Misbeehavin’ Meads brings their honeywine, and pinball machine, to Michigan City

From nwitimes.com 

MICHIGAN CITY — When Clint and Jill Wadsworth first started Misbeehavin’ Meads 10 years ago, they weren’t sure what to expect.

“We didn’t know if a meadery would work in the Region,” Clint Wadsworth said. “We still don’t. I guess the joke's on us.”

The Wadsworths opened up their new taproom in Michigan City last week, after relocating from Valparaiso.

And despite the name, the Wadsworths have not only been beehavin’, but working like straight-A students to get the new meadery in order, in terms of both logistics (permitting) and rolling out the barrels and giant fermenting vessels.

But the result, Clint Wadsworth said, is an experience he calls “superior” to what came before.

After all, they have their own parking lot now.

You can tell the difference almost immediately upon walking in.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

The yellow awning over the bar — a custom peacock blue finish — and wavy mural give off a kind of beachside vibe even indoors. The open sales counter sits in a game room where visitors can play pinball.

The Wadsworths’ prized Far Out pinball machine was never plugged in at the Valpo location, and still doesn’t quite work, but it’s partly about the vibes.

“The ambience here is more deliberate,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The bar is more functional. We have a bigger space. Superior plumbing, too. It’s the way we want it.”

Smashin’ Berries

The first mead The Times tried was Misbeehavin’s Michigan City debut offering, "Creep in the Cellar," a very tart semi-sweet variety blended with cranberries, oranges and apples.

Not long after, the Wadsworths showed The Times their enormous fruit press, which Clint Wadsworth described as being powered by a “whoopy cushion”: a large pouch that inflates with water and is used to squash the fruit — typically grapes or strawberries — into a fruity mash they can catch in five-gallon buckets. The machine can press out 800 pounds of fruit in one go.

“We try to hit these meads really hard with the fruits typically,” he said.

Between their meads and ciders, the Wadsworths have created some intensely fruity blends that utilize a variety of techniques to bring out full-bodied flavour, whether it’s berry flavour, citrus or something funkier like peanuts, bubble gum or glazed pineapple.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

“You go to a brewery or winery,” Clint Wadsworth said, “and get a description in your menu that it has notes of watermelon, lychee, whatever, and it will just taste like beer. We’ve had blueberry meads that were clear. How does that work? Are you using blueberries in this or not?”

The fruit blending processes — fermenting with juice, or "secret" methods — they used in their meads carry over to the ciders, which Clint Wadsworth said makes their varieties more unique.

The Wadsworths have been experimenting with their brews for a long time, even winning some festival medals along the way, such as “Two Tickets to Pearadise,” a pear cider that was aged in pear brandy barrels imported from France.

Clint Wadsworth didn’t start with meads. Initially he was getting into craft beer, but his father-in-law was keeping bees, and so Clint Wadsworth tried to make use of their honey.

Misbeehavin' Meads has opened their new taproom in Michigan City with bold, fruity concoctions like "Glazed Pineapple" and "Takes Two to Mango."    Aaron Dorman

“I know about mead, had tried a lot of mead,” he said. “So I started making mead. The first batch was horrible. It tasted like vinyl flooring. But that got me going, 'I am not going to be defeated by this.'"

After pressure from friends and family to go into business, the Wadsworths opened the Valpo taproom in 2016.

Jill Wadsworth said her inspiration comes from more traditional sources: cookbooks, video, other media. Clint Wadsworth, however, said he often gets “obsessive” and “possessed” over a particular ingredient.

That has led to some truly wild creations like their oyster (!) mead, “Oh Mead So Horny!”, which was blended with a bunch of aphrodisiacs (in addition to oysters, that batch got honey and champagne grapes).

There’s a lot of Misbeehavin’ that goes into producing a batch like that (before and after?), but if the mead-making process is a fun pastime for the Wadsworths, it’s also a necessity to produce novel varieties in a business landscape that demands constant rebranding.

“A lot of craft brewing places were started by hobbyists who don’t know how to run a business,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The pandemic (stimulus) might have floated them a bit. For us it’s all about staying fresh.”

Now, the Wadsworths hope Michigan City comes to see just what that entails (and not just nurses from Franciscan Health around the block).

Misbeehavin' Meads Co-owner Clint Wadsworth poses in the "game room" amidst his honey wines and pinball machines.    Aaron Dorman

“There’s a lot that can separate a good mead from a bad or generic one,” Clint Wadsworth said. “The creativity behind the ideas. Is it interesting? And does it taste good? Those things have to come together. But I’m excited about people re-exploring our mead.”

Misbeehavin' Meads is located at 10422 W. 400 N., Michigan City. For more information, readers can go to www.misbeehavinmeads.com/.

https://nwitimes.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/article_32c182f9-cba9-4da3-b261-8063ef9dee0e.html

Northern Michigan meadery takes gold and silver medals in national competition

 From mlive.com

BEULAH, MI -- Michigan bees have been hard at work earning some hardware for an up north cellar. St. Ambrose Cellars, a meadery in Benzie County, took home gold and silver medals this year at the Mead Institute’s U.S. Mead Open Competition.

The barn-style restaurant specializes in mead, an alcoholic drink made from fermented honey and water, and pays homage to one of the patron saints of beekeeping, Saint Ambrose.

St. Ambrose Cellars in Beulah makes mead, honey and beeswax products from bees raised at its sister company, Sleeping Bear Farms. The menu includes wood-fired pizza, truffle fires and burgers, among other options. The outdoor venue has live music every weekend in its barn.Lindsay Moore

Entries came from across the nation and were judged by 14 sommeliers and experts. The big winners were St. Ambrose’s Shotgun Wedding and Grateful Head, taking home gold and silver respectively.

Shotgun Wedding is a strawberry rhubarb cyser − a cross between mead and hard cider.

Grateful Head is a habanero, mango and apple mead.

St. Ambrose’s Illuminati mead, a still mead, also won the gold for the Dessert Mead Sweet category.

St. Ambrose Cellars in Beulah took home gold and silver medals for its signature meads from The Mead Institute US Open Competition. (Photo Courtesy of Cory Woessner |             St. Ambrose Cellars)St. Ambrose Cellars

In addition to the medal winners, another six meads from St. Ambrose made the semi-finalist list and scored more than 90 out of a 100 points, according to the Mead Institute.

The national recognition is a nod to both the craft and the growing popularity of mead, said Cory Woessner, St. Ambrose marketing lead.

“This recognition helps put a spotlight not just on us, but on the entire mead-making community. We’re proud to be a part of it and can’t wait to keep innovating and sharing what we create,” he said.

The farm offers 11 draft meads with flavours like finalists Wild Ginger and Rhythm and Blues, made from blackcurrant and blueberries.

While the draft selection offers a zip of carbonation akin to cider the four still meads give an uncarbonated honey wine flavour. The still mead Royal Reserve made the short list in the national competition as well.

A short drive from Crystal Lake and just 30 minutes south of Sleeping Bear Dunes, St. Ambrose offers a relaxed, Up North hang.

Check out a barn concert, yard games or the 9-hole disc golf course.

St. Ambrose is open throughout the year with indoor seating and a stage to keep the live entertainment going in the cold weather. Here are fall and winter hours:

Monday-Wednesday: 12 - 8 p.m.

Thursday-Saturday: 12 -9 p.m.

https://www.mlive.com/life/2024/10/northern-michigan-meadery-takes-gold-and-silver-medals-in-national-competition.html 

Collaborating for a Cause: Schramm's

From porchdrinking.com

Ferndale, Michigan, USA

In this week’s instalment of Collaborating for a Cause, we switch gears from beer to mead. On Nov. 14 of last year, Alyson Schramm of Schramm’s Mead announced an upcoming release to represent their participation in GivingTuesday 2023. In an amazing show of kindness and generosity toward a craft beer and industry icon, Schramm’s donated 100% of profits from its Nov. 28 webstore sales to the Kidd family GoFundMe to go toward medical expenses and future needs. Additionally, Schramm’s conducted a pre-order for custom-labelled bottles of Alex Reserve, its limited-batch apple mead.

The Schramm’s Cause

Schramm’s Mead opened its doors 10 years ago in September of 2013, and has since become the benchmark of quality in the world of honey wine. Co-founder and head meadmaker Ken Schramm has been honing in on perfection since the ’90s, and the influence he’s had on mead education and progressing the industry as a whole is unmatched. To learn more about the road to Schramm’s and the direction its program is headed, check out our “Exploring Honeywine | Schramm’s Mead” article featuring the renowned meadery.

Co-founder Alyson Schramm took the lead for its November benefit dedicated to Alex Kidd. In the meadery’s GivingTuesday announcement, Alyson Schramm noted she’s always had a soft spot for Don’t Drink Beer‘s style of shit-posting intermingled with Kidd actually being a wonderful and compassionate human being. Kidd is also known for sharing his clever reviews on meads, and his inside jokes on honey wine have always been well-received. Alyson and her husband, James, also welcomed a daughter into the world just days after Alex welcomed his daughter Paloma. The heartfelt personal connection brings further perspective to the significance of the fundraiser for both families.

Alex Reserve

Images Courtesy of Schramm’s Mead

As part of the GivingTuesday benefit, Schramm’s produced a limited run of Alex Reserve custom labels for the second batch of its Reserve Apple Mead. Bottles went live the day of the benefit on Nov. 28, with each 375 millilitre priced at $60 with a limit of four bottles per person. Once all sales from the day were tallied, Schramm’s was able to raise $3,069 for Kidd and his family. An incredible gesture, and yet another beautiful show of support for the cause.

Schramm’s was generous enough to allocate a bottle to us for purchase as well, giving us the opportunity to share both our experience with this limited mead as well as show some additional support with a donation to Alex and his family.

The Review

Photo contributed by Eric Griffin

There’s a rich golden hue as the mead cascades into the glass. The pour brings minimal agitation, and the liquid quickly settles flat. When swirled, noticeable leg retention is slow to catch up to the falling golden nectar.

Sweet, caramelized apples immediately greet the nose. There’s a spiced component to complement the rich fruit, very reminiscent of apple butter but simultaneously sparking undertones of cognac.

The palate brings many of the same qualities as the nose, albeit with more complexity. The apple skin brings a drying tannin. The alcohol is more present, both warming and crucial to cutting the sweetness derived from the honey. Fresh pressed cider meets honey-roasted apples and a touch of lavender. We will have to inquire later about the varietal honey used for this batch. The floral character brought on with temperature gives fantastic depth to the experience.

Alex Reserve fully coats the palate, drying slightly but finishing long and warm. As expected there’s residual tackiness well into the next sip.

Supporting the Kidds

Kidd continues to show incredible resilience following his Jan. 8 surgery, and has since been discharged from the hospital. As he continues to recover we will continue to support him, and this first instalment with Schramm’s post-op is the perfect place to pick the series back up.

As always, we’ll continue to provide a link to the Kidd family GoFundMe. Please continue to follow PorchDrinking as we have some exciting additions to the series over the next couple of months. Contributions from the likes of Wax Wings, The Veil (and their huge collaboration), Phase Three, Lua and more are upcoming, as well as a special one-off instalment featuring a high-gravity vertical thanks to the generosity of Alan Sprints from Hair of the Dog Brewery. We can’t wait to share these experiences with you all and continue highlighting the beer community’s love and support of the Kidds. Stay strong, Alex!

https://www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2024/01/23/collaborating-for-a-cause-alex-reserve/ 

Mead: What's the Buzz? (Michigan, USA)

From revuewm.com

The oldest alcoholic beverage in the world has lasted millennia by being astoundingly versatile. Sweet, spiced, warm, chilled—mead can be whatever you want it to be.

If you don’t know what mead is, that’s understandable, since beer, wine and spirits have taken centrestage in the modern palate. But there are multiple world-class meaderies in Michigan, including one practically downtown Grand Rapids, and people are starting to notice.

What Is Mead?

To help explain exactly what mead is, we turned to Maciej Halaczkiewicz of Arktos Meadery, now open on the bustling Bridge Street.

“The basic way to make mead is to take honey, put in water, and then either wild yeast or added yeast. That, plus time, will create mead,” Halaczkiewicz said.

So, it’s simple as that. Mead is fermented honey, much like wine is fermented grapes. In fact, you may sometimes see mead referred to as honey wine, but watch out! Some “honey wines” on shelves are really just white wines sweetened with honey, which is a very different experience.

What Does It Taste Like?

A basic mead with nothing added will be around 15% ABV, like a strong wine. It’s not a sugar bomb, but a gentle, nuanced sweetness that carries the natural complexity of honey. I typically drink IPAs and bourbon, but still love mead—there’s just nothing like it, and it can take on so many different flavours.

While Arktos uses Michigan wildflower honey for almost everything, the flavour can vary greatly depending on the kind of honey alone. Halaczkiewicz mentioned a Polish meadery that almost exclusively uses buckwheat honey, and you can taste the buckwheat. He’s been to a spot in California that used honey from the coffee plant, resulting in a mead that tastes like java. Some places in Africa use killer bee honey, which tastes like anise. 

Then you get into the spices and fruits and other fun things you can add into mead. Arktos right now has ginger mead, papaya mead, grape mead, yuzu lemon mead, and even a maple syrup and blueberry mead, which Halaczkiewicz said is especially good when warmed up.

I tried the Doc Holliday, a huckleberry mead with a perfect balance of fruity tartness and sweetness, which gets even better with just a touch of ice. It was very similar to a sour beer, but easier to drink. And the East Sea Dragon King is a hibiscus mead, light and floral with a touch of fruitiness.

Arktos is also working on even more offerings, from braggots (mead and beer hybrids) to mead spirits and mead cocktails. One bartender developed “buttermead,” which is mead mixed with a special spiced butter and warmed up. It might just put you to sleep.

Where Did It Come From?

The oldest evidence of mead goes back at least 9,000 years ago to northern China, where pottery was discovered with traces of fermented honey. Ancient recipes for mead have been found around the world, from Europe to Africa to Hindu texts.

“All these places have some history of mead making, but it didn’t originate in one specific location,” Halaczkiewicz said. “In Ethiopia, there are stories of like, they put honey in their water to preserve the water over a two-week trip back to their villages. It fermented, they drank it, they felt good. 

“There’s another story where humans saw apes drinking water from dead tree trunks, where the beehives were, and they would look all jolly, so the humans went and tried it. Vikings were really big with mead. The berserkers were known for drinking before battle because it gave them, you know, crazy powers and strength. It’s so cool that it doesn’t belong to any specific culture.”

Where Can I Drink It?

                                                                                  Arktos Meadery.  Courtesy Photo

There are multiple great meaderies around West Michigan, but Arktos has been holding the scene down in Grand Rapids since 2014, when they began distribution. That led to a small taproom in an office building south of downtown, which was cozy but difficult to find.

The new taproom on Bridge is in the heart of a busy area and makes for the perfect pre-dinner waiting room or post-dinner drinks. Opened in 2021, Arktos is comforting, filled with stone, art, pelts and big barn beams that Halaczkiewicz installed himself. It’s the perfect atmosphere for drinking the nectar of the gods out of goblets.

In the basement, Arktos has Cellar of Tales, a private, immersive space for playing TTRPG and board games with friends. It’s been decked out with lights that change colors, Bluetooth for music, and more. 

Whatever you come for, Halaczkiewicz just wants you to give mead a try.

“To people who don’t know what mead is, it comes in all different flavors, varieties, dryness and sweetnesses. It is the original alcohol. Give it a shot, at least, so that you can see what it tasted like when Vikings would drink before battle. 

“Plus, it’s gluten-free.”

Arktos Meadery

442 Bridge St. NW, Grand Rapids

arktosmeadery.com

https://revuewm.com/food-drink/libations/item/5350-mead-what-s-the-buzz 

Black Dragon Meadery Opens In New Buffalo, Michigan

From moodyonthemarket.com

“Mead is the oldest drink known to man, the very nectar of the Gods,” says Paul Peterson, Owner of Black Dragon Meadery in New Buffalo. The tasting room, located at 910 W. Buffalo Street, is cosy and inviting, accented with warm colours: deep burgundy and merlot, bright gold and, coincidently, honey yellow. A massive dragon head sits perched atop the fully stocked retail shelves, protecting the products like bejewelled treasure.

With bright smiles, Paul and Brenda greet everyone with enthusiasm and excitement, elated to have the opportunity to share libations with new customers. Mead is typically referred to as ‘honey wine’, and though it is sometimes made with hops, it is neither beer nor wine. The process of fermenting honey and water with additional ingredients like fruit, spices, and grains, delivers the most refreshing, sippable, gulpable, beverage.

While spending three years in Germany with Special Forces during the Cold War, Paul fell so in love with a certain black beer that upon his return to the states, it had him brewing and steeping in his attempt to recreate it. Through trial and error, Dragon’s Breath was born: a nearly-perfect replica that he introduced into the Renaissance Faire circuit, gaining many followers thirsty for his next creation. Naturally, this opened a door into the world of mead, where he began fashioning recipes based on the opinions of tasters from Ren Faires. His mead hit the shelves in 2015, and his logo and brand were created from Dragon’s Breath to draw in the patrons he acquired while pedalling brews across the region.

Since opening his first retail space in New Buffalo, Black Dragon Meadery has been diligently working to bring people into the new tasting room. Paul has a huge following in Indiana and the Chicago area already, and it will not be hard for him to win over the taste buds of we Michiganders. On June 18th, the Viking Warrior Festival in Marshall will debut his new mead ‘Immortality’, which he created specifically for author Treasa Kloth’s ‘The Harrow Vikings’ book series. The mead created for her book titled ‘Desolation’ is a cranberry orange mead, and is currently ranked #1 on untapped.com. ‘Immortality’ will be a plum vanilla mead.

The Magnum Mead Ale is semi-dry, made with clover honey and magnum hops, and it is sweet, refreshing, and luscious. The Blackberry Cyser I sampled is well-aged, semi-sweet, and made with apple cider from Coloma. It is a little fruity, a little floral, and offers the perfect amount of sweetness. All fermentation is done on site, and Paul uses local ingredients whenever possible: blueberries from Sawyer, honey from Eau Claire, and he frequents Coloma Frozen Foods often.

“I’m open to the possibility of a franchisee for the future,” Paul says. “Then we could truly expand into the Michigan market.” Michigan retailers that are interested in selling Black Dragon Meadery products can contact Eagle Eye Brands, a distributor based in Michigan that is quickly expanding internationally.

Black Dragon Meadery is open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m, with the option of hosting groups and parties– just call in advance. “Themed parties are always on the table, too,” says Paul, “We’ll dress like pirates!”
For a detailed list of all of the meads and their ingredients, where to buy, and which local restaurants serve it, visit blackdragonmeadery.com. Congratulations and welcome!

By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM Contributor

https://www.moodyonthemarket.com/black-dragon-meadery-opens-in-new-buffalo/

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