Five on Five: Mead

From beerandbrewing.com

Mead has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past decade. Here, we ask five new-school meadmakers about the bottles that were formative experiences for them, or that stand out in recent memory

Lost Cause Meadery Devilry

Jeff Herbert, cofounder, Superstition Meadery in Prescott, Arizona
“It is a raspberry mead made with meadowfoam blossom honey. They used tons of raspberries which lends a bright acidity and tart berry richness that pairs perfectly with the marshmallow and vanilla notes of meadowfoam honey. It’s a good example of a melomel where the honey varietal stands out as much as the fruit.”

Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Aged French Toast

Clint Wadsworth, founder and meadmaker, Misbeehavin’ Meads in Valparaiso, Indiana
“It was at Dark Lord Day many years ago, and it just stood out from all the other glorious beverages consumed that day. I was awestruck that it perfectly captured the aroma and flavour of French toast, which I love to begin with, and that the bourbon barrel complimented it so well. I really aspire to share that same aha moment with our customers through our mead and ciders.”

Schramm’s Marionberry

Aaron Schavey, founder and meadmaker, Boneflower Craft Mead in St. John, Indiana
“One of the first meads I ever truly fell in love with. The complexity of the honey, fruit, acidity, and tannin all blended so well together at my first sip. Marionberry is one of those bottles you don’t want to end. Luckily, this mead is fair priced and accessible. You can definitely say that Marionberry has influenced Boneflower many times over again.”

Kuhnhenn B4FT

Chad Wiltz, owner and mazer, Garagiste Meadery in Tampa, Florida
“B4FT is a Bourbon Barrel Banana Bochet French Toast concept—in its time, pretty remarkable, in that it really challenged what I thought mead could be. Aging meads in used spirits barrels was still uncommon, and intentionally burning honey for Bochet-style meads was relatively unheard of. Notes of bourbon, toasted oak, and banana, with a kiss of cinnamon. It just worked, and as a mead novice at the time it positively blew my mind.”

Schramm’s Madeline

Anthony Qualls, cofounder, Manic Meadery in Crown Point, Indiana
“Schramm’s Madeline (1st Birthday) was the mead that got me hooked on big, bold berry bombs. Prior to trying this delicious boysenberry libation, I was very sceptical of high-gravity, sweet wines and meads, other than an occasional after-dinner port. Madeline changed that. Ken’s expression of every aspect of the berry highlighted in perfect union with the honey was a truly magical experience. The mead we make today would not be to the level of complexity and bold presentation without Schramm’s contribution and innovation.”

https://beerandbrewing.com/five-on-five-mead/

South African mead from Van Hunks is coming to UK and Europe

From thedrinksreport.com

South African drinks producer Van Hunks is launching two of its all-natural meads into the UK and European market.

The producer's Brut Sparkling Mead and Brut Rosé Sparkling Mead will be hitting shelves across Europe this month.

Van Hunks is one of few companies in the world to have successfully launched a bottle-fermented mead, positioning its products as an alternative to sugary-sweet drinks for more mature palates. 

The first two Van Hunks expressions are a white and rosé sparkling mead fermented with hibiscus. They are produced using honey from honeybees that feast on Fynbos wildflowers. Van Hunks uses a patented dry fermentation process to ferment the honey, which results in a completely dry base mead, and does not use artificial flavourings or added sugar.

Made at a distillery in the shadow of Table Mountain, the small-batch sparkling mead is inspired by the legend of keen adventurer Van Hunks, who would tour the Fynbos region, and aims to celebrate the natural splendour of Cape Town and its surroundings. 

Tom Gamborg, founder of Van Hunks and Skäl Drinks, said: "Our vision is to bring the energy, excitement and intrigue from the spirits world and use it to refresh a tired sparkling category. We have focused on the beauty of our products and brand story to change how consumers view mead, and plan to do what prosecco did to sparkling wine, with no sugar and our authentic craft credentials."

Matt Krone, master wine maker and co-founder of Van Hunks, added: "Mead is an all-natural untapped product that has huge potential for growth. The next generation of consumers is looking for healthier products containing less sugar; this means the time for mead is now."

https://www.thedrinksreport.com/news/2020/18082-south-african-mead-from-van-hunks-coming-to-uk-and-europe.html

Just in time for Rosh Hashanah, mead makes a comeback

From forward.com

Rachel Lipman, a fifth-generation winemaker at Loew Vineyards, believes that the honey wine’s heyday is just around the corner.

It’s a “very underrated” beverage, said Lipman, at the Mount Airy, Maryland winery owned by her grandfather Bill Loew.

Before World War II, Lvov (formerly part of Poland, currently now part of Ukraine) was an epicenter of mead wine production. In fact, the city was once dotted with distilleries, breweries and meaderies. Holocaust survivor Bill Loew’s family was at the helm of one of the most successful meaderies in the region, producing and distributing the beloved wine throughout Europe as far back as 1870.

Mead was a popular drink in prewar Europe, long before its recent resurgence among hipsters who discovered the tipple being imbibed on Game of Thrones.

“It is actually a very sophisticated drink with a vast classification system like French wines,” said Lipman.

Rachel Lipman with her grandfather Bill Loew at Loew Vineyard.  Image by Lois Loew

“Mead” is an umbrella term for wine made with fermented honey. They include cyser (mead with apple juice) and pyment (mead with grape juice). Mead predates both beer and wine according to the American Mead Makers Association, and although the beverage has been around for centuries, it only recently saw an uptick in commercial production. In 2003, there were only 60 meaderies the United States Today, there are more than 450.

Lipman’s family produces four meads in their product lineup, as well as nine others. Their Apples and Honey Mead is actually a dry white made with local apples and wildflower and clover honey, perfect, said Lipman, for Rosh Hashana.

“Most people think mead has to be sweet, but it’s a stereotype,’ she said.

When making wine there has to be a balance of sugar and acid. However, honey has low levels of acid — making it tough to produce them in any other style besides sweet.

Meads that are produced with grape juice or cider allow the mead to have a balance of sugar and acid.

“They are more palatable and sophisticated when done dry,” explained Lipman.

Lipman’s family produces meads that are in the style of regular table wines, and, she said, they can be aged like fine wine. Her extended family frequently celebrates the Jewish holidays with their meads that have been aged at least a decade or more.

Lipman grew up spending weekends at her grandparent’s 37-acre vineyard, riding on her grandfather’s tractor as a young girl tending to the grapes with him. As she became a teenager, she would work with him on chromatography tests to determine when a wine was finished and quickly fell in love with the chemistry. She studied plant science in college and continued winemaking, growing closer to her Holocaust survivor grandfather.

Bill Loew was only a teenager when the Nazis invaded Lvov and his family’s meadery was destroyed. For months, Loew stayed in a safe house in hiding. Eventually, he escaped to Hungary and joined the resistance movement. On a dangerous mission, transporting a secret message from Budapest to Bucharest, the then 18-year old was captured by border forces and sent to a political prison in Budapest (Hannah Senesh was a prisoner there at the same time). Then Loew was transported to Auschwitz. He survived a death march there, and was liberated by the 99th division of the American Army at the age of 19.

Eventually emigrating to America, Loew became an electrical engineer. Upon retiring, he opened Loew Vineyards in 1982, which is now part of the Frederick wine trail. The 94-year-old Loew still helps out at the vineyard, especially with any of the machinery’s electrical issues. His wife Lois is the face of the on-site tasting room.

The vineyard was one of the first in Maryland to shut down its tasting room when COVID-19 hit so that Lipman’s grandparents would not be at risk. Fortunately, sales of alcoholic beverages online have been strong. She’s since reopened the vineyard following safety protocols.

In the future, the 27-year old hopes to increase production and expand the tasting room highlighting her family’s legacy and educating visitors about their long history in the wine and mead making business.

“When people come to the winery, my job is to make sure that my grandfather’s story is ingrained in everything we do. I want people to see pictures of him in Budapest, after his survival in the Holocaust and how he met my grandma and purchased and worked this land. He lost his family and experienced great tragedy, but still has a very fulfilling life,” she said.

Meads Worth Trying

Mead is such a versatile drink- it can be sweet, dry, sparkling or still. Add in ingredients like espresso, grapefruit and wildflowers and you’ve got a multitude of options to suit any palate. Here are a few worth trying:

Breakfast Magpie by New Day Craft — This Indianapolis-based company makes craft meads and hard ciders. If you are feeling sluggish, sip some seasonal Breakfast Magpie, a black raspberry mead finished with a hint of chocolate and espresso. www.newdaycraft.com

Abstinence by Monk’s Meadery — Georgia’s first meadery pays a nod to Belgian beer culture with this mixture of coriander, orange peel, grains of paradise and hops. www.monksmeadery.com

Peach Mead by Wildside Winery — Kentucky doesn’t just doesn’t make bourbon. This mead made from peaches and local honey will have you savoring those last summer days. www.wildsidewinery.com

Stacey Pfeffer is a writer/editor living in Northern Westchester with her three kids and rescue dog plus a menagerie of ducks, deer and chipmunks in her backyard.

https://forward.com/food/454555/just-in-time-for-rosh-hashanah-mead-makes-a-comeback/

Meadmakers of the New School

From beerandbrewing.com

In about a decade, mead has gone from off-the-radar for beer lovers to an attention-grabbing trend driven by bold flavours and rave reviews. So, what’s all the fuss about?

Anyone who’s checked the rankings of top breweries on Untappd or Ratebeer lately might have noticed something unusual: Many of top-ranked are not breweries at all. They’re meaderies. As of this writing, meadmakers are four of the five top-rated “breweries” on Untappd. Checking the current top U.S. “beers” over at Ratebeer, 14 of the top 50 are currently meads. (Interestingly, every one of those 14 is a melomel—that is, a fruited mead.)

So, what’s this all about?

First, let’s give due credit to the creative new wave of meadmakers—more about them below—who have found a foothold and have been able to grab some well-deserved attention amid the cacophony of 8,000-plus breweries in the age of mad variety. Meanwhile, the number of commercial meaderies has grown, too: from just 30 in 2003 to more than 500 today, according to the American Mead Makers Association.

Vicky Rowe, executive director of the association, says that number looks likely to grow in the next couple of years: The group has about 200 more members registered as “meaderies in planning.” (Another 600 members are home meadmakers.)

Rowe has been watching the mead scene for a while and seen it blossom. She was enjoying mead at medieval fairs in the 1980s, and in 1996, she started what is likely to be the world’s oldest mead website: gotmead.com. She says the site is “the most complete collection of mead information anywhere on the Internet.” She has watched the scene grow from a small niche to what it is today: a growing trend attracting a growing number of enthusiasts—including many beer lovers.

 From Left : Justin D’Aloisio pours at the Misbeehavin’ taproom in Valparaiso, Indiana; Tony Qualls, founder of Manic Meadery; a boysenberry mead at Manic undergoing primary fermentation with the fruit, after punchdown

“Oh, it’s a thrill,” Rowe says. “I’ve been buying, and looking at, and learning about, and making mead—and reporting on it—since 1996. At that point in time, there were about 30, 35 meaderies in the country and not very many people making it. But oddly enough, the bulk of the folks who are in the mead world now are also beer people.

“So, we’re kind of a crossover a little bit because we get a lot of beer folks,” she says. “And I think some of that comes from the fact that beer people, they’re adventurous. They’re willing to try new things and be open-minded about stuff that they haven’t checked out yet.”

It helps that some of the new meads—she specifically mentions Schramm’s Heart of Darkness as one that has been influential—are pushing the envelope. Meadmakers are getting ideas from each other as well as from the beer world.

“All the new people coming in, a lot of them are very innovative and come up with some great ideas,” Rowe says. “And the ‘old’ folks, if you will, who have been there, have come around—like Rabbit’s Foot Meadery in Northern California. They’ve been in operation more than 20 years. And you know, they also make amazing mead. So, we’re a pretty supportive bunch, as an industry. These people have a lot of knowledge and idea-sharing going on within the commercial mead community and the home one, too. So, we’re tight because we’re not that big yet. I don’t know whether that will change when there are 5,000 meaderies, if we ever get to that point.

“I don’t know, I don’t really feel like the new guys are Johnny-come-latelies, per se. I’m happy that they’re there. They’re growing things for us.”

Another force behind the new-mead trend has been social media. On a platform such as Untappd, raters tend to reward bold flavour (if not drinkability), and many of these meads are strong, intense drinks ideal for desserts, nightcaps, or special occasions. Often colourful and visually striking, they have also played well on other platforms. “Instagram is a hotbed of meadmakers,” Rowe says. “There’s a ton of mead activity there.”

Another element of the trend is easily overlooked: In many cases, meadmakers can ship their bottles directly to your doorstep. Most states have laws that make it easier for wineries (and thus meaderies) to ship their products straight to consumers. Amid the patchwork of state laws and an entrenched three-tier distribution system, breweries often do not have that option.

Rowe names one company in particular that has made e-commerce easier for small meaderies: VinoShipper. The platform makes it relatively simple for producers to set up an online shop and connect with customers across the country. “Given the fact that most meaderies are fairly small, it’s a huge bonus for them—especially right now,” Rowe says, referring to the closure of tasting rooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “So, this is a big opportunity for them.”

It also puts some of these coveted meads within reach—even when your local liquor store hasn’t (yet) heard of the stuff.

Some Rising Stars

Here is a rundown of a few of the producers among this new cast of characters, as well as a brief look at what they’re making that has drinkers excited. Note that many of these meaderies have their own tasting rooms, rare-bottle clubs, and online shops that can ship meads to most states. Also note that the meads listed below are virtually all somewhere between 12 to 18 percent ABV. No session drinks, these.

Schramm’s

Launched in 2013 in Ferndale, Michigan, Schramm’s has grabbed special attention with its rich melomels such as Heart of Darkness, packed with fruit grown on their own farm: raspberries, black currants, and Schaerbeek cherries. The Statement is a more intensely cherried melomel, while Black Agnes balances a sweet mead with loads of tart black currant. Nutmeg strikes a different sort of balance, as a metheglin—spiced mead—whose eponymous ingredient has a long track record of compatibility with honey and sweetness.

Superstition

In Prescott, Arizona, Jen and Jeff Herbert have a clear and stated mission: “to reintroduce the world’s oldest fermented beverage to mankind.” Founded in 2012, Superstition has grown since then to become the state’s largest “winery.” The drink that gets folks all atwitter is Berry White, made with raspberries and white chocolate. There are variations on that theme, such as Blackberry, Blueberry, or Strawberry White, or the Grand Cru, a blend of all four versions. Another of interest to beer enthusiasts is Samba, made in collaboration with Marble Brewing of Albuquerque, New Mexico. At 12 percent ABV, it gets a bright burst of Samba hops for a pineapple-like aroma and flavour.

Pips

Some of the most sought-after bottles in the trend come from this small producer, founded in 2016 in Beach Park, Illinois, north of Chicago. According to their own description, while most often making dessert drinks, they “are willing to push the boundaries at times and stretch past balance to bring out intense flavours and unique combinations in [their] products.” Demand greatly outstrips production (and as such, they declined to be interviewed, out of concern that the attention would make it even harder to serve their local customers). Attention grabbers have included Blue Suede Shews, made with orange-blossom honey, wild blueberries, and cashews, and Banana Pancake, made with bananas and “natural flavours” that evoke pancakes—maple syrup and all.

Boneflower

In production since 2018, Boneflower’s story would be familiar to many craft brewers: Two hobbyists start making mead because they can’t get the kind of thing they want to drink. They’re located in St. John, Indiana, a far suburb of Chicago. A darling of the fans is Slow Heavy Jam, a pyment made from wildflower honey and lots of Concord grape. Other fan favourites include Tripleberry, a melomel made with blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and the seasonal Holiday, made with apples, cherries, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Garagiste

Based in Tampa, Florida, since 2016, Garagiste has put out a colourful range of products. Attention-getters include several variations on peanut-butter-and-jelly flavours, variously named Goober or some variation thereof (e.g., Reboog). The most recent is Goobvee One, made with apple, grape, blueberry, strawberry, and other flavours. Another melomel that lights up eyes and palates is Cilice, made with red currants, raspberries, and cherries, then aged on Four Roses bourbon staves. Or for a wake-up, consider Blue Mountain, which gets “an absurd amount” of Jamaican coffee and has a bourbon barrel–aged variation.

Manic

Not far from Boneflower, Manic is based in Crown Point, Indiana, another Chicagoland suburb. Founded in 2017, its notables include rich Collusion (16 percent ABV), brewed with black currants, black raspberries, marionberries, vanilla, and maple syrup. Another is the Nordic Quad (17.5 percent ABV), a Viking-inspired metheglin spiced with juniper, hibiscus, coriander, and rose hips.

Misbeehavin’

More from that new-mead hotbed of northwest Indiana, this one in production since 2016 in Valparaiso. Their wide range—they say they release about 48 different meads per year—includes a jammy variety of melomels, many aged on oak. Local favourites include a series of PB&J-flavoured meads called With a Baseball Bat, or sweet, juicy Same Old Jam, getting various fruits plus flavours such as vanilla, maple, or white chocolate.

Types of Mead

Mead has its own sort of style vocabulary, and there is some overlap. Here’s a brief explanation of some of the most common types, though there are many variations based on various mead-making traditions around the world.
Mead: A fermented drink made of honey and water, coming in a wide range of alcoholic strengths. Honey must be at least 51 percent of the fermentable sugars.
Melomel: A fruited mead, and by far the most popular type in the new wave of craft meads.
Pyment: A type of melomel made with grapes.
Metheglin: A mead flavoured with herbs and/or spices.
Braggot: A beer-mead hybrid that may include malt and/or hops.
Cyser: A cider-mead hybrid that includes fermented apple juice.
Hydromel: A word often used for lower-alcohol mead (i.e., “water-honey”)

https://beerandbrewing.com/meadmakers-of-the-new-school/

2 New Meads For Autumn

From manchesterinklink.com

Ancient Fire

Ancient Fire Mead & Cider in Manchester released Blue & Black (7 percent) on Thursday (Aug. 27), which is their newest draft style mead made with Hawaiian coffee blossom honey, a heap of local blueberries and a little bit of black currant. 

---

Moonlight/Hidden Moon

Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry has released a number of new meads, including Innuendo (14 percent), a peach and raspberry mead that’s described as a “perfect sweet summer blend.”

It also released All the Dark Fruit! (14 percent), a mead made with raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cherry and black currant.
Both are available in 375 ml bottles.

Under its Hidden Moon label, they released their hard cider Little Apples (6.5 percent) on Friday (Aug. 28). This year, it’s available in bigger 16-ounce cans and barrel-aged.

https://manchesterinklink.com/brew-news-mash-up-fall-is-in-the-air-which-means-so-are-local-pumpkin-ales-and-oktoberfests/

World famous Schramm’s Mead is now available in the Pacific Northwest

From newschoolbeer.com

One of the world’s most respected meaderies will begin distribution into the pacific northwest via Orcas Distributing this September. Schramm’s Mead from Ferndale, Michigan has often been considered the top mead maker in the world and amongst the highest ever ranked by consumers and critics.

Schramm’s Mead is known for their intense fruited meads and dedication to artisan quality spices, and the highest quality fruit and honey from around the world from trusted farmers. These meads might be best compared with the world-class wines of France or fruit lambics of Belgium. Exquisitely balanced sippers that are sublime expressions of their ingredients.

Founder Ken Schramm literally wrote the book on Mead, he authored “The Compleat Meadmaker” which was published in 2003 and brought a new generation into home mead making. Before that, Schramm had founded the GABF of mead called the Mazer Cup Mead Competition in 1992.

Schramm was gifted a copy of Charlie Papazian’s seminal book “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing” in 1987 by his older brother. The book had an appendix on mead and Schramm’s first homebrew was based on one of Papazian’s recipes.

“I joined the American Homebrewers Association, and got connected with some great folks early on. I found out that Bill Pfeiffer, one of the highest ranking beer judges in the country, lived a few miles away. He was also the 1985 “AHA Meadmaker of the Year.” I got in touch with him, and he provided a wealth of advice,” says Ken Schramm.

Schramm ended up hooking up with two good friends, Dr. Dan McConnell and Mike O’Brien to start the Mazer Cup. It was the first Mead-only competition in the US and is still the largest and most prestigious. After the success of the Mazer Cup and Schramm’s acclaimed homemade meads, he and McConnell began frequently writing papers on the ancient art of fermenting honey wine. The pair became popular speakers at homebrewing, beekeeping and wine making conferences around North America.

Pretty soon publishers came calling and Schramm and McConnell considered multiple book deals. But, McConnell was a very busy researcher for University of Michigan and didn’t have time, so Schramm excepted an offer from Brewers Publications to write The Compleat Meadmaker. The book was a bigger then expected hit, selling more than 70,000 copies.

Even after the successful success of his book and competition, Schramm had still resisted the call to open a commercial meadery. And he continued to hold out for more then 10 years before opening Schramm’s Meadery with his daughter in 2013.

In 2020 Mead has more of a cult following then major commercial success, the pacific northwest has seen multiple meadery closures from Oregon Mead & Cider, Fringe Meadery to Blue Dog Mead. But in a time when small craft brewers are declining, Schramm’s mead is expanding with an undiminished passion for the category.

“Our two watchwords at Schramm’s Mead are Quality and Fidelity,” says Schramm. “They guide everything about our recipe formulation, our ingredients, our processes and packaging materials, and what does or does not get released from Schramm’s Mead. We make intensely-flavoured meads from real fruit, the best spices we can find, and honey from beekeepers we know and trust. Our meads are true to the ingredients from which they are made.”

Mead is often packaged and sold like wine in 9 litre cases, Schramm’s is similar to a small batch artisan winery that has a devoted following. Their bottles range in price from $20 to $50+ and they only produce about 54,000 litres in a year. But the demand is there and Schramm’s is interested in sharing it in the northwest.

While some companies expand and lose what made them special, Schramm’s is doubling down by planting their own small orchard which will allow them to grow their own fruit and become their own beekeepers. They will also shift from leased facilities to purchasing their own buildings with a goal towards long-term financial stability.

“We are determined to expand only as fast as quality permits. That means finding distributors who are willing to work with a supplier who can only release products when they reach maturity, and who are willing to work with retailers who understand that there is not an unlimited amount of our products to continuously “fill the pipeline,”” says Schramm.


Orcas Distributing is excited to be the pacific northwest partner for Schramm’s, bringing in both limited draft product and package. Bottles of Schramm’s Mead should arrive at the distributor this week with a handful of kegs becoming available.

“Customers will be able to find 375ml bottles of their flagship meads and a few limited releases, like Cranberry and A Smile of Fortune, at select specialty retailers in all of Western WA.  People will be able to find a few offerings on tap at select locations in King and Pierce county,” says Orcas brand manager Matt McLaren.

Rare sampling events for Schramm’s will take place at Rainier Growlers in South Hill, WA on Sept. 15th and at Bens Bottleshop in Vancouver, WA on draft (date TBA).  Other mead kegs will appear at Elliot Bay Pizza, Peaks and Pints, and Downtime Taps.

“Seattle has a long and storied craft history, and knowledgeable wine lovers and craft beverage drinkers. Orcas understands and shares our focus and priorities,” says Schramm.

About Schramm’s Mead:
Schramm’s Mead offers craft mead and beverages made with unmatched recipes and bold ingredients, which reflect an uncompromising commitment to quality. We support local beekeepers and suppliers and strive continuously for sustainability. Schramm’s enthusiastically supports the reputation and growth of the mead industry.

https://www.newschoolbeer.com/2020/08/world-famous-schramms-mead-is-now-available-in-the-pacific-northwest.html