American Mead Maker Summer 2016

Pairing Mead and Food Expert Advice from Chrissie

Mead in Southeast Asia

Looking at a Growing Industry

AMMA Industry Update

85% Growth in the Last Year

American Meadmaker Summer 2016

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Features

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MEAD AS WHITE WINE EXPERT PAIRING ADVICE WITH CHRISSIE

PAIRING FOODS AND MEADS SPECIFIC WINNING COMBINATIONS

OF BEES AND MEN THE HISTORY OF MEAD, CONTINUED

MEAD IN SOUTHEAST ASIA EXPLORING A GROWING INDUSTRY

2016 AMMA INDUSTRY UPDATE SURVEY FINDS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH

UC DAVIS BRANDING WORKSHOP CONVENTION TEACHES BRANDING TECHNIQUES

MAZER CUP 2016 PHOTO GALLERY

Columns 05 06 08 32 46 47 53

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT MEAD LEGISLATION UPDATE MEADIST REVIEWS AMMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS AMMA BYLAWS AMMA MEADERY LIST

American Mead Maker ISSUE 16.2 • SUMMER 2016

EDITOR Jeff Herbert superstitionmeadery@hotmail.com Jeff has been working as a Wildland and Structure Fire Fighter/ Paramedic since 1999. He is a founding member of AMMA and has owned and operated Superstition Meadery in Prescott, Arizona since 2012.

ART DIRECTOR Paul V. Reiss paul@meadist.com Paul runs a small multi-disciplinary design company in Boston.

He also manages Meadist.com, a mead-centric blog focused on expanding the appreciation of modern meadmaking.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chrissie Manion Zaerpoor kookoolan@gmail.com Chrissie has been making mead since 1997. After 13 years at Intel Corporation as an engineer and engineering manager, she now owns Kookoolan Farms and Kookoolan World Meadery in Yamhill, Oregon.

ASSISTANT EDITOR Jennifer Herbert superstitionmeadery@hotmail.com Jennifer Herbert retired from a career in health and safety management, and founded and manages Superstition Meadery in Prescott, Arizona.

ASSISTANT EDITOR James Velasquez jamesvelasqu@gmail.com James is a professional writer, editor, and mead enthusiast living in New York City.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR I would like to welcome you back to another issue of American Mead Maker, the perfect reason to pour yourself a glass of mead while you get caught up on the latest developments in the mead industry. This issue is packed with enlightening reading and I would like to offer you a toast as I raise my glass of Ragnarok. Cheers!

As we prepared and conducted this year’s Mead Industry Survey, I noticed a distinct increase in the stories about new meaderies opening, popping up in my Google alerts. If you aren’t signed up for this free service yet, you need to get on it after you read this issue. Through the headlines will learn that there are lots of car accidents around Lake Mead, and a bit about Wyoming politics with Governor Mead, but you will also see what is going on in the mead world outside of AMMA news. You will obtain a new perspective on how the industry is growing and how the pace continues to accelerate.

I have been a part of AMMA since the beginning, and I often reflect on the mission of our organization, its goals, its challenges, and its accomplishments. I have always been personally challenged to balance the reality of the limits of a volunteer organization paired with a vision of what AMMA will evolve into, in good time. The board and support from committee members all stems from very busy professionals intentionally carving out quality time for the organization, whenever possible. Through all of this what I love most is that all of the work in AMMA is being done by mead makers. Even this journal is a fantastic example of words written and photos taken by mead makers, for mead makers. So as I examine what AMMA is about and what we are doing, the one thing I keep coming back to as the common thread and baseline of our mission, is that we are uniting the mead industry. When I think about the great times with great people at the Mazer Cup, or read through the AMMA Facebook Group and AMMA website forums, I realize that the relationships I have made, and others continue to make, are what

is required to continue to build our industry. All of the ideas we have for the future of the mead industry will be based on the solid relationships between mead makers that we are still forming.

I have written a bit about collaborations and travel based on mead making, and this is only one aspect of how we can get together and form new bonds.

I see a time in the near future when there are mead festivals across the country with multiple mead makers serving their finest mead. At Superstition we recently hosted our Second Annual Guild Gathering. We enjoyed seeing mead drinkers from Chicago, Ohio and California travel to Prescott, Arizona to celebrate the beverage we all love. It has been an honor to develop our Guild Gathering, and Berry White Day, into events that draw mead fans from across the country. But this is still only one meadery having an event, and I realize how challenging it is to conquer the logistics of a true mead festival, but I believe the time is near.

So I offer a challenge to you, as a commercial meadery owner or a mead fan: Find the time to host a mead festival or travel to one. From personal experience, I highly recommend visiting the meaderies outside of Detroit on National Mead Day, the first Saturday in August of each year. And make sure you make it to Colorado for the Mazer Cup in March. These events will open your eyes and satisfy your taste buds as you find inspiration to build new relationships of your own, ultimately putting the finishing touches on the foundation of the mead industry.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Until next time, Jeff Herbert

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members of AMMA, The annual board meeting took place this past March in Denver, CO, and as we reported at the meeting, membership is up and it’s continuing to grow both on the home mead maker and professional side. Being a volunteer organization, we are experiencing some growing pains, and we are working to get these issues identified and resolved. Our primary goal is to find increasing value for the dues that our members pay.

Recent board votes have approved funds to be made available to begin an academic mead research program at UC Davis, improve our website, work to change the Code of Federal Regulations and Internal Revenue Code, and to begin a significant national mead marketing effort.

The board will be providing updates via email and on our website, and we believe that the present is truly an exciting period of opportunity for our industry. I am hopeful that we will continue to build on this momentum, and build an organization that will be here for the long term, for all of us. The biggest challenge

in managing AMMA is that each of the board members are very busy with operating their companies, and we have identified that at some point we are going to need to staff positions in the AMMA so that the organization can find more ways to serve its members.

Besides member dues, the largest source of revenue for the AMMA is the annual Mead Free or Die amateur and professional competition which was held in April, and it’s looking like we ended up raising over $2000 for the AMMA. We had judges, stewards and entrants from all over the world participating this year. With Meadery of the Year being a tie between Colony Meadery and Melovino Meadery on the professional side, and Eric and Casey Reeter from Port Townsend, WA, wining Mead Maker of the Year, and Kaspersky Jerzy from Germany winning Best of Show honors.

Please consider entering next year and if you can come out to judge or steward we would love to have your participation in 2017. I was very impressed with the quality level of the meads that were entered into both the Mazer Cup International, and Mead Free or Die. It is inspiring to see so much excellent mead being made across the world, and that is exactly what our industry needs to grow. I hope you all have a wonderful summer, and please make use of the mead-makers.org website to help build our organization.

Sincerely, Michael Fairbrother

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PHOTOS FROM THE 2016 AMMA ANNUAL MEETING

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Mead Legislation Update Brad Dahlhofer Vice President / Legislative Chairperson American Mead Makers Association Fellow Members, The Legislative Committee was formed to act as liaison between our membership and the US Federal Government. It has long been evident to our industry, that the Federal government’s definition of mead is so narrowly defined, that it leaves little to no room for the diversity of mead styles many of us are accustomed to making and selling. And while the Other Than Standard classification gives us some relief, it’s a solution that leads to other problems in labeling and taxes.

In 2014, a few of us in the AMMA flew to Washington DC to meet with the TTB to address some concerns, and see how we could make progress. In February 2015, the TTB published a FAQ specifically for Mead/Honey Wine which I strongly urge anyone who is in the industry to read. The FAQ can be found here: https://www. ttb.gov/faqs/alcohol_faqs.shtml#hw. While this FAQ was helpful for interpreting the rules, it still didn’t change those which we believe needed to. So the Legislative Committee started down the path to change regulations by first drafting a list of goals that we had gathered from members in previous surveys and meetings, and then researching who has had success in changing regulations pertaining to alcohol in

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the United States.

In 2015, the Cider industry made a big push for what was known as the CIDER Act. Also during the year, another Act called the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act was attempting to make changes for Wine, Spirits and Beer. They later convinced the Cider Association to add the language from the CIDER Act into the Craft Beverage Modernization Act. At the time, it seemed that it might take all the beverage industries coming together to get their changes addressed collectively. If so, that would leave little hope that the AMMA could easily get its issues addressed on our own. So it became our primary strategy to become included in the Craft Beverage Modernization Act. Since then, in December 2015 the Cider Association was able to get their language added as a rider in an omnibus bill that was passed into law.

Earlier this year, we met with the staffer in charge of the Act within Senator Wyden’s (D-Oregon) office to discuss this option and were warmly received. But the staffer was uneasy with many of the changes we were looking to make. Their goal was to make sure that the changes proposed in the Act wouldn’t cause controversy to arise amongst the other players, as well as the TTB. He urged us to start by making contact with the TTB to discuss the history of some of the regulations to learn if there were poor reasons why they exist.

We later learned that Wine America had signedon with the Craft Beverage Modernization Act, and a very important piece in the Tax code was

proposed during their bargaining that would positively affect mead, but the definition was too narrowly defined. We, along with our Attorney in Washington DC are now working to amend that piece of language so we can broaden the definition of mead from a tax perspective. So far, we have found no opposition to our proposed changes from any of the other industry associations. Our work continues on this front.

It is important to note that as a young trade association, the AMMA has very little in the way of funds to finance these types of initiatives, so all of the time that has gone into these initiatives has been donated by the participating members. I want to thank the members of the legislative committee, the board, our association members, and our attorney for all the hard work they have put in so far. It takes a lot of work to accomplish what we are attempting. The Cider Association had three lobbyists and spent about $250,000 to accomplish their goals. Though we haven’t changed any laws yet, we have a better clarity of purpose, opportunity, and strategy than any time since I’ve served on the Legislative Committee.

If you have any desire to help in our legislative efforts, please contact me personally. If you have connections with people in the US Senate or Congress, ask if they would be willing to speak with the AMMA about our cause.

And direct them to me through an introduction e-mail. We will be sure to follow up.

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Mead as White Wine EXPERT PAIRING ADVICE WITH CHRISSIE

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This article is an excerpt from Chrissie’s book, The Art of Mead Tasting & Food Pairing, which will be out later this year.

The most straightforward and familiar type of mead, for the many people who are new to mead, is the simple traditional style, either dry or semi-sweet. Traditional meads are made with only honey, water, and yeast as ingredients. This keeps the mead clean and simple for pairing, and most foods that work well with white wines will work well with a dry or semi-sweet traditional mead. As with white wines, these are generally best served at room temperature to slightly chilled (55 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit). Certainly if you were planning a several-course, all-mead-dinner in which you planned to pair meads with a range of foods, you’d want a least one of those meads to be a dry, traditional mead.

Both poultry and seafood pair perfectly with

dry to semi-sweet meads, although they are hardly your only pairing choices.

Many white-wine-style meads are oaked: some or all of the batch of mead spends some time in an oak barrel, which may be a new barrel, a used mead barrel, or a used wine, Bourbon, whiskey, or gin barrel. Oak barrels contribute tannins and “roundness” to meads and wines; tannins have a slightly bitter and astringent component which tends to pair well with grilled, smoked, and toasted foods. Lighter fare tends to be overwhelmed by strongly-oaked meads.

Smoked salt is just one example of ingredients that can really make a pairing sing—or not. One of my favorite pairings is brown-butter-roasted cauliflower with Sky River Semi-Sweet Blackberry Mead. It works because the sweet earthiness of the caramelized cauliflower works with the earthy and not-too-sweet blackberries.

But when smoked salt is added, the blackberry mead comes across as too sweet and bright, while the oaked mead resonates like a perfectly-tuned instrument. Without the smoked salt, however, the oaked mead comes across as bitter and harsh compared to the sweetness of the cauliflower.

A few traditional meads are widely distributed, and make a good starting place for our discussion precisely for that reason (i.e., virtually everyone can access these, regardless of where in the U.S. you are located). Redstone Meadery’s Mountain Honey Wine, made in Boulder, Colorado, won a gold medal at the 2003 International Mead Festival. It contains 12 percent alcohol and is made with clover and wildflower honey.

B.Nektar, a meadery in Ferndale, Michigan, makes an Orange Blossom Mead from orange blossom and citrus honey and is aged in oak barrels. They also make Michigan Wildflower Mead, aged briefly in oak.

HoneyMaker Dry Mead from Maine Meadworks: This modern dry mead boasts clarity, balanced acidity, and a crisp, dry finish. Wildflower honey infuses delicate citrus and floral notes, tempered with a slight earthiness. I rec-

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ommend this for fans of crisp, refreshing white wines such as Chenin Blanc, Dry Diesling, and Pinot Gris. It contains 12.5 percent alcohol and is oak aged for complexity and depth. It pairs well with lobster, pork, and sheep’s milk cheeses.

Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro, North Carolina, makes a traditional off-dry mead with just a hint of sweetness. Its light floral notes segue into a slight citrus finish. Serve lightly chilled with Lemon Chicken, fish, or even with spicy food!

This mead was a bronze medal winner at the 2012 Mazer Cup. They also make a traditional semi-sweet mead, with a fabulous floral honey nose and a long, lingering honey finish; just what you would expect from mead. This mead is wonderful with spicy foods or New York style cheesecake.

All of these meads may be used the way you’d

American table is chicken, so let’s start here.

Mead loves chicken, and chicken loves mead.

When poultry is cooked with savory, earthy, or umami ingredients—think onions, rosemary, mushrooms, and carrots—stick to the middle of the spectrum, with solid, traditional dry or semi-sweet meads. Look for meads made from earthier honeys such as avocado blossom, carrot blossom, and wildflower. Stay away from very delicate, citrusy meads; unless it’s a very light chicken tempura or citrusy lemon chicken, perhaps.

Seafood and Fish. Hands-down the best mead and food pairing I have ever constructed in my life was a pairing of saffron risotto with Mjödhamnen of Sweden’s Buckthorn Buzz Mead made of rapeseed honey. Mjödhamnen’s Buckthorn Buzz Mead would be terrific with a

Smoked salt is the magic ingredient that can marry almost any savory food to oaked mead or wine. Oaked meads go great with grilled, smoky foods. Your food is too neutral for the oaked mead you have open tonight? Try sprinkling the food with smoked salt to improve the pairing!

use any white wine, including for cooking.

White wines are generally paired with fish, seafood, chicken, salads, mild cheeses, and vegetarian dishes. But which kind of mead pairs best with each of these food choices? There are basically two methods to attack this conundrum: Start with the food at hand, or start with the bottle in your hand. Allow me to demonstrate. Let’s start by knowing what we’ll have for dinner, but not what to serve with it. This method works best if you have a mead cellar stocked with several choices at hand, live near a bottle shop with a large selection of meads, or if you’re planning ahead and have time to order something from the internet to be delivered in time for your special dinner.

Poultry. The most common entrée on the

full-on, traditional paella as well. It has a citrusy aspect different from grape wines that complements this particular dish better than any grape wine I’ve ever had with a paella. Lobster and Asparagus Eggs Benedict (Beth Hensperger, Not Your Mother’s Weeknight Cooking) would be terrific with most meads in this category.

Delicate white fishes shine when paired with the citrusy or floral meads (dry orange-blossom honey meads or any semi-sweet mead). I’m thinking of fishes such as flounder, fresh cod, and tilapia. Shrimp, scallops and salmon can work as well depending on the preparation; for more robust preparations you’ll want stronger alcohol and bolder flavors.

Vegetarian cuisine. When pairing with dry to semisweet traditional meads, we’re talking

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about milder flavors: no deep tomato sauces, nothing too spicy (those pair better with sweeter, fruitier, and sparkling meads). Salad dressings may feature mead as a main ingredient. A stunning pairing is a raw vegetable plate paired with one of the champagne-style meads made from avocado-varietal honey or carrot blossom-varietal honey, available from Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes, California. Simple grilled or roasted vegetables work well with meads, as do those dishes with sweet earthy flavors such as wild mushroom tarts, roasted beets, mild creamy chevre and walnuts, fennel and arugula salads, buttered shell peas and pearl onions, braised or steamed snow peas and water chestnuts in a simple white sauce over rice, and braised, caramelized cauliflower, cabbage, or kohlrabi. Again when grilling or smoking, think oaked mead.

White sauced pastas go very well with richer meads that have a little sweetness and more body, and/or a bright acidity. Try offdry or semi-sweet meads, or sparkling champagne-style meads. For rich white sauces such as alfredo sauce, choose a bright acidic mead to lighten it up and balance it. Heidrun’s Orange Blossom sparkling mead comes to mind.

Mild cheeses generally go well with any dry or semi-sweet meads, as do cheese and fruit together. (Note: Sharp or strongly flavored cheeses such as blues, Stilton, or sharp, English style Cheddars, go better with bigger and sweeter meads.) When moving from a cheese plate into a meal, pair the cheese plate with a drier mead. When the cheese course follows dinner and is leading into dessert, choose a mead that is sweeter, and even a little fruitier.

But we don’t always start with the food. More often, we start the pairing process with a bottle of mead in hand, either one that was a gift, one that we have just bought, or one that we have just pulled out of our pantry or cellar. So go on, then, open it up and have a few sips. You’ll want to get a sense of it. Does it remind you of any-

thing? Any specific flavors or aromas? Fruit?

Vanilla? Citrus? Now imagine the dinner items you are thinking about pairing with it, and try to imagine their flavors mingling with the mead.

Chicken? Fish? Roasted vegetables? Shellfish?

Perhaps Coquilles St. Jacque would be perfect with a semi-sweet traditional mead.

By the way, it’s perfectly okay to preview a wine a few hours or even up to a few days before sharing it with your guests; many meads even improve with several minutes or hours of “breathing.” This is just one good reason to buy meads that you like two or three or six or 12 bottles at a time!

If you plan to keep an opened bottle of dry, off-dry, or semi-sweet traditional mead sitting around for more than a day, however, you would be well served to top off the bottle with a squirt of inert gas. You can purchase wine preservation kits such as the “Capabunga” brand for just this purpose: these are mixtures of inert gases, typically Argon, Carbon Dioxide, and Nitrogen, which are heavier than air. They displace the lighter air and thus prevent the oxygen in the air from oxidizing the wine. If your local wine shop, gourmet grocery, or kitchen store doesn’t have such an item, you can easily find it online.

When pairing fish or chicken or rabbit with mead, look for ingredients that combine well not only with white wine, but also with honey, as well as with the main protein. Below, you’ll find some terrific combinations of flavors to pair with mead. Note that in recipes calling for white wine, you can always substitute mead instead. This may be the mead you plan to serve with that course, or it could just as well be a different mead.

We presented a terrific dinner planned around a selection of dry to semi-sweet meads at one of our tasting events. All the ingredients came from the deli of our local gourmet grocery store, New Seasons Markets: Chicken Meatballs with plum sauce, green beans with fennel, and lemon herb rice.

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Pairing Food and Mead CHRISSIE GIVES ADVICE ON SPECIFIC FOODS AND HOW TO MATCH THEM BEST WITH MEAD The following food combinations offer proven flavor profiles that are complementary to each other and with mead. Be inspired, and create an amazing pairing meal tonight!

Almonds Almonds and honey are a classic pairing; poultry and seafood recipes that use almonds almost always pair well with mead.

Apples Chicken and apples, pork and apples, pork-apple or chicken-apple sausages, Waldorf salad, baked stuffed apples for brunch.

Apricot Apricot and almond ravioli. Fig-andfeta-stuffed apricots.

Avocados These are especially good with mangoes and shrimp or crab.

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Carrots Carrots go well with honey, almonds, bacon, cinnamon, ginger, pine nuts, tarragon.

Cauliflower Roasted or otherwise-caramelized. One of the most surprising and brilliant pairings I’ve had was Sky River Meadery’s Dry Blackberry Mead paired with simple caramelized cauliflower.

Mushrooms Chanterelle mushrooms, and other wild mushrooms, especially morels, chicken-of-the-woods, and lobster mushrooms. They pair especially well with chicken, game birds, rabbit, shellfish, and omelets.

Corn Corn generally. Think for a moment how perfect a drizzle of honey is on cornbread and you get an inkling of this ingredient’s potential for mead pairings. Corn in almost any format, especially with bacon, butter, chanterelles, feta or parmesan cheese, marjoram, black pepper or bell peppers. Corn comes on the cob, baked as cornbread, as hominy grits, and as creamy polenta or grilled polenta cakes.

Curry Curries; generally mild curries pair best with dry to semisweet meads. Fruitier curries pair well with oaked meads. Spicy curries pair better with sweeter and fruity meads.

any recipes with almost any combination of almonds, apples, asparagus, bacon, Swiss cheese, cherries, chestnuts, coconut, corn, curry, garlic, ginger, mangoes, mustard, plums, star anise, sweet potatoes, teriyaki sauce, walnuts.

Duck Duck and goose are both amazing with honey; try recipes that include apples, apricots, artichokes, bourbon, cherries, bittersweet chocolate, corn, cranberries, curry, figs, juniper berries, mangoes, molasses, mushrooms, mustard, peaches, pistachios, Chinese plum sauce, pomegranates, rhubarb, sage.

Chocolate Chocolate, which can be savory as well as sweet, as in chicken or turkey molé.

Figs Figs and prosciutto or other hams; figs and goat cheese; figs and blue cheese.

Chicken Chicken, especially when prepared in

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Grapefruit combine with Brussels sprouts, or with fish or shellfish. Grapefruit for brunch is made extra-special by topping halved grapefruits with a little butter plus a sprinkling of mead, and then caramelizing the sugars under the broiler for just a few minutes before serving.

Although citrus ingredients such as grapefruits can sometimes make grape wines taste funny, citrus ingredients generally pair very nicely with meads due to the absence of tannins.

Greens Greens and mustard, especially with bacon, pork belly, or sausage.

Ham Ham, pretty much any preparation ever.

(Think for a moment: honey ham. And then extend that idea to mead and ham.) But especially try recipes for ham that also use juniper berries, gruyére cheese, cherries, cloves, figs, garlic, mushrooms, mustard, peaches, port, raisins, rosemary, sour cream, and thyme.

Rabbit Rabbit or hare, especially with thyme, mushrooms, juniper berries, lavender, mustard, pine nuts, walnuts.

Lamb Lamb, prepared pretty much any way you can think of. But especially with almonds, apples, bacon, white beans, cardamom, feta or parmesan cheese, dried cherries, couscous, fennel, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, hazelnuts, juniper berries, mushrooms, mustard, olive oil, pine nuts, rosemary, sage.

Lemon Lemon and fish or chicken, especial-

dressing, avocados, peaches, pears, and cheese.

Or with apples in a Waldorf salad. Or with Feta and apricots in a Middle Eastern-inspired salad.

Melons Melons, especially with prosciutto or other hams, and with pear.

Mushrooms Mushroom tarts, especially with cream, shallots, and thyme.

Mustard

Any honey-mustard—anything works well with mead. Try it as a salad dressing or as a marinade.

Peaches and Pears Peaches or pears, especially savory preparations, and with barbeque.

Pasta Pasta with mushrooms, cream sauces, lobster, pancetta, pine nuts, Romano or Parmesan cheeses.

Persimmons Persimmons and pork have an earthy umami combination that is just stellar with mead, especially a mead that has earthy flavors, such as a mead from carrot blossom or avocado honeys.

Pheasant Pheasant and other game birds, especially with apples, bacon, blackberries, chestnuts, juniper berries, lemon, mushrooms, sage, sausage, shallots, sour cream, thyme.

Plums Chicken and plums, especially with almonds or other nuts.

ham or bacon.

Polenta, Corn Bread Again, corn is an ingredient that works well with mead pretty much any way you can think to use it. Polenta can be made fresh and creamy, or leftover polenta can be spread on a cookie sheet and chilled overnight and then cut into squares and fried or grilled as polenta cakes.

Salads Salads, especially with honey-mustard

Pork Pork any way you can contrive it, espe-

ly in recipes that also use almonds and cardamom. Citrus ingredients pair far better with meads than they do with grape wines.

Lentils Lentils pair well when made with some

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cially with hoisin sauce, tarragon, mustard, plum sauce, sage, star anise, apples, fennel, juniper berries. For an over-the-top ambitious party, try roasting or pit-cooking a whole suckling pig and serving it with several meads. Pork belly: there is no wrong way to serve it!

Salmon Salmon, with bacon, avocados, chervil, citrus, corn, cream or crème fraîche, fennel, garlic, ginger, juniper berries, mushrooms especially morels and chanterelles, mustard, raisins, snow peas, spinach, tarragon, tomato cream sauces, walnuts, watercress.

Potatoes Potatoes with mushrooms, fennel,

Sausage Sausage, with apples, cabbage, mus-

bacon, parsley, parsnip.

tard.

Pumpkin Pumpkin, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and other winter squashes, sweet or savory, any way you can think of, especially with apples, bacon, coconut, ginger, carrots, gruyére cheese, mace or nutmeg, mushrooms, pecans, thyme. Consider soups, raviolis, broiled/roasted vegetables, sweet and savory pies, custards, risottos, and more.

Quail Quail or squab, similar to chicken and pheasant, try with cranberries, risotto, figs, ginger, juniper berries, mushrooms, pancetta, pears, persimmons, sage, shallots, watercress.

(Quail is a light meat similar to chicken and pheasant. Squabs, which are young pigeons, are almost all dark meat, like the drumstick or thigh on a turkey or chicken.)

Quinces Quinces, try with quail, liver pate, and risotto.

Scallops Scallops especially prepared as the elegant and classic Coquilles St. Jacques, or with bacon, capers, avocados, cheese, cream or cream sauces, fennel, ginger, mushrooms, pumpkin and other winter squashes, shallots, soy sauce, tarragon, thyme.

Veal and Lamb Shanks Shanks and necks of veal or lamb; especially the classic Italian dish Osso Buco (which can be made using beef or veal or lamb) with its gremolata topping that is so worth the effort to make, and served with corn polenta.

Shellfish Shellfish with ham, lemon, mushrooms, saffron.

Shrimp Shrimp, especially mild curries, or with scallions and tarragon, with oranges and peanuts, try shrimp scampi made using mead instead of white wine!

Red Snapper Red snapper is particularly friendly to honey; try recipes that incorporate ingredients of capers, celery, fennel, leeks, potatoes, saffron, parmesan cheese, sesame oil and seeds, tarragon, thyme.

Sorrel Sorrel (a sour, lemony spring green that looks similar to spinach) with celery root, mustard, crème fraîche, tarragon.

Ricotta Cheese Ricotta cheese,especially in

Spaetzle Spaetzle, especially with bacon.

white lasagnas, or with almonds in crepes.

Rutabagas Rutabagas with butter and cream sauce; with lemon béchamel sauce; with nutmeg; with sage or thyme.

Stuffing On a weeknight, stuffing by itself or with leftovers or a side of sausage and braised greens is a meal on its own! When I make stuffing for poultry, I always double or triple the rec-

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ipe and store the rest (before adding the broth) in an oven-ready casserole pan or ziplock freezer bag in my freezer. At about 4 p.m. on a weeknight, I can pull it out of the freezer, pour some hot broth over it, and put it in the oven for an easy dinner. It takes less than 20 minutes to slice and caramelize onions, slice and add sausage, and slice and add kale; serve with stuffing as the side dish.

Ribs Ribs, spare ribs, barbeque ribs. This is a sure thing every time, impossible to do wrong.

For pairing with dry to semisweet traditional meads, stick to a milder barbeque sauce. (For spicier or stronger barbeque sauces, try the bigger fruit meads or sweeter meads, especially Polish meads or peach melomels; we’ll get to these bigger flavors in later chapters.)

Trout Trout, especially with almonds and lemon, with bacon, with white beans such as

flageolets, brown butter, mushrooms, cream, garlic, pears, sorrel. Grilled trout with almonds and lemon is divine paired with an oaked dry mead.

Turkey Yes, a dry or semi-sweet traditional mead is the ideal wine for your Thanksgiving table, or for white turkey lasagna or turkey paninis all year long. Try turkey with celery root, chestnuts, ham, mushrooms, parsley, raspberries, sage, stuffing, tarragon, thyme.

Wild Rice Wild rice with almonds, hazelnuts, or pine nuts and wild mushrooms. Especially with game birds such as pheasant or quail. Especially with seafood.

Yogurt Yogurt with honey, mint, watercress, carrots, onions, nuts.

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Of Bees And Men

THE LONG, OFTEN CONVOLUTED HISTORY OF MEAD Colin Druce-McFadden Welcome to the second installment of our look at humanity’s epically long, often ridiculous history with the original “Nectar of the gods,” mead. In our first installment, which can be found in the previous issue of this magazine, we took mead out of prehistoric Africa and saw it thrive in Ancient Greece. This time, we’ll track mead as it spreads across the old world and then, earlier than you might expect, faces the first real challenge to its survival.

We begin where we left off. The year is 7000 BC, and mead has begun its spread across the globe.

The Old World • 7000 BC-1 AD The moment mead entered into Greek myth, it also began what can only be described as a bid for global domination (ok, maybe that’s not the ONLY way to describe it). By 7000 BC, ancient pottery from Iran boasted mead residue. Starting in the same year and continuing on for at least five centuries thereafter, Northern Chinese pottery was found to have played home to a mix of honey, rice, a variety of fruits, and the tell-tale signs of fermentation.

Eventually, every corner of Asia—from Japan to Southeast Asia and India—was sipping on the stuff. We even owe the oldest surviving written description of mead to the Rigveda, an 1100 BC manuscript sacred to the Vedic and Hindu religions.

As for Europe, the oft-forgotten ancient photo courtesy of Bee Thinking, Portland OR

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Bell-Beaker Culture (named for its use of clay pots) spread mead to small areas across the continent somewhere between 2800 and 1800 BC. Later, the Romans brought mead (along with the Greek pantheon of gods) to every corner of their empire. This means that, at least as early as 100 AD, all of Western Europe had been exposed to mead’s sweet intoxication.

As mead’s popularity grew, so did its footprint in mythology. No longer was mead exclusively the purview of Zeus (now Jupiter) and his Greco-Roman ilk. Odin and his son Thor favored mead when they dined in Valhalla. One Norse mead in particular, made from a mix of honey and the blood of an all-knowing man named Kvasir (replacement ingredients not available), was said to instantly instill wisdom and poetry in the heart of whoever drank it.

Not to be outdone, the ancient Anglo-Saxons included mead in one of their own seminal works, the epic poem Beowulf, while the Welsh made reference to it in the equally ancient poetic work Y Gododdin. Things were looking good for mead, but even as it worked its way across the known world, trouble began brewing (pun intended) back in the Mediterranean.

the empire were ransacked by mazers looking to profit from the inflated price of wax, and mead production stalled.

Meanwhile, society was marching forward.

Countries were urbanizing and wealth was becoming (comparatively speaking) more commonplace. Demand for symbols of affluence (like booze) skyrocketed. Back then, wine enjoyed a fermentation timetable much more akin to beer than mead. Due to their quick production times, both beverages began to grab ever-increasing portions of the market. By the year 400, mead had disappeared from India.

200 years later, China followed suit.

Columella’s ancient mead recipe: Take rainwater kept for several years, and mix a sextarius (one imperial pint) of this water with a pound of honey. For a weaker mead, mix a sextarius of water with nine ounces of honey. The whole is exposed to the sun for 40 days, and then left on a shelf near the fire. If you have no rain water, then boil spring water.

The Perfect Storm • 1 AD-1500 AD Around the year 60 AD, even as the Spanish-Roman naturalist Columella was jotting down his Europe held on a bit longer, but in 1000 AD, recipe for mead, Pliny the Elder was making brewers discovered that if they added hops sure we understood the difference between to their beer it would travel better. The hops what he termed militites (traditional mead) also did interesting things to beer’s (previousand honey-wines, a grape-based intoxicant in ly somewhat lacking) flavor. Then, in 1300 AD, famed explorer Marco Polo returned from the which the honey was added after the fact.

Spice Islands (Indonesia) with something called Wine and beer had both been around for mil“sugar,” which was cheaper to produce than lennia at this point, but mead had remained honey and improved the taste of wine. All told, top dog due to its inherent sweetness and natthe combination of urbanization, high beeswax ural preservative properties. That was about to demand, hops, and sugar worked together to change. In the year 380 AD, Emperor Theodoutterly shatter mead’s popularity. By the 1500s, sius I proclaimed Christianity as the sole relimead had all but disappeared. gion of the Roman Empire, and there was much rejoicing. There was also a sudden increase in Next time: Mead returns from the the need for beeswax candles. Hives all across ashes of its own destruction.

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Mead in Southeast Asia EXPLORING A GROWING INDUSTRY

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 22 •

CT Tai

The United States and Europe have been enjoying the explosive growth of craft beer for decades, and recently the category has put down roots in Asia.

Even rarer than craft beer is mead, which is something very new to beer geeks in and around Southeast Asia.

For the uninitiated, “Southeast Asia” is indeed vast and inclusive of many countries, but for this article we will concentrate on where the craft beer movement is most active: Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore, and to a certain extent, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In Southeast Asia, the first meads made available in a bar were bottles from the Danish meadery, Dansk Mjød. They were brought in by Mikkeller Bar Bangkok nearly 2 years ago, and in a very small quantity; after all, not many people understood what mead was all about. When compared to new IPAs and stouts, mead received minimal promotion, and there has been no supply of craft-level mead in and around the region until very recently.

It was only in early 2016 that both Bangkok and Singapore started to see more mead coming in, this time from American meaderies like Superstition and B. Nektar. In January, mead was made publicly available for the first time when craft beer enthusiasts within the region gathered in Singapore to attend a beer festival organized by a craft beer importer. It was a humble exhibition of mead with only a few variants, but that event still marked the very first time mead was served on tap in Singapore, along with bottles for sale from both B. Nektar and Superstition. Just one month later, Mikkeller Bangkok was celebrating their two-year anniversary and offered several Superstition meads on tap, along with eight bottled variants available for sale.

These two events in Singapore and Bang-

kok, though very small in scale, opened up the senses for some craft beer aficionados. While there’s basically no mead supply in my home city of Kuala Lumpur, the beer geeks here are still happy to know that at least there’s some mead available in Bangkok (a 2 hour flight) or in Singapore (a 1 hour flight). In fact, it is likely that one or two craft beer shops here in Kuala Lumpur will be getting some bottles in from Singapore to satisfy requests.

In order to demonstrate a local and individual perspective on mead for the readers of American Mead Maker, I spoke with two different people who are spreading the word on mead in Southeast Asia. A friend of mine in Singapore, Yancheng Choo (YC) is a pharmacist by trade but in his spare time is involved with craft beer events. He caught the beer bug in 2012, but over the past two years has become a big fan of mead. Like most Southeast Asian drinkers, he could not find any mead locally, and first encountered mead when a geek from Florida came to Southeast Asia for work and brought with him the Kuhnhenn Brewing Company’s Bourbon Barrel French Toast Mead—certainly an incredible way to begin his mead adventure.

According to YC, for his first encounter with mead, he had “absolutely no expectation” of what mead might be—though he thought it would be quite different from any other beverage he had tried. His verdict after tasting mead?

YC reports, “I found that mead is at least as diverse as craft beer in its styles, and definitely multi-dimensional if well made.”

While “access is very difficult,” YC says he has enjoyed meads from several producers including New Day, Superstition, B. Nektar, and Apis from Poland.

Up north in Bangkok, Taey Wasawat Chaowanachinda was one of the first beer and food pairing consultants at Mikkeller Bangkok and currently is a brewer at Tawadang German Brewhouse. Taey first came to know mead while working at Mikkeller Bangkok when they

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 23 •

brought in a few different bottles of Dasnk Mjød. On his first experience with mead, Taey said, “It was a little like wine, and what I liked about mead is the balance of tannin, as I find that wine can have too much of a tannin component in the mouthfeel.” From a brewer and beer geek point of view, Taey felt that mead “has the right kind of texture combined with layers of complexity in the taste.”

One mead Taey tried resulted in him being dumbfounded by the beauty of what he sipped: A Strawberry White from Superstition Meadery.

The mead was actually not for sale, but a private bottle of owner/partner of Mikkeller Bangkok, Jakob Rasmussen. Taey subsequently posted a photo on his Facebook page saying, “I found love last night, thanks to Jakob for letting me try the most beautiful thing on earth!”

Here in Kuala Lumpur, the craft beer scene as a whole is still lagging behind Bangkok and Singapore in terms of numbers of importers, craft beer bars and bottle shop operators, which translates to lesser varieties and choices. The situation is such that the Kuala Lumpur tasting group has to be creative to secure beers we want to try internationally, and it looks like some international mail order might well be on the card for some tasty mead.

A significant factor affecting mead being imported in Southeast Asia is the steep expense of shipping overseas, and when this is added to the taxes and regulatory barriers which vary by country, getting more mead is not an easy

proposition. These added expenses to a bottle of mead, compared to what it would cost in the country of origin, are magnified by the varying average incomes of different countries in Southeast Asia. Despite all of these issues, however, the craft beer movement, and now mead, is slowly but surely growing in Southeast Asia.

In fact, as I’m writing this article, a mini craft beer festival is happening in Bangkok at a community shopping mall—the first of its kind. And in March, Mikkeller Bangkok completed the first ever Superstition Meadery tap-takeover with a good response from geeks in and around the region, including a beer geek friend of mine who flew in from Hong Kong for the event. It was worth the trip for him as there is still no supply of mead in Hong Kong or nearby Taiwan where the craft beer movement is quite strong.

Mead in Southeast Asia, and Asia as a whole, is certainly very new. Yet the beauty of the craft beer culture is such that people who taste mead are loving it and are happy to spread the love. It is with this hope that we as geeks look forward to influencing the craft beer importers and bar and bottle shop operators into moving more tasty mead this way.

Ct Tai is a leading craft beer blogger in Asia and he writes a weekly craft beer column for the Malaysian Chinese language newspaper Guangming Daily.

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 24 •

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Mead Industry Update 2016 ANNUAL SURVEY FINDS THAT MEAD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION HAVE BOTH GONE UP IN 2015

Introduction 2016 brings us to the fourth year that the American Mead Makers Association (AMMA) has been tracking production and sales data from the United States mead industry. Each January represents a time when businesses making mead have assembled and reported their production totals to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), and are wrapping up their finances in order to file with the IRS. So each spring AMMA prepares a survey inviting their corporate members to submit responses to our annual survey. AMMA is proud to announce that both mead production & gross revenue from meadery sales is in the double digits in the period from 2014 to 2015.

The American Mead Makers Association

Since the Second Annual Industry Report was published in early 2015 the AMMA has transitioned from a formative industry organization to an established industry organization with 11 board members representing all aspects of the mead industry. Active committees within AMMA include the Legislative, Publications, Marketing, and Technology committees. In brief, each of these groups is meeting and working respectively to address regulation and tax issues, to publish the journal American Mead Maker, to publish industry sales and marketing material, and to enhance the AMMA website.

A recent project in development by the AMMA board is working to establish a day of seminars based around the time frame of the Mazer Cup International mead competition, which is held in March every year in Broomfield, Colorado.

This event is the largest commercial mead competition in the world and represents a time and place where the most mead makers have gathered. Efforts within AMMA have included raising membership levels and revenue from dues and donations to record levels. This increased revenue is allowing the AMMA board to dedicate funds to the committees for the purpose of accomplishing tasks which will benefit the mead industry.

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 26 •

AMMA & UC Davis One focus of the board over the past year was strengthening its professional relationship with UC Davis. AMMA board members have travelled many times to UC Davis to attend a mead branding seminar, and to teach classes which help developing and established meaderies improve their production methods & obtain resources to grow their businesses. Additionally, AMMA has appropriated funds to begin the first academic mead research program at UC Davis, the preeminent fermentation science research institution in the world.

The Mead Industry in 2016

The Second Annual Mead Industry Report counted 194 mead producers in the United States, and this year AMMA counts 275 mead producers in the United States with 427 total mead producers worldwide. The precise number of commercial mead makers is a fluid number and is difficult to track. However, this increase

in mead producers indicates an increase of 42% in one year, and it is very clear that meaderies are being established on par with the growth in popularity of the category.

The US Mead industry is challenging to concisely detail for several reasons. One is that while most mead is regulated by the wine branch of the TTB, the definition of mead as accepted by the industry and international competitions exceeds the scope of the TTB. The steep regulation and corresponding taxation of the US alcohol industry as a whole manages the production of alcoholic beverages by dividing the producers into wineries, breweries or distilleries. For example, there are distilleries which produce mead for the purpose of distilling into honey vodkas and gins. Breweries are increasingly adding honey at rates of over 20% of the fermentable sugars creating a beverage known as a braggot, which is considered a style of mead by everyone except the governing

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 27 •

agencies alcohol producers must defer to. This is due to the fact that wineries are not allowed to use cereal grains in their products, and breweries must.

Another reason why the industry eludes a single characterization is that like the beverages they produce, mead makers are often existing on a frontier. With no entrepreneurial success stories as yet published in a popular book or documentary, unlike in the world of brewing and wine making, a strong individual spirit is a requisite quality of the founder of a meadery.

A final reason why the mead industry is hard to classify is that mead is an emerging product.

Any emerging product as diverse as mead will have so many stories to share. AMMA views the challenge of classifying what we are all about as a positive aspect for our young industry since everyone who is a part of it has the ability to contribute to the definition of what we all are creating.

Methodology of the Survey

42%

INCREASE IN MEAD PRODUCERS

40 members of AMMA responded to this year’s survey. The data presented in this report is unique to the corresponding 2016 survey.

Based on the anonymity of the answers, and the different data source, the 2016 data was not analyzed comparatively with the 2015 Second Annual Mead Industry Report. The data analyzed is representative of the mead industry as a whole but clearly a larger group of data points will serve to illustrate an increasingly accurate description of the US Mead industry as the industry expands. AMMA recognizes the limits of the data set analyzed for this report but also acknowledges that the results published in this report offers the greatest holistic perspective of the current state of the mead industry. 10 questions were assembled in an anonymous online survey and answers were solicited from AMMA corporate members. There are a number of ways to measure central tendency in order to gain an understanding of a data set so we have determined and presented the mean and/or

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 28 •

median values as indicated in the results.

development.

The first question posed asked respondents how long they have operated a commercial meadery.

The answers ranged from 1 to 24 years with the mean being 3.65 years and the median at 2.5.

When considering the implications of the results presented in this report keep in mind that the median operating time of the respondents is quite low and indicates that many answers are derived from young businesses. However, the mature meaderies balance out the mean data to offer a wide view on the industry.

AMMA asked commercial meaderies if they also operate a brewery or distillery in addition to their winery. 2 meaderies replied that they operate a distillery and 3 operate a brewery. 1 respondent in the survey operated all 3 alcohol producing entities. While obvious differences

In addition to running a brewery or distillery, mead makers were asked if they produce and sell additional categories of alcoholic products permitted by their winery status and additional non-alcoholic products. The responses included grape wine, hard cider, chocolate, kombucha, elderberry syrup, vin de noix, honey, fruit wine & fruit drinks. For those meaderies with a brewery, they reported producing braggots, and those with a distillery reported spirits. 45% of meaderies produce mead exclusively and 55% make at least one additional product.

The average number of different meads produced was 14, and the answers ranged from 2 to 85. When asked about their bestselling mead produced in 2015, 43% of meaderies indicate that a fruit based mead, or melomel, is

Classifying the Commercial Mead Makers Who Answered the Survey

85%

Additional Products and Mead Diversity

GROSS REVENUE INCREASE BETWEEN 2014-2015

exist amongst spirits, beer, wine, mead and cider, the requirements and skill set required to run any of these businesses are complementary and it will be interesting to determine if this becomes a trend moving forwards. One explanation for a meadery endeavoring to maintain an additional alcohol producing business is that the consumer and competition definition of mead includes braggots which must be produced at a brewery, and the relatively untapped innovative potential of distilled honey based spirits exists on the frontier of craft beverage

their most popular, while 30% replied that a traditional mead was their best selling product.

Some of the respondents offered greater detail in their answers with 11% stating that a cyser, or apple and honey based mead, was the specific type of melomel that made up their leading product and 14% declared that a session mead, or mead with an alcohol content under 10% alcohol by volume, was their best seller. Furthermore, 16% answered that a metheglin, or herb and/or spiced mead, was their best seller.

With honey being the defining ingredient in

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 29 •

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 30 •

mead, AMMA asked where mead makers are getting their honey. 80% stated that they use a local source and 7.5% actually raise their own bees, contributing at least a portion of their honey used in production. Other answers indicated that their honey is sourced from large packagers such as Dutch Gold or from international suppliers. The data overwhelmingly describes that mead makers, presumably for financial and/or ideological reasons, are making a product with local ingredients which serves to support the popular assertion that the mead industry is concerned with positively impacting ecological issues and their local economy.

In addition to having raw materials travel less miles, using local honey or even producing one’s own primary fermentable ingredient, allows the customers of a meadery to have a unique connection to the beverage they are consuming.

Mead Industry Growth

While examples of spontaneous mead production in nature exist, commercial mead is made by companies with employees and we asked how many people work at your meadery. The range was 1-15 with the mean at 3.6 and the median at 2. Many meaderies are operated entirely by the owners, who are counted as employees of their business in this survey, and only begin to afford payroll expenses as they grow. The data indicates that most meaderies have 2 or less employees but the number grows quickly in proportion to the size of the operation.

Mead production data collected by the survey included responses from meaderies which were not established in each of the 3 years that data was requested. If a meadery was not producing in a given year, their quantity of 0 gallons was not included in the analysis in order to report on actual production in each given year of comparative data. The mean values for 2013, 2014, and 2015 were (in gallons) 7111, 8289, and 11622. This tells us that mead production grew 40% from 2014 to 2015.

When asked about gross sales revenue the mean data indicates an increase of 43% from 2013-2014, 85% from 2014-2015, and 167% over the years 2013-2015. The values compared for the three years respectively are $273,551, $393,710, & $737,029. AMMA is pleased to report that meadery gross sales are continuing their rapid expansion. Mead is a small and emerging category, but no sector of the alcohol industry is currently expanding as fast as mead. These sales numbers are further supported by the growth of meaderies being established and the gallons being produced from year to year.

Conclusion

When asked about what members would like to see AMMA work on as organizational priorities, over half stated legislation and/or regulatory reform pertaining to formulation, labelling and taxation. Some of the suggestions stressed addressing taxes and CO2 levels in session and/or carbonated meads. Others stated that it may be beneficial to continue to work with the TTB to educate specialists on the regulations pertaining to mead, which would certainly be important as the Code of Federal Regulations evolve.

The next group stressed the importance of creating awareness of mead, through marketing efforts, educational pamphlets, festivals, and events. Other priorities included establishing a trade show and conference at the Mazer Cup, offering links to all meaderies and trusted suppliers on our website, and offering a program to help established meaderies succeed and meaderies in planning go pro.

In addition to presenting growth in mead production and especially mead sales, this survey and corresponding report offers all mead makers the chance to have their voice heard and their collective work & ideas represented.

AMMA would like to thank everyone who participated in this survey. We will continue to work hard to improve the regulations that govern our industry and to market mead to craft beverage drinkers in the United States and beyond.

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 31 •

Meadist Reviews Golden Coast Mead - Sour Orange Blossom The Sour Orange Blossom is a varietal mead made with wild yeast and orange blossom honey. It’s the second mead I’ve been able to try from the California based Meadery. The first was their Orange blossom mead so it will be nice to see how the wild yeast changes the flavor.

The label says, “We combined our two most popular meads: Orange Blossom and Sour. The result is a refreshing citrus drink that is gluten-free, 12% alcohol, and made from the most natural and local ingredients in Southern California. Enjoy this unique beverage chilled and always include a friend!”

The Sour Orange Blossom mead comes in a 500ml Amber “bomber” bottle. When cracking open the crown capped bottle, you hear the “psssst” of pressure release, letting you know this is a carbonated mead.

Good thing too. I hate prying off a bottle cap and hearing no noise.

The sip starts slightly sweet and ends quite tart. It has kind of a tart candy flavor that reminds me of some sort of candy from my childhood that I can’t quite put my finger on.

I haven’t really warmed up to sour beers. I find them a little off – like some of the bad batch’s of homebrew I’ve made. However, the wild yeast works quite nicely with this mead. It’s not too sour nor does it have a lot

of that wild yeast funkiness. The tartness with this one is a little bit more citrusy – most likely as a result of the orange blossom honey. Overall it’s a nice drinkable, refreshing mead – light sweetness, dry and tart. It’s surprising that this it has a 12% ABV. The alcohol isn’t really noticeable. It’s incredibly drinkable – so watch out.

While I felt that the standard Orange blossom mead fell a little flat on flavor, I think this one improves upon it greatly.

Though I believe they selected the right bottle for the carbonated mead, the label really fights with the amber color, especially the teal color. This is really noticeable with the text on the back. the color along with the font choice and letter spacing makes it look messy and not so easy to read.

There’s also an uncomfortable tension between the teal and the greenish yellow – pair that with all the graphic elements going on, and the whole thing looks a little muddy. Nothing really pops. The mead in the bottle is so bright and lively, so I’d expect to see that coming through in the label.

Very good mead, now i’d like to see the label be taken to the same level!

Groennfell Meadery - Valkyrie’s Choice My wife and I visited her parents in Vermont at the end of her maternity leave. A perfect location and to give Groennfell’s Valkyrie’s Choice mead. Groennfell is a Vermont mead company located not too far from where I grew up. The name “Groennfell” is old Norse for “green mountain” in honor of the green mountain state.

Valkyrie’s Choice is a traditional mead at 9.2% abv. It pours a cloudy, light straw color with significant carbonation. The carbonation releases a nice bouquet of wildflower honey – which is quite pleasant, but there is a little tinge of sweet medicine. It drinks a bit differently than expected from the initial perception. It’s not as carbonated in the mouth as it seemed to be in the glass. It’a fairly refreshing for 9.2% alcohol, but the alcohol becomes more noticeable on the tail end. There is also a bit of a medicinal aftertaste as well.

Groennfell is really embracing the history of mead in all aspects of their brand, from the old Norse name of the company and the name of the mead to the design of the label. While I appreciate the consistency (con-

sistency is key when building a brand) the full commitment to the ancient roots of the beverage really limits the market.

I feel like a lot of mead brands fall prey to this. They really focus on the historical aspect of mead but don’t formulate for a contemporary audience. Similar to heritage brands, mead brands need to strike a balance between honoring the past while targeting a modern audience with discerning tastes in a crowded marketplace.

Meadist is an online source for modern mead exploration.

Find additional reviews and more at meadist.com To have your mead reviewed, email paul@meadist.com

Valkyrie’s choice not just tips the scale toward history, it breaks the scale. The one thing I do like about the label is the unique shape –diecut oval/mountains on the front with a band that wraps around. It fits the brand nicely as a reference to a shield or other piece of armor.

Mead Branding Workshop at University of California, Davis

FRAMING THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF MEAD

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 34 •

Jeff Herbert On November 12, 2015, several AMMA board members and mead makers from across the country assembled at the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, which is part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The purpose of the meeting was to create a unified message that all meaderies can utilize in order to promote our industry as well as our individual products. The meeting was organized by Amina Harris, who directs the Honey and Pollination Center, and led by Jeremy Benson, who runs an international wine and spirits marketing company. The Benson Group has offices in Napa Valley, New York City, and Paris, and represents an impressive list of clients from around the world.

Prior to the meeting, homework was assigned to all attendees. We were asked to detail mead’s internal strengths and external opportunities, as well as to provide answers to the following questions: What will success mean for our category and for our brand?

What is our envisioned future by 2025?

Compared to craft beer or spirits, what makes mead attractive to trade and consumer buyers? Why should they choose our product?

The evening before the meeting, UC Davis hosted a reception dinner, and ideas flowed along with fine mead and wine. It was very inspiring to hear mead makers, each with many different styles of products and business models, support various positions on how the industry needs to evolve.

Those positions were expressed and organized the following day when our meeting began with Jeremy Benson.

After introductions were made, Jeremy directed a series of exercises to line out every possible strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat—a “SWOT” analysis—related to the mead industry on giant Post-it sheets of paper. This focused our thoughts, and if something slowed the progress of the discussion, the topic was written on a sheet that read “Parking Lot.” After 2 hours, and before adjourning for a quick break, everyone in the group was given small colored Post-it notes to vote on the most important aspects written under each SWOT page. The last half of the meeting allowed us to focus the discussion further by taking the leading topics and developing a list of the Key Brand Benefits of mead.

After the meeting adjourned, UC Davis hosted a dinner where AMMA board members and other mead industry leaders were able to connect with the director of the Robert Mondavi Institute and continue the conversation about the potential of mead research and industry development. A few weeks af-

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 35 •

ter the meeting in Davis, Jeremy Benson’s office sent out a summary of the main points from the intensive session which were further commented on by the attendees through an email correspondence. Paul Reiss, the Boston-based graphic designer responsible for AMMA’s brand identity package, then worked with Bill Beltz, another graphic designer and award-winning home mead maker based in San Diego, to create two single-page documents synthesizing the meeting.

The resulting documents are designed as tools for meaderies to educate individual customers or potential accounts on the benefits of mead. The slogan, “Mead, Drink Different” was posited by Paul and Bill as way to engage new consumers who, more often than not, are crossover drinkers who usually buy craft beer, cider, or wine.

This effort represents a positive effort by AMMA to begin to focus the marketing of the mead industry. These sell sheets are available to any AMMA corporate member on the AMMA website to reproduce in any format, and our goal is that mead sales staff will utilize the information to grow their business.

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FRUIT

Mazer Cup 2016 The Mazer Cup is an international meadmaking competition that happens every year. This year’s competition included meads from a multitude of different meaderies, and divided awards into categories based on mead flavor. Included in this issue of American Meadmaker are some photos from the event, and the final scores and rankings of the competitors.

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 38 •

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 39 •

Mazer Cup Results

Style 11 11 11 11

Sub-Style 1A 1A 1A 1A

Sub-Style Name Bracket or Braggot Bracket or Braggot Bracket or Braggot Bracket or Braggot

Award Gold Silver Bronze Hon Men

21 21 21

2A 2A 2A

Cyser Cyser Cyser

Gold Silver Bronze

31 31 31

3A 3A 3A

Dessert Mead-Semi Sweet Dessert Mead-Semi Sweet Dessert Mead-Semi Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

32 32 32

3B 3B 3B

Dessert Mead-Sweet Dessert Mead-Sweet Dessert Mead-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

41 41 41

4A 4A 4A

Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Dry Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Dry Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Dry

Gold Silver Bronze

42 42 42

4B 4B 4B

Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Semi-Sweet Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Semi-Sweet Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

43 43 43

4C 4C 4C

Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Sweet Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Sweet Other Fruit/Veg Melomel - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

51 51 51

5A 5A 5A

Metheglin - Dry Metheglin - Dry Metheglin - Dry

Gold Silver Bronze

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 40 •

Product Name Honey Stout Bees Knees Sunna's Nectar Bad Bee - IBA

Company Rabbits Foot Meadery Locavore Beer Works Sun Up Brewing Co Rabbits Foot Meadery

MeadMaker Michael Faul Andy nelson Uwe Boer Michael Faul

Virtue Apple Teacher's Pet

Moonlight Meadery LLC Schramm's Mead Melovino Meadery

Michael Fairbrother Alyson Schramm Sergio Moutela

Favorite Child Black Berry White Utopian #9

The Colony Meadery Superstition Meadery Moonlight Meadery LLC

Mike Manning Jeff Herbert, Carlos Michael Fairbrother

Monk Medievale Colossus

Orchid Cellar Meadery and Wine Dan Kennedy Intermiel Andre Abi Raad Meridian Hive Meadery Mike Simmons

Marion Mead Superstition Meadery Idaslettens Blackcurrent Mead Idaslettens microbrewery Berry Goode Black Heath Meadery

Jeff Herbert Asger ╪xenhave Bill Cavender

Endovelicus The Statement Raspberry

Superstition Meadery Schramm's Mead Schramm's Mead

Jeff Herbert Alyson Schramm Alyson Schramm Naeger

The Red Menace Madeline Berry Boku

Celestial Meads Schramm's Mead Melovino Meadery

Michael Kiker Alyson Schramm Sergio Moutela

Hibiscus & Ginger Mead Hopped Mead Woofiedog

Bos Meadery Hierophant Meadery The Colony Meadery

Colleen Bos Jeremy Kyncl Mike Manning

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 41 •

Style

Sub-Style

Sub-Style Name

Award

52 52 52

5B 5B 5B

Metheglin - Semi-Sweet Metheglin - Semi-Sweet Metheglin - Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

53 53 53

5C 5C 5C

Metheglin - Sweet Metheglin - Sweet Metheglin - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

61 61 61

6A 6A 6A

Pyment Pyment Pyment

Gold Silver Bronze

71 71 71 71

7A 7A 7A 7A

Session Mead - Dry Session Mead - Dry Session Mead - Dry Session Mead - Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze Hon Men

72 72 72 72

7B 7B 7B 7B

Session Mead - Semi-Sweet Session Mead - Semi-Sweet Session Mead - Semi-Sweet Session Mead - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze Hon Men

73 73 73

7C 7C 7C

Session Mead - Sweet Session Mead - Sweet Session Mead - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

81 81 81

8A 8A 8A

Specialty (Open) - Dry Specialty (Open) - Dry Specialty (Open) - Dry

Gold Silver Bronze

82 82 82

8B 8B 8B

Specialty (Open) -Semi-Sweet Specialty (Open)-Semi-Sweet Specialty (Open) -Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 42 •

Product Name

Company

MeadMaker

The Root Cause Romantic Traveler 21 Bean Salute

Melovino Meadery Robertson and Associates Winer Meadworks - 810

Sergio Moutela Cris Robertson Bryan DeGraw

Ginger Mead Cricket Song Indulge

Prairie Rose Meadery Arktos Meadery Moonlight Meadery LLC

Susan Ruud Maciej Halaczkiewicz Michael Fairbrother

Aphrodisia OM Rose Ambrosia

Superstition Meadery Meridian Hive Meadery St. Ambrose Cellars

Jen Herbert Mike Simmons Kirk Jones

Red Branch - Ginger Johnny Jump Up Hammer Smashed Cherry Honeycone

Rabbits Foot Meadery Rabbits Foot Meadery Bos Meadery Nectar Creek

Michael Faul Michael Faul Colleen Bos Phillip Lorenz

Razz!

The Lucid Poet Red Branch - Hard Raspberry Red Branch - Hard Peach

St. Ambrose Cellars Green Bench Mead & Cider Rabbits Foot Meadery Rabbits Foot Meadery

Kirk Jones Brian Wing Michael Faul Michael Faul

Pollen Angels "Scuttlebutt" Pollen Angels "Cinfully Yours" Pollen Angels "Punky Pie"

Sunset Heights Meadery Sunset Heights Meadery Sunset Heights Meadery

John Way John Way John Way

Hawthorn-Tulsi Mead Were-Bear Broken Crown

Hierophant Meadery House Bear Brewing Meridian Hive Meadery

Jeremy Kyncl Elizabeth Borges Eric Lowe

Amante Rosee Kurt's Apple Pie

Superstition Meadery intermiel Moonlight Meadery LLC

Jeff Herbert Andre Abi Raad Michael Fairbrother

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 43 •

Style

Sub-Style

Sub-Style Name

Award

83 83 83

8C 8C 8C

Specialty (Open) - Sweet Specialty (Open) - Sweet Specialty (Open) - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

91 91 91

9A 9A 9A

Traditional - Dry Traditional - Dry Traditional - Dry

Gold Silver Bronze

92 92 92

9B 9B 9B

Traditional - Semi-Sweet Traditional - Semi-Sweet Traditional - Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

93 93 93

9C 9C 9C

Traditional - Sweet Traditional - Sweet Traditional - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

101 101 101

10A 10A 10A

Varietal - Dry Varietal - Dry Varietal - Dry

Gold Silver Bronze

102 102 102

10B 10B 10B

Varietal - Semi-Sweet Varietal - Semi-Sweet Varietal - Semi-Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

103 103 103

10C 10C 10C

Varietal - Sweet Varietal - Sweet Varietal - Sweet

Gold Silver Bronze

AMERICAN MEAD MAKER • 44 •

Product Name

Company

MeadMaker

Out of the Blue Smolder Hot For Teacher

Sahtipaja AB Moonlight Meadery LLC Melovino Meadery

Timo Krjukoff Michael Fairbrother Sergio Moutela

Oak Barrel Traditional Dry Mead

St. Ambrose Cellars Bee & Bramble LLC Munro Honey & Meadery

Kirk Jones J D Schloz John Bryans

Bear Meadery-czworniak Old Dixie Moon Discovery

Corpo Sp. z.o.o Sp. K. Melovino Meadery Meridian Hive Meadery

Krzysztof Szczesniewski Sergio Moutela Mike Simmons

Trojniak Dzikie Pszczoly Original Slovenska medovina

Mazurskie Miody Bogdan Piasecki Miodosytnia Micha│ Imbiorowicz Micha│ Imbiorowicz Apimed Peter Kudlac

Show Bear Bee d'Vine Brut Bouquet Printanier

House Bear Brewing The Honey Wine Company intermiel

Elizabeth Borges Ayele Solomon Andre Abi Raad

Meadowfoam Star Thistle Straight - No Chaser

Meridian Hive Meadery St. Ambrose Cellars The Colony Meadery

Mike Simmons Kirk Jones Mike Manning

Velvet Moon Hunters Moon Meadery Staroslovanska medovina svetla Apimed Leatherwood Traditional Schramm's Mead

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 45 •

Greg Bowdish Peter Kudlac Alyson Schramm

AMMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT Michael Fairbrother Moonlight Meadery

VICE PRESIDENT + LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Brad Dahlhofer B. Nektar

SECRETARY

TREASURER

Colleen Bos Bos Meadery

Phil Lorenz Nectar Creek Honeywine

SMALL INDUSTRY MEMBER + PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR

Jeff Herbert Superstition Meadery

Sergio Moutela Melovino Meadery

INDUSTRY LIAISON

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON

Ken Schramm Schramm’s Mead

John Way Sunset Heights Meadery (Canada)

LARGE INDUSTRY MEMBER

MARKETING COMMITTEE CHAIR

Mike Faul Rabbit’s Foot Meadery

Vicky Rowe Got Mead

EX-OFFICIO Chrissie Zaerpoor Kookoolan World Meadery

AMMA BYLAWS [As amended September 1, 2015]

ARTICLE I AMMA DEFINED SECTION 1. NAME The American Mead Makers Association, Inc. is a professional, scientific and educational nonprofit corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Association or AMMA. The Association shall make decisions for its operations and administration based on these Bylaws.

SECTION 2. MISSION STATEMENT The AMMA is an industry voice for meaderies within, or doing business in the United States. This voice is communicated through the press, marketing activities, public relations and by working on legislative issues. We support research and advances in safety, sustainability, education, technology and raw materials related to mead making. Political influence is exercised to secure fair legislative and regulatory treatment.

We are committed to assisting meaderies in producing quality meads by cultivating new ideas, publishing information on best practices and supporting competitions. AMMA believes in promoting the living and active mead culture which is thriving among craft meaderies, home mead makers, and mead enthusiasts.

SECTION 3. CORE VALUES:

Directors will set the fee structure and can change it on an annual basis.

1.Promoting and celebrating the growing independent, traditional SECTION 2. CORPORATE and innovative culture of American MEMBERS craft meaderies.

2. Providing a unified voice to vigorously defend the mead industry Any commercial winery that makes through legislative and regulatory one or more meads as part of their action. product line. One employee/own3. Fostering transparency within the er will be identified as the primary Association. representative and will be the sole 4. Supporting and encouraging the voting person for their membership. responsible enjoyment of mead.

Dues cover up to five employees as 5. Providing stewardship for the named by the company. mead industry.

6. Educating mead makers and con- SECTION 3. TRADE MEMBERS sumers about the diversity, flavor and quality of mead.

7. Improving the economic health Any business or organization that of American craft meaderies indi- provides products or services to the mead industry. Trade members will vidually and collectively.

8. Promoting ethical and legal trade receive special member benefits.

SECTION 4. INDIVIDUAL practices.

9. Building relationships and collab- MEMBERS orating with our industry partners.

ARTICLE II MEMBERSHIP AND DUES SECTION 1. DESCRIPTION OF MEMBERSHIPS

This membership is for the home mead maker or other individual who wishes to support the mead industry. Individual Members will receive special member benefits.

SECTION 5. LIFETIME MEMBERS

Any individual or corporation who has been approved by the previous The following classifications of As- bylaws as Lifetime Members. These sociation memberships include: members are grandfathered into Corporate, Trade, Individual, Inter- the current and any future bylaws. national and Lifetime. The Board of

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 47 •

However, no new Lifetime Memberships will be honored.

SECTION 6. MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGES. All members in good standing are entitled to Association privileges, are eligible to serve on Committees, vote in Board elections, shall be entitled to use the Association logo in marketing or in identifying themselves as a member of the Association, and will be invited to attend the annual business meeting.

SECTION 73. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS & DUES. Any person or corporation wishing to become a member of the Association shall complete a membership application and pay the associated dues on-line. Annual renewals are due January 1st of each calendar year. No grace periods will be honored.

ARTICLE III BOARD AUTHORITIES AND POSITIONS SECTION 1. AUTHORITIES The elected Board, hereafter be referred to as “the Board”, shall consist of 11 members representing domestic and international mead making interests, as defined below. Term limits are two years and no elected Board member may serve more than two consecutive terms in the same position.

By majority vote, the Board may negotiate agreements, enter into contracts with individuals or groups, and authorize payment of fees for

services rendered to the Association. as the point of contact for the meIt may authorize the employment of dia, and have the authority to call individuals to perform services for meetings of the Association and the Association and establish the the Board. The President will submit policies for compensation, condi- a quarterly progress report to the tions, and requirements for such Sergeant at Arms and write a Letter employment. It shall determine and from the President in each quarterly authorize all expenditures stipulated journal issue. elsewhere in these Bylaws.

By Super Majority Vote (8 out of 11 SECTION 3. VICE PRESIDENT votes), the Board may: A. Appoint, or remove any Board In the absence of the President, the member or Association member Vice President shall perform all the B. Change the membership dues duties of the President. In addition, C. Amend, alter, or repeal these Bythe Vice President shall also serve as laws the Chair of the Nominating ComD. Amend the Articles of Incorporamittee and will submit a quarterly tion of the Association progress report to the Sergeant at E. Adopt a plan of merger or adopt Arms. a plan of consolidation with another corporation or entity F. Authorize the sale, lease, or ex- SECTION 4. SERGEANT AT change of all or substantially all of ARMS the property or assets of the Association The Sergeant at Arms will ensure all G. Authorize the voluntary dissobylaws and traditions are respected lution of the Association or revoke by everyone. It is the responsibility pending proceedings for the Assoof the Sergeant at Arms to make sure ciation’s dissolution certain parliamentary procedures H. Adopt a plan of distribution of asare followed, according to Robert’s sets of the Association Rules of Order. He or she will assist I. Amend, alter, or repeal any resoluthe President in maintaining good tion of the Board order and discipline at all AssociaBy simple majority vote the Board tion meetings and functions. Also, shall have the authority to do any any proposed bylaw changes, comof the following under any circumplaints, or suggestions for considerstances: ation by the Board will be submitted A. Adopt and amend the annual to the Sergeant at Arms. budget for the Association and esThe Sergeant at Arms will facilitate tablish policies for organization exinternal communication with each penditures; Board member and Committee B. Create and eliminate Committees Chairs monthly to resolve issues and/or task forces to be made up of and to ensure forward progress. A at least one board member. quarterly progress report from each board member (Except the Ex-OfSECTION 2. PRESIDENT ficio) and Committee Chairs will be forwarded to the Secretary to be The President shall conduct all Board included in the next Board Meeting. meetings and the annual business The Sergeant at Arms will submit a quarterly progress report to the Secmeeting. The President shall approve meeting agendas, serve retary.

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 48 •

SECTION 5. SECRETARY The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes and distributing minutes at all Association and Board meetings, as well as preparing and distributing meeting agendas. If the Secretary is absent from any Association or Board meetings, the President will appoint an alternate to take minutes. The Secretary will assemble progress reports received from the Sergeant at Arms, edit as necessary and present at board meetings.

The Secretary will maintain the Association calendar of events, due dates, action items, elections and any other pertinent time-lines. The Secretary will forward reminders of critical activities to the Sergeant at Arms to ensure accountability and write a quarterly progress report.

SECTION 6. TREASURER

the Association, promote AMMA deries making over 40,000 gallons membership and activities out- of mead per year. They will promote side of the United States, and report AMMA membership and activities on international meadery issues to large meaderies and report on to AMMA. He or She will submit a issues pertaining to larger producquarterly progress report to the Ser- ers. He or She will submit a quartergeant at Arms. ly progress report to the Sergeant at Arms.

SECTION 8. HOME MEAD MAKING COMMUNITY LIAISON

The Home Mead Making Community Liaison will not be employed by a commercial meadery and will The Small Industry Member will serve as the point of contact for all own or work for a small commercial individual AMMA members, pro- meadery and will serve as the point mote AMMA membership and ac- of contact for all commercial meativities to home mead makers and deries making under 40,000 gallons clubs, and report on amateur mead of mead per year. They will promote making issues to AMMA. He or She AMMA membership and activities will submit a quarterly progress re- to start-up and small meaderies and port to the Sergeant at Arms. report on issues pertaining to smaller producers. He or She will submit a quarterly progress report to the SerSECTION 9. INDUSTRY geant at Arms.

LIAISON

The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing funds, securities, receipts, and disbursements of the The Industry Liaison will own or Association as well as: Submitting work for a commercial meadery. He a monthly financial report to the or She will maintain (Association Board, submitting an end of year paid) memberships with other craft finance report and a proposed bud- beverage trade organizations such get for the next year at the annual as the Brewer’s Association, Wine meeting, collect membership dues, America, etc. They will serve as the maintaining the bank account, sub- point of contact with the craft beer, mitting a quarterly progress report cider, distilling and wine making to the Sergeant at Arms, and the hir- communities as they build relationing of professional services to assist ships and promote mead. He or She with the preparation and submis- will submit a quarterly progress report to the Sergeant at Arms. sion of forms to the IRS and state.

SECTION 7. INTERNATIONAL LIAISON The International Liaison will own or work for a commercial meadery located outside of the United States.

He or she will serve as the point of contact for all international meaderies wishing to communicate with

SECTION 11. SMALL INDUSTRY MEMBER (PRODUCER OF <40,000 GALLONS/YEAR)

SECTION 10. LARGE INDUSTRY MEMBER (PRODUCER OF >40,000 GALLONS/YEAR) The Large Industry Member will own or work for a large commercial meadery and will serve as the point of contact for all commercial mea-

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 49 •

SECTION 12. EX-OFFICIO The Ex-Officio is a voting board member appointed by the board to serve in a consulting position. The Ex-Officio previously served as an elected board member and their experience will offer continuity and advice on issues to the current board.

SECTION 13. VACANCIES. In the event that an elected board position becomes vacant for whatever reason, the Board shall appoint an individual to fill said vacancy except when the President position becomes vacant. The Vice President will become President and the Board will fill the Vice President’s vacant seat by appointment. The person appointed shall assume all the rights, duties and responsibil-

ities of the appointed office for the remainder of the term. Any appointment whose service is less than one year shall not count against that person for term limits as prescribed in this Article.

elected Board Member. Ballots shall keep the voting members’ identity confidential.

• Home Mead Making Community • Liaison • Industry Liaison

SECTION 3.

SECTION 14. RESTRICTIONS

In case of tie votes or if there are no nominees for a position, the Board shall decide the action to be taken.

ARTICLE V COMMITTEES

No elected Board member may be living within the same household as any other Board member. Additionally, to ensure diversity among Board members, no elected Board members may work for the same company.

ARTICLE IV NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS

SECTION 4.

Election results will be certified and published by the Board by December 31. Newly elected Board members will assume authority once they are installed at the next Annual Association Business Meeting the following March.

SECTION 5. TRANSITION

SECTION 1.

All outgoing Board Members shall hand off the provisions of their position to the incoming Board MemBy October 1 of each year, the Board bers, in person, at the Annual Asshall convene a Nominating Comsociation Business Meeting. This mittee consisting of 3 members: includes but is not limited to docu(1) The Large Industry Member, (2) ments, passwords, contacts, bankthe Small Industry Member, and (3) ing information, etc.

If the outgoing Chaired by the Vice President. The or incoming Board Member cannot Committee shall canvass the Asmake the Annual Association Busisociation’s eligible membership by ness Meeting, the provisions must email requesting suggestions for possible nominees for Board posi- be relinquished and delivered one tions that are open based on term week prior to the Annual Associacompletion. Results of the canvass tion Business Meeting. will be reviewed by the Nominating Committee. By December 1st, SECTION 6. ELECTION the Committee will publish and an- TIMEFRAME nounce an online election.

Even Years • President • Secretary Voting for the election shall be com- •Treasurer plete by midnight on December • Large Industry Member 15, at which time the Nominating • Small Industry Member Committee shall count the votes • Ex-Officio and report the results to the Board. • Odd Years The nominee receiving the larg- • Vice President est number of votes for each of the • Sergeant at Arms positions to be vacated shall be the • International Liaison

SECTION 2.

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 50 •

SECTION 1.

There shall be regular Committees of the Association as needed and defined by the Board of Directors.

Except where otherwise specified in these bylaws, all Committees are advisory to the Board and shall have no authority to disperse monies or enter into contracts unless otherwise authorized by the Board.

Appointments to all such Committees shall be subject to approval by the Board prior to invitation to serve on such Committees. Chairpersons for Committees will be appointed by the Board.

There is no limit to the length of time Committee members may serve. Each Committee shall fix and establish its own rules of procedure except as otherwise provided in these bylaws and shall meet as provided by such rules and shall also meet at the call of its Chair or any other two members of its Committee. Committees will keep minutes of each meeting to be filed with the Secretary. The Committee Chairperson will then communicate to the Board.

ARTICLE VI FINANCES SECTION 1.

The Board of shall specify the annual dues and assessments of members based on recommendation from the membership. It shall determine reimbursement to be paid to Board members and the compensation policy for full time staff of the Asso-

ciation, but no member of the Board may vote on any question involving compensation to be paid to him or her. The Board shall approve and be responsible for a fiscal budget delineating all income and expenses for the Association’s overall operations including but not limited to administration, publications, conferences and investments. It shall order an independent financial audit of the Association every other calendar year and an annual independent financial review in interim years.

SECTION 2.

The fiscal year of the Association shall be from January 1 to December 31.

SECTION 3.

The board shall review and approve/ reject all institutions utilized by the association for banking or investing services.

ARTICLE VII MEETINGS AND QUORUMS SECTION 1. RULES OF ORDER During any formal meeting of the Association, Robert’s Rules of Order

by Henry M. Robert shall be used to guide the parliamentary practice of the Association.

SECTION 2. BOARD MEETINGS The Association shall conduct a minimum of four Board meetings annually. The time, place, meeting format and agenda items for each board meeting shall be recommended by the Secretary and approved by the President. The agenda format shall conform to the follow-

ing template: I. Roll Call – Sergeant at Arms (must have a quorum of 6 to continue) II. Call to Order – President III. Board Reports a. President b. Vice President c. Secretary d. Treasurer IV. Discussion and Action Items (a vote is required) a. Discuss, amend and approve Board meeting minutes of (DATE) (attachment V. a.) b. Other order of Action c. Other order of Action, etc.

V. Committee Reports VI. Agenda Items to be Considered for Next Meeting (include date) VII. Adjournment – Sergeant at Arms

SECTION 5. QUORUM

A quorum of six (6) Board members for transacting business at meetings shall be required to ratify any votes.

Proxy votes shall be counted by determining the number of members (including members attending by proxy) in good standing present. A proxy vote shall be valid only when it consists of a legible written assignment of the vote of a member in good standing.

The Board shall meet at least four times a year for regular business meetings and at such other times as deemed necessary by the President.

At least one of these meetings will be face-to-face. The President shall set the date and time of each regular meeting based on agreement of a SECTION 3. ANNUAL majority of the Board and an agenASSOCIATION MEETING da will be sent to all Board members prior to the meeting. Special meetThe Association shall hold an An- ings of the Board shall be called, nual Business Meeting open to all with due notice, by the President members of the Association. Notice or on written request by four memof the Annual Association Meeting bers of the Board. Upon majority shall be given to each member by vote, the Board shall be entitled to email with no less than one months’ adjourn anytime for purposes of renotice. The notice shall state the convening a closed session consisttime and place of the meeting and ing of only Board members. Prior to will also be posted on the Associa- adjourning into closed session, the topic(s) to be discussed shall be antion website. nounced in general terms to members in attendance at such meeting.

SECTION 4. SPECIAL

MEETINGS Special meetings for members of the Association, including the Board, may be called by the President on written request. The time, place, meeting format and agenda items for each special meeting shall be recommended by the Secretary and approved by the President.

Notice of the special meeting shall be given to each member by mail, phone or electronic means. The notice shall state the time and place of the meeting

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 51 •

SECTION 6. BOARD MEETINGS Notice of the time and place of meetings of the Board shall be given to each Board member by email allowing enough time for the Board member to receive the notice and to respond. The notice shall state the time of the meeting and the place.

The notice need not specify the purpose of the meeting.

SECTION 7. MEETING

PARTICIPATION

DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS.

Any Board meeting may be held by Upon the dissolution of the Associconference telephone, video screen ation, any assets shall in first priority communication, or other commu- be applied to final payment and disnications equipment. Participation charge of all liabilities and obligain a meeting under this Section shall tions of the Association. Any assets constitute presence in person at the which are held under stipulations meeting if both the following apply: requiring their return transfer, or (a) each member participating in the conveyance upon dissolution of the meeting can communicate concur- Association shall be distributed in rently with all other members, and accordance with the requirements. (b) each member is provided the Any remaining assets shall be conmeans of participating in all matters veyed to such organizations or inbefore the Board, including the ca- stitutions then existing within the pacity to propose, or to interpose an United States of America which are objection to a specific action to be dedicated to perpetuation of objectaken by the Association. tives similar to those of the Association and which are specified in the plan of distribution adopted by the SECTION 8. VOTING Board, provided that such entities are tax exempt under Section 501(c) The Board as defined herein shall (6) of the Internal Revenue code as vote on motions brought before it. amended or under such succeeding Other officers or agents appointed provisions of the Code as may be by the Board and persons invited by in effect at the time of dissolution. the Board may participate in Board No portion of the Association’s asmeetings but shall not vote. Each sets remaining after satisfying final voting member of the board will operating obligations may be conreceive one vote, and may decide veyed to any individual or to any to vote by proxy if it is established profit-seeking organization or firm. before the meeting, and delivered Debts will be paid. Remaining Dues to the Secretary according to proxy will be equally refunded to members voting rules which will be deter- in good standing. Remaining Assets mined by the Board. will be distributed to a tax exempt entity

ARTICLE VIII DISSOLUTION

SECTION 1. PROCEDURE. In the event dissolution of the Association appears desirable or necessary, the Board shall adopt a resolution recommending dissolution of the Association together with a plan for distribution of assets. The Secretary and Treasurer shall transmit the proposals to the Board.

SECTION 2. LIMITATIONS ON

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 52 •

AMMA MEADERY LIST #

E-mail: mead@bacchusmeadery.com

Bos Meadery LLC

51 North Brewing Company

Bardic Wells Meadery

5805 Seminole Ridge Circle Fitchburg, WI 53711 Bus: (608) 628-3792 E-mail: colleen@bosmeadery.com

51 North Broadway St Lake Orion, MI 48362 Bus: (248) 690-7367 E-mail: info@51northbrewing.com

6737 50th Ave Montague, MI 49437 Bus: (231) 893-6418 E-mail: mead@bardicwells.com

7 C’s Winery & Meadery

Bartlett Maine Estate Winery

502 E 560th Walnut Grove, MO 65770 Bus: (417) 788-2263 E-mail: jean@7cswinery.com

RR1 Box 598 Gouldsboro, ME 04607 Bus: (207) 546-2408 E-mail: info@bartlettwinery.com

A

Bayfield Winery

Elberta, MI Bus: (231) 883-2012

PO Box 1391 Bayfield, WI 54814 Bus: (715) 779-5404 E-mail: info@bayfieldwinery.com

Adytum Cellars

Bear Creek Winery

Acoustic Draft Mead

15132 148th Ave NE Woodinville, WA 98072 Bus: (425) 482-9030 E-mail: mead@adytumcellars.com

60203 Bear Creek Dr Homer, AK 99603 Bus: (907) 235-8484 E-mail: bluzin@bearcreekwinery.com

Aesir Meadery

Bee Well Meadery

2109 Wetmore Ave Everett, WA 98201 Bus: (425) 495-6201 E-mail: erik@aesirmeadery.com

39342 Canterbury Dr Harrison Twp, MI 48045 Bus: (586) 322-6705 E-mail: cvansice@gmail.com

Ah-tu-gi-s-di Meadery

Beekman & Beekman

Rt 1 Box 100 Vian, OK 74962 Bus: (918) 774-8091

Alaskan Wilderness Wines 498 Shearwater Kodiak, AK 99615 Bus: (907) 486-1420 E-mail: alaskawildwine@gci.net

Algomah Acres Honey House Meadery

5236 Geer Rd Hughson, CA 95326 Bus: (209) 667-5812 E-mail: info@beekmanandbeekman.com

San Rafael, CA 94903 Bus: (415) 491-0908 E-mail: info@beowulfmead.com

Bias Winery 3166 Hwy B Berger, MO 63014 Bus: (573) 834-5475 E-mail: bias@biaswinery.com

Amber Moon Meadery

Bjorn Mead

7600 NW 3d St Oklahoma City, OK Bus: (405) 496-5663 E-mail: ambermoonmeadery@gmail.com

Waterford, CA 95386 Bus: (209) 665-6368 E-mail: bjornmead@gmail.com

Arsenal Cider House & Wine Cellar

248 County Rd 1 Chenengo Forks, NY 13746 Bus: (607) 656-9863 E-mail: mamabear@blackbearwinery.com

Artesano Mead 1334 Scott Hwy Rt 302 Groton, VT 05046 Bus: (802) 584-9000

Atlantic Brewing Co 15 Knox Rd Bar Harbor, ME 04609 Bus: (207) 288-2337 E-mail: realale@atlanticbrewing.com

B B Nektar Meadery 1481 Wordsworth, Suite B Ferndale, MI 48220 313-744-6323 E-mail: info@bnektar.com

Bacchus Meadery 217 E 3d St Loveland, CO 80537 Bus: (970) 461-4071

720 W Prospect Ave North Wales, PA 19454 Bus: (215) 801-2227 E-mail: cardinalwinery@aol.com

Brimming Horn Meadery Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Brimstone Springs Meadery E-mail: brd_hef@yahoo.com

Brotherhood Winery PO Box 190 Washingtonville, NY 10992 Bus: (845) 496-3663 E-mail: bhw.colleen@gmail.com

Brothers Drake Meadery 26 E 5th Ave Columbus, OH 43201 Bus: (614) 388-8765 E-mail: info@brothersdrake.com

Buzzed Bee Meadery, Inc. 1755 340th Street Melbourne, IA 50162 www.buzzed-bee-meadery.com buzzedbeemead@gmail.com Ph: 641-485-1725 Michelle Spohnheimer

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Beowulf Mead

29534 Post Office Rd Mass City, MI 49948 Bus: (906) 883-3894 E-mail: algomahacres@live.com

300 39th St Pittsburgh, PA 15201 Bus: (412) 260-6968 E-mail: wine@arsenalciderhouse.com

Boyd’s Cardinal Hollow Winery

Black Bear Winery

Black Forest Meadery 6420 Burrows Rd Unit A Colorado Springs, CO 80908 Bus: (719) 495-7340 E-mail: mail@blackforestmeadery.com

Blacksnake Meadery 1815 Windsor Ave SW Roanoke, VA 24015 Bus: (540) 834-6172 E-mail: blacksnake@blacksnakemead.com

Blue Dog Mead 254 Lincoln St Eugene, OR 97401 Bus: (541) 506-1560 E-mail: info@bluedogmead.com

Bluegrass Brewing Co 3929 Shelbyville Rd Louisville, KY 40207 Bus: (502) 899-7070 E-mail: david@bbcbrew.com

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 53 •

Camas Prairie Winery 110 S Main St Moscow, ID 83843 Bus: (208) 882-0214 E-mail: winemaker@camasprairiewinery.com

Cascade Winery 4665 Broadmoor Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Bus: (616) 656-4665 E-mail: bob@cascadecellars.com

Celestial Meads 600 W 58th Ave Ste B Anchorage, AK 99518 Bus: (907) 250-8362 E-mail: meads@gci.net

Chateau Lorane PO Box 47 Lorane, OR 97451 Bus: (541) 942-8028 E-mail: info@chateaulorane.com

Chaucer’s Cellars 3535 N Main St Soquel, CA 95073 Bus: (831) 475-2258 E-mail: customerservice@bargetto.com

Chrisman Mill Vineyards 2308 Sir Barton Way Ste 190 Lexington, KY 40509 Bus: (859) 881-5007 E-mail: chrismanmill@aol.com

Colony Meadery 905 Harrison St Ste 115 Allentown, PA 18103 Bus: (855) 632-3669 E-mail: info@thecolonymeadery.com

Colorado Cellars Winery 3553 E Rd Palisade, CO 81526 Bus: (970) 464-7921

E-mail: info@coloradocellars.com

Crabtree Brewing Co 625 3d St #D Greely, CO 80631 Bus: (970) 356-0516 E-mail: info@crabtreebrewing.com

Crafted Artisan Meadery 1189 State Rte 43 Mogadore, OH 44260 Bus: (330) 618-5050 E-mail: info@craftedmead.com

Cumberland Brewery

New Port Richey, FL 34654 Bus: (727) 819-2821

Enat Winery 910 81st Ave Ste #18 Oakland, CA 94621 Bus: (510) 632-6629 E-mail: hhou723489@aol.com

Enchanted Manor Winery 37615 FM 1774 Magnolia, TX 77355 Bus: (281) 770-0710 E-mail: jon@enchantedmanorwinery.com

1576 Bardstown Rd Louisville, KY 40205-1154 Bus: (502) 458-8727

Enlightenment Wines

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Ethereal Meads

Dadeez Bees Apiary and Meadery PO Box 90832 Portland, OR 97290 Bus: (503) 772-3565 E-mail: info@triskelecorporation.com

Dancing Bee Winery 8060 E US Hwy 190 Rogers, TX 76569 Bus: (254) 983-2337 E-mail: info@dancingbeewinery.com

Depoe Bay Winery

Clintondale, NY 12515 E-mail: raphael@enlightenmentwines.com

H Haight-Brown Vineyards 29 Chestnut Hill Rd Litchfield, CT 06759 Bus: (860) 567-4045 E-mail: info@haightvineyards.com

Heidrun Meadery PO Box 208 Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 Bus: (415) 663-9122 E-mail: info@heidrunmeadery.com

Helderberg Meadworks 990 W Duane Lake Rd Duanesburg, NY 12056 Bus: (518) 795-8964 E-mail: peter@helderbergmeadworks.com

18109 NE 72nd Avenue Battle Ground WA 98604 360-903-4591 gary@etherealmeads.com www.etherealmeads.com

Hellbender Meadery

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Heritage Wines International

Fairwinds Winery 1984 Hastings Ave W Port Townsend, WA 98368 Bus: (360) 385-6899 E-mail: info@fairwindswinery.com

3812 State Hwy KK Rogersville, MO 65742 Bus: (417) 429-4985 E-mail: caitlyn@hellbendermeadery.com

640 W. 158th St New York, NY Bus: (888) 835-2986 E-mail: info@theheritagewines.com

Hermit Woods Wine 56 Taylor Rd Sanbornton, NH 03269 Bus: (603) 253-7968 E-mail: bob@hermitwoods.com

PO Box 1492 Depoe Bay, OR 97341 Bus: (541) 765-3311 E-mail: depoebaywinery@yahoo.com

Falcon Meadery

Dithyramb Winery and Meadery

Farm & Winery, Hill Top Berry

8312 E Briarwood Blvd Centennial, CO 80112 Bus: (720) 529-3846 E-mail: info@dithyrambwinery.com

2800 Berry Hill Rd Nellysford, VA Bus: (434) 361-1266 E-mail: hilltop1@ntelos.net

1345 Hwy 93 N #5 Victor, MT 59875 Bus: (406) 363-6323 E-mail: ken@hiddenlegendwinery.com

Dogfish Head Brewery

Florida Orange Groves Winery 1500 Pasadena Ave S St Petersburg, FL 33707 Bus: (800) 338-7923 E-mail: info@floridawine.com

Hierophant Meadery

#6 Cannery Village Center Milton, DE 19968 Bus: (302) 684-1000 x2112 E-mail: info@dogfishalehouse.com

Dragon Meadery LLC

PO Box 5947 Santa Fe, NM 87502 Bus: (505) 819-8323

Four Quarters Meadery

Hidden Legend Winery

Liberty Lake, WA Bus: (208) 405-8338 E-mail: contact@hierophantmeadery.com

Hive Winery 1220 W Jack D Drive Ste 2 Layton, UT 84041 Bus: (801) 546-1997 E-mail: josh@thehivewinery.com

Aurora, CO 80013 Bus: (720) 371-1970 E-mail: dragonmeadery@comcast.net

190 Walker Lane Artemas, PA 17211 Bus: (814) 784-3080 E-mail: pjalthouse@gmail.com

Dragonmead

Fox Hill Meadery

14600 E 11 Mile Rd Warren, MI 48089 Bus: (586) 776-9428 E-mail: sales@dragonmead.com

33 Selby Court Marshall, NC 28753 Bus: (703) 298-4705 E-mail: mead@foxhillmead.com

Dragon’s Lair Country Wines & Meads

Full Circle Brewing Co

6714 1/2 Lake Grove St SW Lakewood, WA 98499 Bus: (253) 537-1050 E-mail: info@dragonslairmeads.com

620 F St Fresno, CA 93706 Bus: (559) 264-6323 E-mail: fullcirclebrewingco@comcast.net

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G

2309 Park Ave Chico, CA 95928 Bus: (530) 345-6405 E-mail: honeyrun@honeyrun.com

Earle Estates Meadery

Golden Coast Mead

2770 State Route 14 Penn Yan, NY 14527 Bus: (315) 536-1210 E-mail: meadery@eznet.net

4216 Copeland Pl San Diego, CA 92116 E-mail: frankgolbeck@goldencoastmead.com

Honeyjack Meadery

Easley Winery

Clemmons, NC E-mail: torahanjyuu+kumaltygris@gmail.com

205 N College Ave Indianapolis, IN 46202 Bus: (317) 636-4516 E-mail: info@easleywinery.com

Elsa Wine & Mead 625 W Katella Ave #23 Orange, CA 92867 Bus: (714) 639-6323

Empire Winery & Destillery 11807 Little Rd

Great Cats Meadery Green River Ambrosia 324 Wells St Greenfield, MA 01301 E-mail: info@greenriverambrosia.com

Groennfell Meadery 856 Hercules Dr, Ste 20 Colchester, VT 05446 Bus: (802) 497-2345 E-mail: info@groennfell.com

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 54 •

homebrewchemist E-mail: info@homebrewchemist.com

Honey Moon Mead PO Box 2701 Bellingham, WA 98227 Bus: (360) 734-0728 E-mail: contact@honeymoonmead.net

Honey Run Winery

9769 W 119th Dr Bay 7 Broomfield, CO 80020 Bus: (303) 709-7422 E-mail: jimmy@honeyjack.com

Honeywood Winery 1350 Hines St SE Salem, OR Bus: (800) 726-4101

Hoodsport Winery N 23501 Hwy 101 Hoodsport, WA 98548 Bus: (360) 877-9894 E-mail: wine@hoodsport.com

Hunters Moon Meadery 404 Immigrant Trail Severance, CO 80550

Bus: (970) 590-6059 E-mail: kim@huntersmoonmeadery.com

Hydomiel Apidoro 2212 Calle Parana Ponce, PR 00758 E-mail: apidorov@aol.com

Long Trout Winery

Minnestalgia Winery

84 Fork Mountain Rd Auburn, PA 17922 Bus: (570) 366-6443 E-mail: askthehippies@longtroutwinery.com

PO BOX 86 McGregor, MN 55760 Bus: (866) 768-2533

Lost Tribes Brew

I

Bus: (888) 582-7397 E-mail: info@losttribesbrew.com

Independence Brewing Co

Louisville Mead Company

3913 Todd Lane #607 Austin, TX 78744 Bus: (512) 707-0099

Isaaks of Salem Salem, MA Bus: (401) 290-8256 E-mail: ian@isaaksofsalem.com

3028 Dartmouth Ave Louisville, KY 40205 E-mail: louisvillemeadcompany@gmail.com

Luna de Miel Salinas, CA 93901 Bus: (805) 985-7229 E-mail: david@ghbrands.com

J

M

James Arthur Vineyards

Mace Mead Works

2001 W Raymond Rd Raymond, NE 68428 Bus: (402) 783-5255 E-mail: javwines@windstream.net

Jilbert Winery 1496 Columbia Rd Valley City, OH 44280 Bus: (216) 781-4120 E-mail: dbjilbert@aol.com

250 E Main St Dayton, WA 99328 Bus: (509) 540-0000 E-mail: reggie@macemeadworks.com

Magpie Farms Winery 1849 State Hwy 41 Bainbridge, NY 13733 Bus: (607) 639-4400 E-mail: magpie@magpiemead.com

Misty Mountain Meadworks 1531 Pack Horse Rd Winchester, VA 22603 Bus: (540) 888-4420 E-mail: info@mistymountainmead.com

Mobtown Mead Baltimore, MD E-mail: mobtownmead@gmail.com

Modern Craft Winery 2760 E Booth Rd Au Gres, MI 48703 Bus: (989) 876-0270 E-mail: moderncraftsocialmedia@gmail.com

Monks Mead 265 B Newton Bridge Rd Athens, GA 30607 E-mail: info@monksmead.com

Montezuma Winery 2981 Auburn Rd Seneca Falls, NY 13148 Bus: (315) 568-8190 E-mail: info@montezumawinery.com

Moonlight Meadery

K

Maine Mead Works

23 Londonderry Rd #17 Londonderry, NH 03053 Bus: (603) 216-2162 E-mail: info@moonlightmeadery.com

Kenco Farms

51 Washington Ave Portland, ME 04101 Bus: (207) 773-6323

Moonstruck Meadery

PO Box 454 Sutton, WV 26601 Bus: (304) 765-7680 E-mail: kencofarms@rtol.net

Kookoolan World Meadery 15713 Hwy 47 Yamhill, OR 97148 Bus: (503) 730-7535 E-mail: kookoolan@gmail.com

Kuhnhenn Brewing Co

Manatawny Creek Winery 227 Levengood Rd Douglasville, PA 19518 Bus: (610) 689-9804 E-mail: manatawny@aol.com

Maple River Winery 628 Front St Cassleton, ND 58012 Bus: (701) 347-5900 E-mail: greg@mapleriverwinery.com

5919 Chicago Rd Warren, Mi 48092 Bus: (586) 979-8361

McPhee Meadery

L

Meadery of the Rockies

La Buena Vida Vineyards

3701 G Rd Palisade, CO 81526 Bus: (970) 464-7899

416 E College St Grapevine, TX 76051 Bus: (817) 481-9463 E-mail: adam@labuenavida.com

L’Abeille Honey Winery 638 S Main St Stowe, VT 05672 Bus: (802) 253-2929

Lakewood Vineyards 4024 State Rte 14 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 Bus: (607) 535-9252 E-mail: wines@lakewoodvineyards.com

Laural Highlands Meadery Greensburg, PA 15601 Bus: (724) 249-6323 E-mail: Meadmaker@LHMead.com

Linganore Wine Cellars 13601 GlissansMill Rd Mt Airey, MD 21771-8599 Bus: (410) 795-6432 E-mail: info@linganorewines.com

Long Island Meadery 1347 Lincoln Ave Ste 11 Holbrook, NY 11741 Bus: (631) 285-7469 E-mail: info@LIMeadery.com

PNW Puget Sound E-mail: bertharvey@mcpheemeadery.com

Meadery, New Day 1102 Prospect St Indianapolis, IN 46203 Bus: (888) 632-3379

Medovina

2221 Madison St Bellevue, NE 68005 Bus: (402) 934-7544 E-mail: brian@moonstruckmead.com

Mount Felix Vineyard & Winery 2000 Level Rd Havre de Grace, MD 21078 Bus: (410) 939-0913 E-mail: mary@mountfelix.com

Mountain Meadows Mead PO Box 1199 Westwood, CA 96137 Bus: (503) 256-3233 E-mail: meadman@citlink.net

Mountain View Meadery PO Box 370 Lench Valley, Tasmania, Australia 7008 Bus: (61) 0408 331 165 E-mail: info@tasmeads.com.au

Mt Hood Meadery Washougal, WA E-mail: cschloe@gmail.com

PO Box 629 Niwot, CO 80544 Bus: (303) 845-3090 E-mail: mead@medovina.com

Mystic Meadery

Meniru Meadery

N

5868 Fulton Dr NW Canton, OH 44718 Bus: (330) 244-8515 E-mail: menirumeadery@hotmail.com

Meridian Hive Meadery PO Box 1363 Pflugville, TX 78691 Bus: (512) 417-3769 E-mail: meridianhive@gmail.com

Michigan Meadery Grand Rapids, MI Bus: (616) 301-9686 E-mail: david@michiganmeadery.com

Mike’s Meadery LaGrange, IN

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 55 •

1650 Judson Dr Longmont, CO 80501 E-mail: mysticmeadery@gmail.com

Nani Moon Mead PO Box 939 Kapa’a, Kaua’i, HI 96746 Bus: (808) 823-0486 E-mail: nanimoonmeadinfo@gmail.com

Nashoba Valley Winery 100 Wattaquadock Hill Rd Bolton, MA 01740 Bus: (978) 779-5521 E-mail: email@nashobawinery.com

Nectar Creek Honeywine 33848 SE Eastgate Circle Corvallis, OR 97333 Bus: (541) 760-1592 E-mail: info@nectarcreekhoneywine.com

Nector of the Gods Meadery 1205 NE 2d St Bend, OR 97701 Bus: (937) 478-1718 E-mail: info@nectarofthegodsmeadery.com

Northwest Mountain Winery 2825 Marvin Rd NE Ste Q Olympia, WA 98516 Bus: (360) 464-7125 E-mail: raycurtis@nwmountainwine.com

O Obec Medovina E-mail: mike@obecmedovina.com

Oliver Winery 8024 N State Rte 37 Bloomington, IN 47404 Bus: (812) 876-5800 E-mail: admin@oliverwinery.com

Orchid Cellar Winery 8546 Pete Wiles Rd Middletown, MD 21769 Bus: (301) 473-3568 E-mail: info@orchidcellar.com

P Pirtle Winery 502 Spring St Weston, MO 64098 Bus: (816) 640-5278

Prairie Rose Meade 3101 30th St S. Ste E Fargo. ND. 58104.

Phone. 7013713690.

Email meadmkr@far.midco.net.

Prairieberry Winery Bus: (605) 574-3898 E-mail: info@prairieberry.com

Prawlocki’s Stout Viking Mead Del Ray Beach, FL 33445 Bus: (407) 922-5562 E-mail: info@leviathanfinearts.com

R Rabbit’s Foot Meadery 1246 Birchwood Dr Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Bus: (408) 747-0770

Raftshol Vineyards 1865 N West Bay Shore Dr Suttons Bay, MI 49682 Bus: (231) 271-5650 E-mail: warren@raftsholvineyards.com

Redstone Meadery 4700 Pearl St #2-A Boulder, CO 80301 Bus: (720) 406-1215 E-mail: info@redstonemeadery.com

Ring of Fire Meadery 178 E Bunnell St Homer, AK 99603 Bus: (907) 235-2656 E-mail: ringoffiremeadery@alaska.net

Rogue Ales 2320 OSU Dr Mewport, OR 97365 Bus: (541) 867-3660 E-mail: joe.rogue@rogue.com

Rohan Meadery 6002 FM 2981 La Grange, TX 78945 Bus: (979) 249-5652 E-mail: wendy@rohanmeadery.com

Royal Court Meadery Sheboygan, WI 53081 Bus: (574) 971-7515

E-mail: jestingthreads@gmail.com

S Sap House Meadery PO Box 595 Center Ossipee, NH 03814 Bus: (603) 539-1672 E-mail: matt@saphousemeadery.com

Schramm’s Mead 1545 McManus Troy, MI 48084 Bus: (248) 816-1592 E-mail: info@schrammsmead.com

Shady Grove Meadery 709 Norris Freeway Lake City, TN 37769 Bus: (865) 426-4900 E-mail: meadguy@shadygrovemead.com

Shalom Orchard Route 200, 158 Eastbook Rd Franklin, ME 04634 Bus: (207) 565-2312 E-mail: info@shalomorchard.com

Shields Demesne Winery 374 Smith Creek Rd Spraggs, PA 15362 Bus: (724) 435-7246 E-mail: contact@shieldswinery.com

Skep & Skein Tavern & Meadery

Bus: (610) 743-8693 E-mail: info@stonekeepmeadery.com

Strad Meadery 430 Scenic Vista Way Fair Oaks, CA 95628 E-mail: dan@stradmead.com

Sugar Clay Winery & Vineyards 1446 240th Ave Thurman, IA 51654 Bus: (712) 628-2020 E-mail: sugarclaywinery@iowatelecom.net

Summerside Vineyards Winery & Meadery Grand Lakes o’the Cherokees 441251 E Historic Route 66 Vinita, OK 74301 Bus: (918) 256-3000 E-mail: wine@summersidevineyards.com

Superior Lakes Mead & Wine 36241 Jefferson Harrison Twp, MI 48045 Bus: (586) 231-9501 E-mail: aaron@superiorlakes.com

Superstition Meadery 120 West Gurley Street Cellar-1 Prescott, Arizona 86301 Bus: (928)-458-4256 E-mail: superstitionmeadery@hotmail.com

T

2106 Harrison Ave NW Ste B14 Olympia, WA 98502 Bus: (360) 292-4400 E-mail: skepandskein@comcast.net

Table Mountain Vineyards

Sky River Winery

Texas Mead Works

14270 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE s Redmond, WA 98052 Bus: (425) 242-3815 E-mail: glenda@skyriverbrewing.com E-mail 2: denice@skyriverbrewing.com

Salt Point Meadery Salt Point, NY E-mail: SPM@saltpointmeadery.com

San Francisco Mead Company 1180 Shafter Ave San Francisco, CA 94124 Bus: (415) 819-4947 E-mail: sara@sfmead.com

Sandhill Crane Vineyards 4724 Walz Rd Jackson, MI 49201 Bus: (517) 764-0679 E-mail: heather@sandhillcranevineyards.com

Spruce Mountain Meadery Larkspur, CO Bus: (719) 351-4909 E-mail: Information@SpruceMountainMeadery.com

Spurgeon Vineyards and Winery 16008 Pine Tree Rd Highland, WI 53543 Bus: (608) 929-7692 E-mail: info@spurgeonvineyards.com

St Ambrose Cellars 971 S Pioneer Rd Beulah, MI 49617 Bus: (888) 912-0017 E-mail: zydecogroove@yahoo.com

Starrlight Mead 4606 Stllliview Dr Durham, NC 27712 Bus: (919) 533-6314 E-mail: info@starrlightmead.com

Stonekeep Meadery Boyertown, PA

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 56 •

Box 24 Huntley, WY 82218 Bus: (307) 459-0233 E-mail: info@tablemountainvineyards.com

5151 FM 20 Seguin, TX 78155 Bus: (830) 379-9463 E-mail: info@texasmeadworks.com

Thistle Meadery Gawler, S. Australia E-mail: thistlemeadery@gmail.com

Tomahawk Mill Vineyards & Winery 9221 Anderson Mill Rd Chatham, VA 24531 Bus: (434) 432-1063 E-mail: tomahawk@gamewood.net

U Urban Farm Fermentory 200 Anderson St Bay 4 Portland, ME 04101 Bus: (207) 773-8331 E-mail: uffcontact@gmail.com

V Valley Vineyards 2276 E US 22 & 3 Morrow, OH 45152 Bus: (513) 899-2485 E-mail: info@valleyvineyards.com

Volcano Winery 35 Pii Mauna Dr Volcano, HI 96785 Bus: (808) 967-7772 E-mail: info@volcanowinery.com

Von Jakob’s Vineyard 1309 Sadler Rd Pomona, IL 62975 Bus: (618) 893-4500 E-mail: info@vonjakobvineyard.com

W

Walton’s Mountain Winery & Vineyards PO Box 526 West Point, CA 95255 Bus: (209) 293-4010 E-mail: winery@flojobrew.com

White Winter Winery 68323A Lea St Iron River, WI 54847 Bus: (715) 372-5656 E-mail: jon@whitewinter.com

Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery 10033 S Western Ave Chicago, IL 60643 Bus: (773) 233-7579 E-mail: greg@bev-art.com

Wills Winery 814 S. Main St Ste 3 Lapeer, MI 48446 Bus: (810) 245-9463 E-mail: theowners@lapeerwinery.com

Winehaven Winery & Vineyrd 9757 292d St Chisago City, MN 55013 Bus: (651) 257-1017 E-mail: wines@winehaven.com

Woodstone Creek Winery & Distillery 3641 Newton Ave Cincinnati, OH 45207 Bus: (513) 569-0300 E-mail: woodstonecreek@yahoo.com

MEADMAKERS.ORG • 57 •