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Letter from the Editor

Red BordersAmerican Mead Maker is published on a quarterly basis.

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Cover: Artesano Meadery in Groton, Vermont welcomes visitors on a fi ne Summer day.

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A Trip to Some East Coast MeaderiesJeff Herbert

The Story Behind AMMAChris Webber

Liquid AssetsRandy Clemens

Meadery of the RockiesStacy Wittig

RED BORDERSAmerican Mead MakerWinter 2012

Letter from the Editor

Mead has been around since before recorded history,

but only recently have we been able to unite and

form the American Mead Maker’s Association. This

humble journal endeavors to bring mead makers together to share

resources and information. In our first year we are planning to

conduct the first survey of the commercial mead industry in

America. This baseline data will serve as a starting point to

track a variety of issues as mead grows in popularity . We will

introduce you to meaderies across our country and the amazing

products they produce. AMMA will promote and publish the

results of commercial and home made mead competitions. We

will strive to introduce you to new mead recipes, mead cocktails

and food pairing suggestions. We also would like mead fans to

be involved with this publication. So if you have organizational,

writing, or photography skills and passion for mead, contact me

to get involved. If you are reading this letter you probably have

enjoyed making and or drinking mead. So spread the word, buy

a bottle or 12 from your local meadery, and help us put mead on

the map.

--Jeff Herbert

BY: Chris Webber

The Story Behind AMMA

With the phenomenal growth in the mead in-dustry over the last several years many believe there is now not only a suffi cient base to sup-port a new mead organization but a great need as well. Many have observed that the mead industry is today where craft beer was some thirty years ago. It was discussed for some time among industry leaders and internet fo-rums about once again putting together an association. Brad Dolhofer of B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale, Michigan created a Facebook page in January 2011, for the American Mead Makers Association (AMMA) which started the ball roll-ing. In October, Chris Webber of Dragon’s Lair Country Wines & Meads in Lakewood, Washington (not yet bonded) put together a website to start formally bringing the industry together.

Part of the discussion was whether or not to actually form as an international association so as to include other mead makers around the world; however in the end it was decided that due to jurisdictional considerations for legisla-tive purposes the association should limit its boundaries to the US and should an interna-tional organization be formed in the future the AMMA would become a member and support-er. In the meantime non-US mead makers can join the AMMA as an Associate Member.

There have been several attempts over the years

to create an association for the purpose of pro-moting and improving the mead industry. The original American Mead Association (AMA) was founded in 1986 by Pamela Spence, Ohio beekeeper and author of Mad About Mead!: Nectar of the Gods (ISBN 1-56718-683-1) and other works, as an alternative market for honey. Unfortunately, it was a labor of love and the la-

bor was a bit too much.It was passed on to Susanne Price in 1993 who moved it to Colo-rado. She built up the organiza-tion through her connections with the American Homebrewers Association as well as enlarged the newsletter and soon made it a partnership with John “Julian”

Strekel. Julian had established a honey supply business, and it seems that the intention was to move the AMA from Pamela Spence’s concep-tion as a nonprofi t organization to a for profi t co-op. After Susanne’s tragic death in early 1996, it was left to Julian to run the organiza-tion.

The association soon fell on hard times. The newsletter ceased although the association was still accepting dues, honey suppliers were not being paid and in short order the money was all gone. By March 1997 Julian gave up all inter-est in the AMA to Andrew LaMorte and Keith and Sarah Wanless of Highlander Home Brew in Littleton, Colorado. It soon became apparent the organization was in a dire fi nancial situa-tion and due also to some legal considerations

a complete reorganization became necessary. Th e task proved to be over-whelming and by mid-1998 the association had faded into oblivion. As is oft the case when such organiza-tions fail it is a slow pain-ful death where many good honest people were left with a bad taste.

In 1990, Ken Schramm, author of Th e Compleat Meadmaker (Brewers Pub-lications, 2003), Dan Mc-Connell and Mike O'Brien founded the Mazer Cup Mead Competition, which ran for 12 years in Michi-gan. Th e original Mazer Cup was sponsored by the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild, the National Honey Board and others, and was a BJCP and AHA sanctioned competition. Th e fi rst time the Mazer Cup is mentioned in the Mead Lovers Digest is April 1993. It lists spon-sors as GW Kent, Inc of Ann Arbor, MI; Home Winery Supply of Dundee, MI; Th e Ann Arbor Brewers Guild and the American Mead Asso-ciation of Boulder, CO.

In 2001, the Mazer Cup was renamed the Pfei-ff er Mazer Cup, in memory of friend, mentor and 1985 AHA Meadmaker of the Year Bill Pfei-ff er, who lost his battle with cancer in 2000. In 2002, Ray Daniels, author of Designing Great Beers: Th e Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles , and other great beer books, re-organized the Mazer Cup into the First Inter-national Mead Competition and Planet Buzz! Festival in Chicago, Illinois. Th is would be the

largest mead only festival ever to that date.

Th e next year the festival was picked up by David My-ers and Redstone Meadery of Boulder, Colorado and shortened to the Interna-tional Mead Festival (IMF). By 2004 the Festival had some 85 diff erent meads from 32 companies in 7 dif-ferent countries. In 2006 the competition was ex-panded to include amateur mead makers.

In 2003 and 2004 meetings were held during the IMF competition to discuss chal-lenges facing the industry

and by late 2004 another attempt was made to create the International Mead Association (IMA) which basically assumed the IMF. Com-mittees were formed and paperwork was fi led, but by the end of 2007 the IMA was gone again, however the IMF continued.

In 2009 Myers and Redstone ended their stew-ardship of the Festival. In the interest of pre-serving the momentum of this event, Vicki Rowe, owner of the website GotMead.com, Pe-tar Bakulic and others reorganized the compe-tition. With the blessing of Schramm, McCon-nell and O'Brien, it assumed the name of the Mazer Cup International Mead Competition, and is today the largest mead-only competi-tion in the United States and indeed the world.

Finally, on May 1st, 2012 the American Mead Makers Association (AMMA) was incorpo-

rated in the State of Washington with Chris Webber as President pro tem, Cheryl Webber as Secretary and Woody Drake of Columbus, Ohio as Vice President. In accordance with the Association Bylaws their mission is fourfold; to improve regulation that promotes the Mead industry, to educate consumers about Mead, to conduct research to improve the craft and to promote Mead in general.

In the short term the Associations plans are to build its membership, establish a website domain and to start a newsletter. Over time the expectation will be to eff ect the Federal regulations to recognize Mead as a fermented beverage separate from wine with labeling and formula rules specifi c to the craft. Th is will co-incide with establishing style guidelines that will also be used in sanctioned competitions and judge certifi cations. Th e organization also plans to work with wineries, meaderies and mead competitions around the country to de-velop a program whereby Association mem-bers can receive a discount.

Much of the preceding information was gath-ered through an exhaustive search of the ar-chives of the Mead Lovers Digest, an email fo-rum which began September 25th, 1992 under the care of John A. Dilley and continues un-interrupted today with Dick Dunn as “Digest Janitor”. Th ese archives can be found online at the GotMead.com website http://www.got-mead.com/mldarchives.html. Other contribu-tions came from discussions on the GotMead.com forum and conversations with Mr Ken Schramm.

PREVIOUS PAGE: Pam Spence

A Road Trip in Search of East Coast Mead

In June of 2012 I visited 3 mead makers in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ver-mont. My fi rst stop was to the magnifi cent estate win-ery of Mt. Felix which is just outside of Havre De Grace in Northeastern Maryland.

When you park at Mt. Fe-lix you are in the shadow of a beautiful brick mansion built in an era long past. The tasting room and win-ery compliment the style of the historic home and the views of the Chesapeake Bay are a rare treat. Enjoy-ing a glass of wine while lis-tening to live music on the patio, while scanning the farm fi elds for wildlife be-fore a walk amongst several acres of grapes is a wonder-ful way to spend a weekend afternoon.

During my visit the propri-etor, Peter Ianniello, was onsight to pour wines along with his staff who were each

well versed in the wine mak-ing process and descriptions of their products. The list of products offered for tastings and for bottle purchases was extensive. One stand out, and the best pumpkin wine I have ever had was the Ter-ra Maria. It poured a clear straw color and tasted like fall.

When the folks at Mt. Fe-lix heard that I was visitng from Arizona, and had just opened a meadery, the pro-prietor vanished for a mo-ment and returned with a blueberry mead he made 5 years prior. It was really a nice gesture to share a test batch of mead he made so long ago. While not for sale during my visit, Mt. Felix was aging a pyment made with their Chambourcin grapes and fortifi ed with grappa. What a concept! I vowed to return and trade a bottle of my pyment on my next visit.

After leaving Maryland I drove north towards rural Western Massachusetts to visit the mead makers at

Opposite Page Clockwise from Upper Left: Artesano mead made with a variety of blueberries, Chambourcin grapes grow early in the season at Mt. Felix Win-ery, the crew at Green River Ambrosia. This Page: Wax machine in operation at Artesano, Mt. Felix Pumpkin wine. Next Page: Tasting room at Mt Felix and Inside Green River Ambrosia.

Article and Photos By: Jeff Herbert

Green River Ambrosia. I had previously con-tacted Garth Shaneyfelt to arange a tour and tasting of Green River’s offerings. It turned out that the whole staff was onsite and full of excitement for their growing business, mead, and meeting new folks. Along with Garth, Will Savitri, Brendan Burns, Sam Dribble and Sandy Pearson are liquid artists using locally produced honey, ex-Jack Dan-iels barrels, chamomile fl owers, local apple cider and ginger to create innovative styles of mead and a l c o h o l -ic gin-ger soda. G r e e n River also brews a p o p u l a r brand of k o m b u -cha tea, K a t a l y s t K o m -b u c h a , which is a fermented pro-biotic health elixir. Garth joked, “We are vertically integrated with both toxifying and detoxify-ing products.”

Green River began making mead in order to support local bee keepers, and started with 10 hives producing raw local honey. Now they self-distribute in over 65 package stores and restaurants and are expanding. Their current line up follows:

Liquid Sunshine: A traditional semi-dry mead made with local honey for a slightly fl oral taste. 12% abv.

Chamomile: A traditional semi-dry mead in-fused with organic chamomile fl owers. 12% abv. (seasonal)

Winter Warmer: A semi-sweet mead fl avored with our warming spice blend to get you through the cold, dark winter. Try it heated! 14% abv. (winter seasonal)

Cyzer: Our apple-icious mead made with fresh-pressed heritage cider from Clarkdale

Fruit Farms in Deerfi eld, MA. Light natural ef fer vescence, serve chilled. 12% abv. (avail-able late Sum-mer - Fall)

Bourbon Cyz-er: Our cyzer aged three-plus months in fresh bourbon barrels. Somewhat effer-vescent - keep refrigerated. 12%

abv. Winner of 2010 and 2011 Mazer Cup Medals! (Available late summer - fall)

Bourbon-Barrel Buckwheat: Hearty buck-wheat honey mead mellowed over six months in Jack Daniels Bourbon Barrels. 14% abv. (seasonal)

Ginger Libation: Our hugely popular Liba-tion is somewhat like a spicy alcoholic ginger soda, but you’ve just gotta try for yourself ! Sweetened with cane sugar, pineapple and citrus juices (not a mead), it’s fruity, bubbly and delicious. Keep refrigerated, bottle con-ditioned. 8-9% abv.

Previous Pages Clockwise From Top Left: Green River Ambrosia, Luke and Logan Herbert enjoy a glass of Kom-bucha Tea, Artesano Meadery, Hilary Bumgarner pours a sample of blueberry mead, Jennifer Herbert taking notes at Green River Ambrosia. Opposite Page: Inside Artesa-no’s tasting room, Artesano’s fermentation tanks.

The last stop on this East Coast mead trip was Artesano Meadery in Groton, Vermont. Offering samples of mead and their own ice cream on a sunny Vermont Summer day, a visit to Artesano will inspire meadery owners and mead fans alike. I met Hilary Bumgarner who provided one of the best tours anyone cold ask for. She works with the owners of Artesano and not only pours samples in the tasting room, but is an accomplished mead maker. After tasting several fantastic meads Hilary showed me Artesano’s stainless fer-mentation tanks, bottling machine, and they even have a custom made device which seals the cork with a wax fi nish and then imprints their logo in the wax.

Artesano has won several awards and makes the following meads: Traditional Mead, Chili Cinnamon Mead, Essence Dry Mead, Spiced Mead, Cranberry Mead, Blueberry Mead, Blackberry Mead and Poet’s Mead, which is aged in bourbon barrels.

Owner Mark Simakaski and his wife began making mead while teaching bee keeping in the Peace Corps in South America. I asked Mark about challenges he faced in starting a meadery. He said, “The time from start up to your fi rst bottle of mead has a long lead time. We needed to be sure there was enough capital to make it through.” In 2012 Artesano produced 17,000 500 ml bottles of mead. Ap-parently their hard work is paying off.

Artesano self-distributes to 55 accounts in

Vermont and their most popular mead is their Traditional Mead. Mark also sells mead and represents Artesano at farmer’s markets and a few wine events each year. when asked about what will help grow the mead indus-try Mark says, “Good mead makers and a lot of consumer education. As the availability of mead increases, so will its sales. But it has to be good mead!”

In visiting these three businesses making mead, I was excited to see that mead univer-sally serves as a catharsis for the liquid artist. The creativity exibited by mead makers is as-tounding. The success that these three mead makers have developed is indicative of the growth that can be expected in the mead in-dustry. Meaderies are starting up across the country but we are just beginning to catch a new wave in the alcohol industry.

One hypothesis I had prior to this road trip was that meaderies even in similar parts of the country are relatively disconnected. I be-lieve that the spirit of a business deciding to begin a meadery is certainly an independent spirit, and perhaps geography may keep us apart. While some of the mead makers I vis-ited had been to other Eastern meaderies, and even to the Mazer Cup, these meader-ies generally do their own thing. In light of this, I keep asking myself a question that I will posit to you now, “If there is strength in numbers as the old saying goes, what ben-efi ts can meaderies realize if we further net-work and join together?”

I hope to see you at the Mazer Cup in 2013.

Check out:www.mountfelix.comwww.greenriverambrosia.comwww.artesanomead.com

Liquid Assets:Mead For The Modern Age

By: Randy Clemens “Mead is the ancient liquor of gods and men, the giver of knowledge and poetry, the healer of wounds, and the bestower of immortality.”

George Robert Gayre, Scottish anthropologist

Long before the advent of wine, beer and spir-its, countless civilizations celebrated, revered and drank their fair share of mead, an alcoholic beverage forged out of the fermentation of na-ture’s most miraculous sugar: honey.

“We see mead as a magical thing,” explains Frank Golbeck, co-founder of fl edgling start-up Golden Coast Mead, based in San Diego. “It represents this synergy that has connected peo-ple to agriculture and their environment. Drink-ing it is a culinary experience that has deep cul-tural roots, across the world and across time.”Indeed, honey has long been held in high re-gard, and one can only imagine that mead’s intoxicating properties would make honey that much more special to our early ancestors. The mind-altering effects were thought of as a kind of transformation, a journey into another world that opened the brain to new thoughts and ex-periences.

“A drink I took of the magic mead […] then I

began to know and to be wise, to grow and to weave poems.”

—Odin, from the Norse Saga Runahal, circa 1200 CE

Mead is believed by many to be the fi rst alco-holic drink known to man, likely a happy ac-cident caused by mixing water and honey in an animal-skin canteen while out on a hunt. Esti-mates of its discovery range from 9,000 years ago to as far back as 20,000 years ago. Ancient Greeks and Romans had a well documented af-fi nity for mead, as did the Vikings, the Egyp-tians and many other cultures across Europe, the East Indies and Africa. Fast forwarding to the present, mead is not nearly as prevalent as it once was, taking a back seat to the much more common potent potables of today: beer, wine, cider, sake and the like. But it holds a world of complexity just waiting to be explored. The meadmaker—also known as a mazer—has at their fi ngertips a veritable blank canvas on which to build.

“Mead presents this huge spectrum of fl avor possibilities,” continues Golbeck. “The honey varietal is arguably the most important choice in determining the profi le of the mead, but se-lecting a yeast strain, deciding how sweet you’d like it to be, whether or not it’s sparkling, and of

course if you’d like to add in adjuncts such as fruit or spices, how long it’s aged, and whether or not that’s on oak…the combinations really are unlimited.”

In regards to the honey varietal, Susan Ruud and Gordon Strong—recognized as Grand Mas-ter level judges by the Beer Judge Certifi cation Program—conducted “The Great Honey Ex-periment,” which had a group of people gauge six different meads, identical in every respect except for the type of honey used. Their meads, presented and evaluated at the 2010 National Homebrewers Conference, had some common-alities, but also pointed out some very interest-ing differences.

Golden Coast is currently focusing on making one mead, and making it well. Called Mirth in a Bottle, it’s obvious in talking with Golbeck that he has an insatiable passion for his craft. “For me, I want to show the best expression of the honey varietal,” he waxes. “That’s what I’m after.”

“We start with a wonderfully aromatic orange blossom honey, and make the mead semisweet

and sparkling, which really makes the citrus fl a-vor pop, and that surprises a lot of people. That character isn’t nearly as noticeable in the base honey, but it comes through beautifully in the fi nished mead. We use a red-wine yeast for the fermentation, which adds these complex fl oral notes that I just love. But ultimately, it’s all to highlight the nuances naturally present in the honey.”

Are you reading this all in disbelief, remem-bering a cloying, sickeningly sweet mead that you tried at ye olde Renaissance Faire? Well, I implore you to give it another shot. There’s a world of great meads out there waiting to be enjoyed. Some are sweet or semisweet, while others can be quite dry, with different carbon-ation levels ranging from still to sparking, or somewhere in between, called semi-sparkling or pétillant. [You’ll thank me when that’s a question on Jeopardy! some day.] It might take a bit of searching, but there’s been a growing buzz that’s getting mead onto more and more shelves. And while I can drone on and on for days, reading about them is nowhere near as great as tasting them.

HONEY VARIETAL SAMPLING OF AROMA FLAVOR CHARACTERISTICS

MESQUITE Pipe tobacco, smoke, wood, earthy, vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, Cheddar cheese, mint

ORANGE BLOSSOM Citrus, orange blossom honey, fl oral, pear, vanilla, apple, white grape, almond

TUPELO Apple, pepper, wood, mint, white grape, cinnamon, marshmallow, caramel, fl oral, cider, pear

WHITE SAGE Earthy, minty, menthol, musty, herbal, pepper, spicy, light smoke, sauerkraut

STAR THISTLE Floral, grassy, fi g, cinnamon, nutmeg, lavender, vanilla, butter, caramel, pine

BASSWOOD Menthol, thyme, oregano, white wine, butter, earthy, wood, caramel, citrus, pepper

TALKING THE TALK

BRAGGOT A hybrid of mead and beer, brewed with honey and malt.

CYSER A hybrid of mead and cider, made with honey and apple juice

HYDROMEL Lighter, lower alcohol mead

MELOMEL Mead fermented with any variety of fruit

METHEGLIN Mead brewed with herbs, spices, or hops

PYMENT A hybrid of mead and wine, made with honey and grape juice

SACK MEAD Higher alcohol mead, typically above 14% abv

TEJ A popular Ethiopian style of mead, made with a bitter species of buck thorn known as Gesho

Golden Coast Mead is available for purchase in several locations throughout San Diego County, but can be shipped nationwide through www.goldencoastmead.com. Gol-beck also off ered a list of some of his favor-ite meads and meaderies: B. Nektar Meadery (MI), WineHaven Stinger Honeywine (MN), Mountain Meadows Mead (CA), Moonlight Meadery (NH) and Redstone Meadery (CO). And if you’re interested in making your own at home, Golbeck recommends picking up The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm.

Randy Clemens is the author of The Sriracha Cookbook and co-author of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance. He is also the Media & Communications Linchpin at Stone Brewing Co. If you’re bored, you can follow his musings on Twitter: @RandyClemensEsq.

Standing next to fi fty-fi ve gallon drums of honey at Meadery of the Rockies in Pali-sade, Colorado, mead maker and owner

Glenn Foster explains his secrets to successful mead production. “We start with 100% pure, natural orange-blossom honey. This California honey has been the standard since 1995 because of its consistent taste,” describes Foster whose award-wining melomels are very popular with consumers. Because the meadery -- originally known as the Rocky Mountain Meadery -- does so much with fruit-blended meads, they needed honey that would enhance fl avors of many dif-ferent fruits.

Over time, they found that orange-blossom honey carried the fl avors of a variety of fruits

better than other types of honey. Foster’s favor-ite way to make melomel is to blend the mead with fruit wine.

And it just so happens that he has unlimited ac-cess to many award-winning fruit wines: Foster and wife Natalie own and operate St. Kathryn Cellars and Talon Winery also located in Pali-sade. The small agricultural community is in the heart of western Colorado’s fruit country near Grand Junction. The area is especially known for its peaches which are shipped all over the west and can be found in kitchens as high-brow as Air Force One – the president’s ride. The lush valley is designated as The Grand Valley, the oldest and largest AVA (American Viticul-ture Area) in Colorado.

The Buzz at Colorado’s Oldest Meadery Article and Photos By Stacey Wittig

Water is in abundance at the foot of the Rocky Mountains – Palisade is right on the Colorado River – and the Fosters use pure Rocky Moun-tain water for their entire mead making. “We learned the old tricks and discovered some new ones along the way,” reveals Foster who

personally directs the production of each batch of mead. The mead maker brought some secrets with him when he bought the meadery in 2008. He had previously worked as the offi cial wine-maker at Twin Rivers Winery in Grand Junc-tion and also in the California wine industry. “My father founded Ravenswood Winery [So-noma] when I was twelve [in 1976.] “We were glass droppers as children. I came to Colora-do in ’82 to go to school. In 1993, I went back to Ravenwood. In 1995 while visiting my in-laws, we discovered Grand Valley. We decided to move here that day and put a deposit on a rental house,” laughs the impulsive vintner.

He worked for various Grand Valley wineries for about ten years until he got tired of making OPW (other peoples’ wine.)

Mead production has quadrupled since 1995. Foster is proud that his meadery is the fi rst meadery in Colorado. “Our roots go way back. Mead is authentic – millennials are looking for something authentic and different,” he says. Mead fl avored with apricots, peaches, straw-berries, cherries and raspberries are trendy right now. The Cherries ‘n Honey just won Gold in the 2012 Denver International Wine Competi-tion.

Meadery of the Rockies’ automated bottling line can cork or screw cap thirty-six bottles per minute. Their twenty-three tanks range in size from 160 to 3,000 gallons. Meads sell for $11.95 – $34.95 per bottle. When you visit, sample up to fi ve meads free in the comfy tast-ing room (only $1 per sample after that.) Who might you see there? Visitors from as far away as Japan, mead lovers from California, Colo-rado and Utah and maybe even Emilio Estevez who has been known to stop in for a taste.

Meadery of the Rockies: 3701 G Road, Palisade, Colorado (970) 464-7899, Open Dai-ly 10-5, www.meaderyoftherockies.com

Stacey Wittig is a travel writer based in Flag-staff, AZ. Her culinary adventures have led her up the Inca Trail in Peru eating fried caterpil-lars and roasted guinea pig, across the plains of northern Spain on El Camino de Santiago en-joying steamed barnacles and through the vine-yards of Cinque Terre sipping Chianti Classico. “The Grand Canyon State is a remarkable place to call home,” declares the wandering writer. Get more travel tips at www.Vagabondinglulu.com.