12-3-24 We are headed for the warmer climes down in Mexico today for our last show of the year. We'll be talking with Alberto Leyva, owner of Hidromiel Aliens Kaab in Bacalar, Mexico. Alberto has been a Beekeeper in the Riviera Maya, Bacalar, Quintana Roo since 2013,  and founded of Aliens Kaab in 2019. His expertise ranges from hive management to the fermentation of artisanal mead, ensuring a product that embodies the richness of local honey. Alberto is passionate about fermentation processes and wild yeasts, and crafts his mead through cold and wild fermentation, which in his point of view results in unique flavors and aromas while making the mead gentler on the body. His goal is to reflect the natural wealth of our surroundings in every bottle. Alberto has won some medals and recognitions and considers himself an eternal learner. The motto at Aliens Kaab is "let yourself be abducted by new experiences", and they take the term abduct as arousing in someone a powerful attraction and that is what they are looking for, to abduct more people to discover this great world of Mead. Join us to hear more about Alberto and his mead making adventures! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows On break for the month of December, we're back in January!! Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Dec 4 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 7 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making Classes Dec 7 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Emma Nobbe Rocks the House live music Dec 7 - Honey & Hops Breworks, Fredricksburg, VA - Winter Wine Festival Dec 8 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Dec 10 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Trivia Night Dec 12 - KingView Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Good Brother Earl live music Dec 12 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Mead and Cheese pairing Dec 13 - Blom Mead + Cider, Ann Arbor, MI - Permanent Jewelry with BOGO deal for multiple chains! Dec 14 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Dec 18 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 20 - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition Entries open! Dec 20 - Midwinter Homebrew Competition Entries open! Dec 20 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - Springs and Arrows live music Dec 21 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many live music Dec 21 - Mjodgard, Haslev, Denmark - Celebrate the Winter Solstice with a 2 course dinner, mead and a solstice ceremony Jan 25 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Feb 6 - Mjodgard, Haslev, Denmark - Mead and Food Pairing at Bregnen You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com

11-18-24 Tonight we're headed to Alberta, Canada in the now-frozen north. We'll be chatting with her about mead in Canada, what she's doing with her meads, and what she's seeing for mead's direction. Kristeva's journey into the world of meadmaking began as a humble hobby beekeeper. In her third year of tending to her bees, they produced an impressive 450 pounds of honey. Knowing the incredible labor that goes into producing even a single teaspoon of honey, she was determined not to let this liquid gold go to waste. Prior to this, mead had never held a special place in her heart. In fact, she had often dismissed it as unpalatable. However, on a snowy Christmas Day in 2017, she decided to take a chance. She delved into the world of mead crafting, using her own honey as the primary ingredient. To her surprise and delight, the mead that she produced was unlike any other that she and her husband, Eric, had tasted before. For them, it was a revelation. Their mead was unique, a flavor profile distinct from the offerings found on the commercial market. It left them curious and craving more. Kristeva was not content with just savoring her newfound passion; she sought to share her creation with others. To do so, she needed unbiased opinions from the most discerning critics: judges at a mead competition. With the courage to take a step into the unknown, she submitted her mead to a competition. The anticipation was palpable as the results were announced. To her astonishment and sheer delight, she clinched a gold medal, and the judges provided glowing feedback that lit her path forward. It was a pivotal moment that encouraged Kristeva to follow her newfound dream. With fresh determination, she continued crafting mead throughout the year. The following year, she took her passion even further, entering five distinct meads into various competitions. To her joy, each of these meads earned medals, validating her skills and innovative approach. As she stood before the judges to collect her fourth medal, a voice from the crowd pierced through the room. "We want to come drinking at your place!" The words resonated in her ears, marking a turning point in her journey. It was that precise moment when Kristeva made a life-altering decision: she would embark on the path of making mead on a commercial scale, sharing her unique creations with the world. The Stolen Harvest journey had just begun. Motivated by a daily awareness of the need for change, Kristeva takes action on various fronts, from aiding the homeless to navigating the bureaucratic challenges of the alcohol industry. As a woman in a male-dominated field, she faced many barriers, overcoming them through self-funding and the support of a dedicated group of friends. Located in scenic Grovedale, Alberta, Stolen Harvest Meadery is hand carved from the Alberta boreal forest: it is ten acres of a rural oasis. There are hand planted gardens with a wide variety of vegetables and numerous heritage garlics growing. There is a fruit forest as well as a newly planted orchard (2018) with Saskatoons, haskaps, and prairie cherries. Each spring, the fields come alive with a symphony of wildflowers. Some, such as dandelions and wild roses, are lovingly harvested each year in anticipation of the moment when water, yeast, and local raw wildflower honey come together and magic unfolds. The property is adjacent to a larger forest where mother nature provides a bounty wild edibles, some of which make it into our micro-batch hand crafted meads. Her community involvement extends beyond the walls of Stolen Harvest Meadery, with contributions to charities, fundraising events, and local initiatives. Kristeva's impact is felt not only through financial donations but also in the relationships she builds and the small acts of kindness she executes, such as giving warm meals and clothes to those in need. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live,

11-5-24 We are abandoning the election stuff (in the US) tonight, and visiting with Raul de la Garza, owner of Freya Brewing Company in Monterrey, Mexico. Raul is also a guest host here on Gotmead Live! We got the chance to hang out with him when Kevin and Vicky went to the Copa Hidromiel mead competition in Mexico City. Raúl de la Garza, meadmaker at Freya Brewing in Monterrey, Mexico started making mead as a hobby in 2008 and later went professional in 2015. Over the years Raul has won several awards (including best in Mexico) in Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama. They've sold mead all over Mexico and even in San Diego (crossing it through the border the Han Solo way). After a break thanks to COVID-19, they're trying to make a comeback with plans to relocate the meadery and open a taproom. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows November 19 - Kristeva Dowling, Stolen Harvest Meadery, Alberta, Canada December 3 - Alberto Leyva, Hidromiel Aliens Kaab, Mexico Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Nov 6 - Kingview Meadhouse & Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Nov 7 - KingView Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One (acoustic) live music Nov 7 - The Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Minis Two for One - Painting D&D Miniatures Nov 8 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - TYFYS (Thank You For Your Service) Mead Release with Talons Out Honor Flight and Mosher Family Apiary Nov 9 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Nov 9 - The Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Metal Artisan Market Nov 10 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Nov 12 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Make Your Own Mead with Us! Nov 13 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - West Michigan Pink Boots Society Chapter November Meet-Up Nov 14 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - Thursday South Hills Group Run Nov 15 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Viking Warrior Societies Nov 15 - Bumbling Fools Mead, Minneapolis, MN - Karaoke Mead-Up Nov 16 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Nov 16 - Cigar City Cider & Mead, Tampa, FL - Celebrating 10 Year of Cigar City Cider and Mead Nov 16 - Kimmel Orchard, Nebraska City, NE - Mead Making Workshop Nov 16 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Nov 17 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - 8th Year Anniversary and Sea Wolf Voyages Mead Release Party Nov 22 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Make Your Own Mead with Us! Nov 23 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Veronica Live Nov 23 - Red Lion Smokehouse, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada - Meadmaking with TBay Mead Nov 27 - The Cellar Wine Bar and Kitchen, South Bend, IN - Perry Vine Wine Mead Tasting Nov 29 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Dec 8 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Dec 14 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com

10-8-24 Tonight we're talking with Dominic Roth, a relatively new meadmaker in Australia. Dominic feels he's 'new' in that he thinks there is much more he can learn about making mead. We'll be talking technique, styles, recipes and more! Dominic is a home mead maker in Australia. He started making mead a couple years ago, as a replacement hobby following the birth of his most recent child. A dodgy mead recipe in a cookbook led him to the hobby, and then to more reliable sources! He thoroughly enjoys the 'art and science of mead making'; consuming as much knowledge as possible on the craft, and playing around with different styles, techniques and ingredients. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows October 22 - Alberto Leyva - Aliens Kaab Mead November 5 - Kristeva Dowling, Stolen Harvest Meadery November 19 - Raul de la Garza - Freya Mead Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Oct 11 - Breeden's Orchard, Mount Juliet, TN - Charcuterie, Mead and Music with Graze Craze Oct 11 - Thistlerock Mead Co,, Charlottesville, VA - Conley Ray and the Joneses live music Oct 12 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Mead Making 101 Oct 12 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary and Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making class Oct 13 - Skal Beer Hall, Seattle, WA - Fall Mead Festival Oc 16 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Oct 17 - Combgrown Mead, Auburn, NY - Mead and Whiskey Cocktail Class with Cellar and Folly Whiskey Company Oct 18 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - 732 the Electric Duo & Mary Spayd-Armstrong live music Oct 19 - Iron Stone Meadery, Erie, PA - Mead and Bleed Craft Fair and Bleeding Disorder Fundraiser Oct 19 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many live music - the Halloween Show! Oct 25 - Windchaser Meadery, Williamsburg, VA - HallowMead Oct 27 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - HallowCHEESE: A Mead and Cheese Pairing Event with the Cheese Lady Nov 2 - Amber Dragon Meadery, Abilene, TX - Meadfest 2024 Nov 2 - MeadKrieger, Loveland, CO - The Sogs live music Nov 2 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making class Nov 6 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Nov 7 - KingView Meadhouse & Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One acoustic music Nov 8 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - TYFYS (Thank You For Your Service) Mead Release with Talohns Out Honor Flight and Mosher Family Apiary You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live, let us know at [email protected] 

9-24-24 Tonight we're talking with Frederick Rodriguez, Francisco Olachea and Rob Tyrrson in Mexico. Kevin and I were in Mexico for the Copa Hidromiel Mead Competition a couple weeks ago, and got to check out the meads that these folks produce, and we'll be talking about their methods, meads and plans. And bonus, we are bringing in a new guest host, Raul de la Garza, owner of Freya Meadery in Monterrey, Mexico. Francisco Olachea is a biochemical Engineer, and holds general Certificate in Brewing and Spirits by the IBD, is a Certified BJCP judge, Certified Cicerone®, and a Mead BJCP judge, Cider BJCP judge, Unionbirrai Beer Taster, Master Mezcalier, Cigar Sommelier and Sommelier member of the Mexican Sommeliers Association. He is also an instructor at the Mexican Academy of Sommeliers. Finally, he is CEO at I+D CERVEZA SA de CV since 2011. Frederick Rodriguez is a photographer, producer and director with more than 30 years of experience in the audiovisual industry.  He has produced, photographed and carried out various feature film, short film, video clips, corporate, institutional and documentary projects.  In 2012 he edited and post-produced the documentary series “Hallazgos” of the INAH, Partner and founder of La Valija Industriarte, obtaining the PACMyC award for the development of the documentary “Los paths that van” 2014 as director and photographer, In 2012 with the company Museum he developed a 360º mural for the Museum of Music in Puerto Rico and from 2015 to 2017 he developed an interactive table for the exhibition of the Constitution in the National Palace at the same time he developed 2 video walls for the Museum of Constitutions of the UNAM, since 2022 he documents the “Copa Hidromiel México”, creator of the documentary “Fermentos Ancestrales”  (watch the trailer) in which he focuses on mead and pre-Hispanic ferments of Mexico and he is a mead judge (in process) since 2023. Frederick has also done a 2023 collective exhibition “I Feel Then I Re-sisto” UAM- University of Brighton” video art “Viaje sin Regreso”, 2022 researcher of the script “Tierra barbara” mini series. Currently he is the owner of Phocal Photography where he directs, produces, post produces and photography for different companies such as Lincoln Towncar, Laboratorios Decrha, Intervet Schering Plougth, MSD Salud Animal, Sony Entertainment, Municipality of Lerma, Adidas, Nissan, América Express, Sicario, KRBO Bikes, Del Pacifico Sea Foods, US Meat, Crayola and the guild meadery. Rob Tyrsson is owner of Tyrsson Meadery in Mexico City. Rob started in 2019 in the middle of the COVID era, all starts trying to pay some bills and deal with a few problems he had, his first batch wasn't ready for the first Copa Hidromiel México, and he just sold it pretty cheap, fortunately a few friends told him he was making a pretty good thing, and he sent it to Guatemala at Copa Quetzal and won a gold medal. In 2020 he tried to go professional and sell his mead at festivals.  After that everything is history!     This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows October 8 - Dominic Roth - beginning in mead in Australia October 22 - Alberto Leyva - Aliens Kaab Mead November 5 - Kristeva Dowling, Stolen Harvest Meadery

8-27-24 Tonight at 9PM ET we will be talking with Matthew Chrispen, with the Texas Mead Association and Texas Mead Cup, and we're doing a live demo of the BJCP Mead Exam tasting, and will be talking about getting certified and things to be aware of. Matt started brewing in November 2009 after a gift of Mr. Beer from a buddy and got hooked. He started blogging at Accidentalis.com a year later, focusing more as a journal focusing on personal progress, homebrewing perspectives, the Brew-Magic, Grainfather, and how Brew-Easy gear setups, and brewing water chemistry how-to's. IHestarted making mead in 2014, under the guidance of members of the Austin Zealots and immediately found success with a medal at his first NHC. 2015 was the year Matt started helping with NHC First Round here in Austin, and he passed the original Mead Examination (written and tasting together) with the help of classes with Eric Lowe and Mike Simmons. As he honed his mead-making, he had a little success at various competitions, including The Mazer Cup and the old Masters of Homebrewing Competition. A few years ago, he made BJCP National and has been grading since. After a short stint at Meridian Hive as GM during Covid and the great Texas Ice Storm, Matt has refocused on mead making and working with the Texas Mead Association and Texas Mead Cup to increase mead awareness and qualify mead judges in Texas.He is passionate about writing high-quality scoresheets and providing helpful feedback. Join us to chat with Matt! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Sept 10 - Copa Hidromiel competition in Mexico with Vicky and Kevin Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 1 - Sept 1 - Copa Hidromiel Mexico Competition Registration - get your entries in now, Copa Hidromiel is offering an entry discount of Aug 28 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - Paint and Sip Class Aug 30 - Adesanya Meadery, Grandville, MI - August Rendezvous Aug 30 - Apis Wine and Meadery, Carnegie, PA - 732 the Electric Duo Live Aug 30 - Lancaster Homebrew, Lancaster, PA - Mead Making Class Aug 31 - Black Mountain Cider and Mead, Black Mountain, NC - 11th Anniversary Celebration Sept 4 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Sept 7 - Dawg Gone Bees Meadery and Apiary, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Sept 7 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making Class Sept 12 - Kingview Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - One Ray Live Sept 14 - Maniacal Meadery, Ypsilanti, MI - Annie's Experimental Mead Release Sept 19 - Bumbling Fool Meadery, Minneapolis, MN - Charcuterie Design and Trivia Sept 20 - Green River Bee Company, Hendersonville, NC - Mead Making Class Sept 21 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many Live Sept 21 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Meadfest SCA Mead Demo Sept 27 - Standard Meadery, Villa Park, IL - Makers and Mead Friday Fall Market Sept 10-12 Copa Hidromiel, Mexico City - international mead competition for home and commercial mead You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live,

8-13-24 Tonight we’re talking with Kyle Ducharme in Vermont. Kyle has been doing a lot of mead making classes and education and helping more people with the love of mead. Kyle Ducharme is from Northern Vermont and is a home mead maker that has experience with quality assurance positions in the food and beverage industries. He has been making mead since the fall of 2019, really diving deep during the pandemic. He originally learned from podcasts/youtubers such as Gotmead, The Mead House, Doin the Most, and Man Made Mead. He later joined his homebrew club where he discovered some other mead makers, but mainly beer brewers and judges. He was motivated by the online community to enter competitions and after winning some medals, he entered more competitions to get feedback and improve his skills. That was a valuable step, but becoming a beer and mead judge was really what made him grow exponentially in his mead making. By traveling to learn from others and to judge meads, he could bring that knowledge to others in his homebrew club and online communities. Outside of competing and judging comps, he has started a mead class and small Iron Bee style mead competition to share knowledge/feedback with others. His major goal is to create another major mead competition in New England and to bring up the homebrew mead scene in the area. He is passionate about using foraged ingredients and fruit from local farmers and utilizing honey from all over the world. His parents own a small hop yard and that is what got him initially interested in fermentation. Join us to chat with Kyle! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Aug 27 - Matthew Chrispin - Live BJCP mead exam mead evaluation and discussion of BJCP certification Sept 10 - Copa Hidromiel competition in Mexico with Vicky and Kevin Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 1 - Sept 1 - Copa Hidromiel Mexico Competition Registration Aug 14 - Queen Bee Brews, Denver, CO - Magic and Mead Aug 14 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Bill Frary live music Aug 15 - Barcade, Detroit, MI - Mead-evil Madness! Aug 17 - Zymarium Meadery, Orlando, FL - First Bee-Day! Aug 17 - McAlpine Meadery, Beach City, OH - Oddmall: Mead and Feed Aug 17 - Apis Wine and Mead, Carnegie, PA - Live Music with Push Aug 17 - Etowah Meadery and Dahlonega Brewery, Dahlonega, GA - Sourwood Honey Extraction on National Honey Bee Day! Aug 18 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Honey Bee Market Aug 18 - Skäl Beer Hall, Seattle, WA - Viking Faire Aug 19 - Bardic Wells Meadery, Montague, MI - ModPoge Mixed Media art and Mead Aug 21 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night! Aug 22 - Thistlerock Mead Company, Charlottesville, VA - Tacos and Mead Aug 23 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Delilah DeWylde Live music Aug 24 - DMen Tap, Chicago, IL - Mead Fest 2024 Aug 24 - Haley's Honey Wine and Mead, Fredericksburg, VA - Mead and Read Aug 24 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary and Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Aug 28 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - Paint and Sip Class Aug 30 - Adesanya Meadery,

Tonight we'll be talking with newer meadmaker Stewart Jacobs. Stewart is in the Seattle area. We'll talk techniques, recipes and mead making in general. Stewart is an aerospace engineer in the Seattle area who has been making mead in 5 gallon batches since 2016. He has made at least a dozen unique batches with a variety of different additives since starting. He currently has a smoked apple mead awaiting bottling and has two unique batches in storage which he made after the birth of each of his kids. Stewart wants to dig into a bunch of things, like: preparing your honey best practices for caramelizing honey Figuring out the appropriate amounts of fruits and herbs in a mead to have good balance How to make braggot Adding nutrients - best practices for timing Yeast strain recommendations We'll have a good time talking with Stewart and trading mead making info tonight! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Calling all mead lovers and adventure seekers! Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows July 30 - Matthew Chrispin and Kevin Meinstma - live mead judging with proctors Aug 13 - Kyle Ducharme - making mead, classes and mead competitions Aug 27 - Christy Hemenway - Run Amok Meadery Sept 10 - Copa Hidromiel competition in Mexico with Vicky and Kevin Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 1 - Sept 1 - Copa Hidromiel Mexico Competition Registration June 15-Aug 4 (weekends) - Honnibrook Craft Meadery, Castle Rock, CO - Colorado Renaissance Festival this summer June 15th-August 4th. At the festival you can find our Black Currant, Huckleberry, Black Cherry, Elderberry, Blackberry and Dragonfruit meads July 19 - Michigan Beer Cup, Kalamazoo, MI - MBC Mead Judging and Social Event July 19 - Three Hands Mead Company, Plant City, FL - Billy Ray Wheaton solo acoustic music July 20 - Haley's Honey Meadery, Fredricksburg, VA - Mead and Read July 20 - Hickory Tree Farm Apiaries, Kent City, MI - Mead Make and Take Class July 20 - Apis Mead and Wine, Carnegie, PA - Springs and Arrows live music July 20 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many live music July 24 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - Paint and Sip at the Meadhall! July 27 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class July 27 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - HK live music July 28 - Bløm Meadworks, Ann Arbor, MI - Body Boost workout July 31 - B.Nektar, Ferndale, MI - Finer Things Mead and Food Pairing Aug 1 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Lynn Callahan live music Aug 2 - Wyrd Leather and Mead, Portland, OR - A Night of the Seven Kingdoms - House of the Dragon Cosplay and Finale Pre-Party Night Aug 3 - White Bear Meadery, Maplewood, MN - Mead Day Celebration Aug 3 - Helderberg Meadworks, Esperance, NY - Mead Weekend 2024 Aug 3 - White River Mead, Cider and Spirits, Iron River, WI - Mead Day - Legacy Mead Tasting Aug 3 - Honnibrook Craft Meadery, Castle Rock, CO - World Mead Day Celebration with live music all day and Polynesian Fire-Dancer show starting in the evening. For the celebration we will be serving 8 different varieties of mead slushees and 20 d...

Tonight at 9PM ET we'll be getting together with Francisco Olachea, Elba Copado, Frederick Rodriguez and Andrés Torres, with surprise guest Raul de la Garza. Francisco, Elba and Frederick are the organizers of the Copa Hidromiel México, a BJCP competition in Mexico City. Between them they've an impressive collection of education and experience. We will also have Bob Slanzi, US Mead Ambassador to Mexico. Copa Hidromiel México 2024 is a mead competition organized with the purpose of supporting, disseminating and promoting the production and consumption of artisanal drinks made from bee honey. The competition is endorsed by the BJCP organization based on its official guidelines, widely recognized internationally.The direction and coordination of the 2024 Mexico Hidromiel Cup will be carried out by NINKASI/IBQ. Francisco J. Olachea M. and PHOCAL/Frederick Rodriguez and as Judge Director Elba Copado, with the objective of disseminating the culture of mead. The 2024 Mexico Hidromiel Cup will take place in Mexico City on Tuesday, September 10, Wednesday, September 11, and Thursday, September 12, 2024 and will have both home and commercial entries. The winners will be notified on Saturday, September 14, 2024 on social networks. You can see the 2023 highlights of the Copa Hidromiel México here: Francisco Olachea is a biochemical Engineer, and holds general Certificate in Brewing and Spirits by the IBD, is a Certified BJCP judge, Certified Cicerone®, and a Mead BJCP judge, Cider BJCP judge, Unionbirrai Beer Taster, Master Mezcalier, Cigar Sommelier and Sommelier member of the Mexican Sommeliers Association. He is also an instructor at the Mexican Academy of Sommeliers. Finally, he is CEO at I+D CERVEZA SA de CV since 2011. Elba Copado is a Graduate in Chemistry from the University of Guadalajara and a Graduate of Siebel Institute of technology WBA (concise course in brewing technology / Brewing Microbiology). She has also taken the Specialist Course in Beer by the University of Alicante. Elba is a pioneer in homebrew in Mexico, and is a  commercial beer (2003), mead (2014) and cider (2021) producer. She is a BJCP judge of beer, mead and cider and is a Certified beer server of Cicerone’s program. She is President of Ceryder A.C and Founder of Cup San Arnulfo.And she is Adiministrator of BJCP exams of beer, mead and cider in Mexico. Elba is also owner of the Beer Lounge in Tlaquepaque, Mexico, where she and her husband Aguirre sling her unique beers. Imbibe tells her story well here. Frederick Rodriguez is a photographer, producer and director with more than 30 years of experience in the audiovisual industry.  He has produced, photographed and carried out various feature film, short film, video clips, corporate, institutional and documentary projects.  In 2012 he edited and post-produced the documentary series “Hallazgos” of the INAH, Partner and founder of La Valija Industriarte, obtaining the PACMyC award for the development of the documentary “Los paths that van” 2014 as director and photographer, In 2012 with the company Museum he developed a 360º mural for the Museum of Music in Puerto Rico and from 2015 to 2017 he developed an interactive table for the exhibition of the Constitution in the National Palace at the same time he developed 2 video walls for the Museum of Constitutions of the UNAM, since 2022 he documents the "Copa Hidromiel México", creator of the documentary "Fermentos Ancestrales"  (watch the trailer) in which he focuses on mead and pre-Hispanic ferments of Mexico and he is a mead judge (in process) since 2023. Frederick has also done a 2023 collective exhibition “I Feel Then I Re-sisto” UAM- University of Brighton” video art “Viaje sin Regreso”, 2022 researcher of the script “Tierra barbara” mini series. Currently he is the owner of Phocal Photography where he directs, produces, post produces and photography for different companies such as Lincoln Towncar, Laboratorios Decrha, Intervet Schering Plougth,

5-21-24 Tonight we're talking with Adam Bystrom, Josh Mahoney, Al Boyce and Josh Holbrook, members of the aptly-nicknamed 'Minnesota Mead Mafia'. Josh Holbrook has been home brewing for since 2011 and making mead since 2013. He discovered mead at his local homebrew club when a club member brought a bottle of an attempt at Curt Stock’s Triple Berry Melomel. Clouds parted, angels sang, and Josh became obsessed with mead. Josh has won numerous medals for beer, cider and mead, including AMMA National Mead Maker of the Year in 2020, and a couple Best of Shows at competitions such as Minnesota Mashout and Hoppy Halloween. He is also a certified BJCP judge and mead judge as well as a novice beekeeper, and one of the organizers for Valkyries Horn Mead Competition. One of Josh’s long term mead goals is to make mead with each of the 300+ varietal honeys found in the United States. He has 44 under his belt already and shows no signs of stopping. In November of 2017 Adam Bystrom suddenly got a craving for that sweet nectar we all know; mead. With no meaderies in the area and little to no availability at liquor stores he decided to learn how to home brew. Since then mead has been the exclusive beverage he's fermented with a particular focus on session meads. He's been fortunate to win awards in a number of competitions all around the country and is a proud member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association. Making mead since 2008. BJCP mead judge, addicted to collecting Mazer Cups, thinks JAOM is underrated, and his favorite spice is vanilla. Al Boyce has been a homebrewer since the early 1990’s.  He tasted his first mead at Bunratty Castle in Ireland, and was hooked. Orange Blossom is his favorite honey, Sangiovese is his favorite grape, and 71B is his favorite yeast. He is obsessed with Jamaican Sorrel (hibiscus), and vows to keep making Sorrel meads until he finally gets it right.  He recently moved to a lake home in central Minnesota where he lives with his wife Beth and his Golden Retriever Cooper. Join us for what will most likely be mead madness! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Monin liqeuer concentrates Upcoming Events May 22 - Beer Barons of Milwaukee, Hales Corner, WI - Modern Mead Making with Mazer Cup Best of Show winner Jason Rohloff May 25 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Lisa playing live music May 25 - Lilly Belle Mead, Holland, New York - Mead Festival May 25 - Wye Valley Meadery, Caldicot, UK - Groove Jacks Live May 31 - The Barge Inn, Pewsy, UK - Mead and Cider Weekend June 1 - Battle Axe Mead House, Hickory, NC - 1st Anniversary Party June 1 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Japanese Swordsmanship June 7-9 - Brimming Horn Meadery, Milton, DE - Party Like it's 793: 2024 Mead, Metal and Viking Festival Jun 13 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - Hurry Up, Say Something Funny Comedy night June 15 - Mutton & Mead Tavern and Inne, Greenfield, MA - Medieval Bash: Roads to Revelry with mead from Sap House Meadery and beer ...

5-7-24 Tonight at 9PM ET we will be talking with Christopher Clarke, Owner/Meadmaker at Four Fires Meadery and Head Brewer at HEAVY Beer Co. in Toledo, Ohio.  Chris got into making mead after first getting into homebrewing.  In late 2014  he took up homebrewing, a short half a year after first getting into craft beer. His brewing buddy at the time, Mack Garton, and he would brew every single Monday for a year and a half, and somewhere halfway through that they made their first meads. In the next few months he would meet a new friend group and eventually went in on a mead together. Of that group, 4 of them continued further and began making meads as a collective, to share amongst the group as a whole. The 4, Andrew Lynch, Athreya Rajan, Josh Kirk, and Chris would go on to form Four Fires Meadery! In 2015, Chris had his first mead, B. Nektar’s Episode 13, and was in love. He jumped in and made his first mead just a month later. That same year, he met the other Four Fires guys at a local craft hideout called the Local. They kept meeting at Chris’s place, and continued their confederation of mead makers who wanted to create a meadery. Their first group project that year was Hail Satin. In 2016, they made meads, and homebrew beers, and enter contests, taking some awards and started forming the base business plan, and reaching out to angel investors, and worked on looking for a location.  Chris’s enjoyment of craft beer, and meads intertwined with the fun he was having homebrewing, and eventually professionally brewing, seemed to have been accelerants for one another, so in the time between making his first mead, the meadery opening, and now, a LOT has changed.  In 2017, Chris was hired as a production brewer at Maumee Bay Brewing Co. with the intent of revitalizing the portfolio. Later that year, Four Fires signed a lease on their building, and work began immediately on converting the space into a production facility. And the first mead found its way into the tanks in early 2018. As they neared their first release, Four Fires gained visibility amongst mead lovers with them getting some of their pre-production mead out there for people to try.  Join us to check in with Chris and see what Four Fires is up to! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows May 21 - Minnesota Mead Mafia Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Monin liqeuer concentrates Upcoming Events May 9 - Kingview Mead and Winery, Mt. Lebanon, PA - Good Brother Earl live music May 11 - Hickory Tree Farms Apiaries, Kent City, MI - Mead Make and Take class May 11 - Maniacal Mead Company, Ypsilanti, MI - Wax Kings / Echo labs light industries presents Krystal Palace electronic event May 11 - Bløm Mead and Cider, Ann Arbor, MI - 6th Birthday Party! May 11 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - saint chuck live May 12 - Mikkeller Beer Festival at Warpigs Brewpub,  Copenhagen, Denmark - Chicken Maple Brunch and Mead Pairing May 12 - Artifice Ales and Meadery, Manheim, PA - Session 2: Mothers Day - Pottery class May 17 - Mead Meander, Scandanavia,