Tukwila, WA Oppegaard Meadery - Tukwila, WA Thunderland Mead - Duvall, WA April 3 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - Sunday Sessions: Mead and Music April 6 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Mead and Chocolate Class April 9 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - 2022 Central PA Kiltcon! April 9 - Meadiocrity Mead, San Marcos, CA - Viking Raiding Party! Walk MS Fundraiser April 10 - Firefly Gathering, Barnardsville, NC - Magical Mead Making Class April 12 - Battle and Brew, Sandy Springs, GA - Mead and Minis - paint minis and drink Viking Alchemist mead April 23 - Potter Township VFD, Monaca, PA - Knights of the Round Table Mead Tasting Fundraiser April 23 - Northerns Beekeeping Association, Pretoria, South Africa - Mead Making and Bee Venom Therapy Training Day April 23 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - 2nd Annual Sigurblot - 40 vendors, live combat, blacksmithing, belly dancing, food trucks, live music April 24 - American Mead Makers Association - Mead Matters #8 - Making Mead with Kveik

3-15-22 Tonight at 9PM ET, we're talking with Ian, Adam and Isaac Rushing, owners of Honey and Hops Brew Works in Front Royal, VA. Honey and Hops Brew Works is a meadery started on a shoestring, and the Rushing brothers have gotten it to a thriving business. It started in 2019, with a Kickstarter that raised 11K in funds. Then the brothers went on to find a location, and secure that, and get the licensing started. Then along came 2020 (queue ominous music) and the pandemic (more ominous music). But the brothers from Alaska (now living in Front Royal, VA) were undeterred. Honey and Hops opened their doors April 10th, 2020, about 3 weeks after the world shut down (Virginia went into lockdown on March 18th, 2020). They started with 5 flavors, and by the end of the first year had released just over 20 of their small batch meads. Within 8 months of operating out of their first location, they had a signed lease on a space 3 times the size of their original space, directly on Main St in Front Royal. Owned and operated by 3 brothers (out of 8 siblings) that grew up in Alaska, they have grown steadily over the past 2 years since opening. Adam started home brewing beer in 2015. Adam is fourth out of 8 siblings. He is our lead mead maker, and is the creative genius behind most of our flavor combinations. Ian has a background in journalism and marketing. He is the oldest of 8 siblings, and somehow persuaded Isaac and Adam to move from Alaska to Front Royal VA to start this venture. Isaac is the third oldest of 8 siblings. He has spent many years in management, and was our first “full time” employee, managing our day to day operations. Join us to talk with Ian, Adam and Isaac and hear more about how they got things going on a shoestring in the middle of the pandemic, and what they're doing with their meads. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. If you could taste Hawaiian sunshine and aloha it would taste just like Wao Kele Honey. Raw unheated and unfiltered from the big island of Hawaii. All the honey is family produced on the family farm. Email islebuzz@gmail.com Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Mar 17-19 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - St. Patricks Day Weekend Mar 19 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - A Visit with Friends - CLAWS bringing winged friends, owls, hawks and ravens Mar 19 - Lincoln Fill Station, Snellville, GA - Mead Fest featuring 17 different meads, and a viking inspired meal Mar 19 - Zoll Vineyards, Dutton, VA - Cider and Mead Grand Tasting Mar 19 - Wildflyer Meadery, Festus, MO - Heley Woolbright Band Mar 20 - MoonJoy Meadery, Lenoir, NC - Mead and Mindfulness at the Wolf Moon Salt Cave Mar 2 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - Axes at Apis - ax throwing Mar 26 - Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna,

2-15-22 Tonight we're hanging out with TJ Cline, past President of the Savannah Brewers League and Organizer of the Domras Cup Mead Competition, which was held two weekends ago. TJ describes himself as a 'novice mead maker', with 18 batches under his belt over the last six years. He says he's always learning, and his current favorite styles are braggots, bochets and black currant fruit meads. He has been involved with the Domras Cup for the last six years, and worked his way up, starting with steward, and progressing to judging and registrar. Along the way he also became Secretary and is now President of the Savannah Brewers League, and is now the Organizer for the competition. TJ managed to keep the Domras cup going through the pandemic (no easy task), and has learned a few things that he thinks are crucial to planning a successful regional competition. The Domras Cup just completed it's 24th year of competition, and and the 25th year will be on 2/1/23, making it one of the longest running competitions out there. The competition is named in honor of Chuck Domras, who was instrumental in bringing mead to the Savannah Brewers League and furthering the mead making craft. Join us as we talk mead, competing your mead, and the challenges of putting on a large mead competition. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows March 1 - Shawn Harris - Walkele Honey in Hawaii March 15 - Ian Rushing - Honey and Hops Brewworks Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Feb 16 - Clear Skies Meadery, Gaithersburg, MD - Mind, Body and Mead Tasting Yoga Feb 16 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Mead Hall Trivia Feb 17 - Kinsale Mead, Ireland - Online Mead Tasting (get your kits ahead) Feb 19 - Windchaser Meadery, Williamsburg, VA - Meadmaker 101 Class Feb 19 - Temple Cellars, Singapore - Mead tasting with Gosnells (UK), Lone Bee (NZ) and Lion City (Singapore) Feb 19-20 - Texas Mead Works, Seguin, TX - Thorn Hill BBQ Feb 20 - Haley's Honey Mead, Fredricksburg, VA - Girl Scout Cookies and a Flight of Mead Feb 24 - Honeygirl Meadery, Durham, NC - Virtual Mead Tasting Feb 24-26 - European Mead Makers Association - Mead Madness Cup and EMMCon in Warszawa, Poland Feb 25 - American Mead Makers Association - Mead Matters Tasting with Prairie Rose Meadery Feb 26 - Texas Mead Association, La Grange, TX - Texas Mead Fest Feb 26 - Glass Jug Beer Lab, Durham, NC - Cider and Mead Tasting Feb 26 - Temple Cellars, Singapore - Gosnell's Mead Tasting Feb 26 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Live Music with John Jarrett Feb 26 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Viking Night - Mead, Hard Cider, Dinner and a Viking Drinking Horn Feb 27 - Moonjoy Meadery, Lenoir, NC - Yoga and mead at Wolf Moon Salt Cave Feb 27 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Mead and Painting Mini's

2-1-22 Tonight we're hanging with Ty Wheeler, mead maker, and host of the 'TK and Drinks' video podcast. Ty is a denizen of Arizona, and is a dad of two boys and purchasing agent in his day life. By night, he's a podcaster and is working on mead distribution. At the beginning of COVID, he got laid off and decided to make a career in the mead industry. Ty got into mead a few years back after re-connecting with a high school friend and former roommate, Jon Oppegaard of Oppegaard Meadery in Washington. He joined the Oppegaard Viking club, and started making regular purchases and visiting the local meaderies around him in Arizona. Ty hosts his TK and Drinks channel, and it's his mead advocacy venue. He started it to become a mead reviewer, and hone his skills to become a competition mead judge. and along the way it morphed into doing interviews and homebrewing/meadmaking videos as well. And now it's lead to doing mead distribution in Arizona. Join us to talk mead, meaderies, finding and distributing and whatever else we wander into at 9PM ET tonight! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster! Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors! www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow. Upcoming Shows February 15 - Teejay Kline - meadmaker and homebrewer, the Domras Cup March 1 - Shawn Harris - Walkele Honey in Hawaii March 15 - Ian Rushing - Honey and Hops Brewworks Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Feb 3 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Temecula Homebrewer Night Feb 6 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - CLAWS event - raptor rescue Feb 7 - SE Michigan Pink Boots Society, Ann Arbor, MI - All About Mead with Bløm Meadworks Feb 10 - WildFlyer Mead Co, Navasota, TX - Book club and mead Feb 11 - Kutik's Everything Bees, Oxford, NY - Mead Making Extravaganza Feb 11 - KVLT Mead, Tacoma, WA - SAFEWORD - a Kinky Queer Comedy Show Feb 12 - Planet Bee Honey Farm and Honeymoon Meadery, BC, Canada - Meant to Bee Virtual Cheese, Mead and Honey Tasting Experience Feb 14 - Kinsale Mead, Ireland - Valentines Online Mead Talk 'Bee Mine' Feb 16 - Clear Skies Meadery, Gaithersburg, MD - Mind, Body and Mead Tasting Yoga Feb 17 - Kinsale Mead, Ireland - Online Mead Tasting (get your kits ahead) Feb 24 - Honeygirl Meadery, Durham, NC - Virtual Mead Tasting Feb 24-26 - European Mead Makers Association - Mead Madness Cup and EMMCon in Warszawa, Poland Feb 25 - American Mead Makers Association - Mead Matters Tasting with Prairie Rose Meadery Feb 26 - Texas Mead Association, La Grange, TX - Texas Mead Fest Feb 26 - Glass Jug Beer Lab, Durham, NC - Cider and Mead Tasting Feb 26 - Temple Cellars, Singapore - Gosnell's Mead Tasting Feb 26 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Live Music Feb 26 - Batch Mead, Temecula, CA - Viking Night - Mead, Hard Cider, Dinner and a Viking Drinking Horn You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com