Next Meadmaking Workshop: November 21, 2015

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On Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 12:00-3:00pm, I will be teaching a “From Alcohol to Alchemy – the Lore and Craft of Mead” workshop. Class registration is $50. Complete meadmaking kits are on sale for $75, and a variety of bulk honey is available starting at $50 per gallon (enough to start your first 3 gallon batch of mead.

This workshop will include:

  • A talk on the Lore, history, cultural, and nutritional aspects of mead
  • A copy of The Lore And Craft of Mead eBook
  • A demonstration as I brew up a batch of mead
  • An (optional) opportunity to acquire your brewing gear and make your first batch of mead under expert supervision, keeping both the gear and the mead you make! I will provide 2-3 gallons of freshly gathered spring water for everyone making mead at no additional charge.

To register or for more information, call Phil or Meghan at The Honey Exchange, 207-773-9333.

This class is limited to 6 people for space, so register quickly before this one fills up too!

Next Meadmaking Workshop: January 24, 2015

The last meadmaking workshop at The Honey Exchange in Portland was a great success, and sadly we had to turn people away at the door! We have rescheduled another class to accommodate the great interest in meadmaking. Needless to say I’m very happy to help foster more meadmakers in the world!

On Saturday, January 24, 2015 from 1:30-4:30pm, I will be teaching a “From Alcohol to Alchemy – the Lore and Craft of Mead” workshop. Class registration is $50. Complete meadmaking kits are on sale for $75, and a variety of bulk honey is available starting at $50 per gallon (enough to start your first 3 gallon batch of mead.)

This workshop will include:

  • A talk on the Lore, history, cultural, and nutritional aspects of mead
  • A copy of The Lore And Craft of Mead eBook
  • A demonstration as I brew up a batch of mead
  • An (optional) opportunity to acquire your brewing gear and make your first batch of mead under expert supervision, keeping both the gear and the mead you make! I will provide 2-3 gallons of freshly gathered spring water for everyone making mead at no additional charge.

To register or for more information, call Phil or Meghan at The Honey Exchange, 207-773-9333.

This class is limited to 6 people for space, so register quickly before this one fills up too!

Meadmaking Workshop was a Great Success!

Today’s meadmaking workshop at The Honey Exchange in Portland was a great success. We rescheduled the date, and on the new date it sold out so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to publicize it here. There are six new meadmakers in the world as of today!

6 new meadmakers in the world, with your humble webmaster in the background.
6 new meadmakers in the world, with your humble webmaster in the background.

One of the nice things about working with the Honey Exchange is that they stock a large assortment of varietal honeys; you can tell by the different colors of each batch here. One gentlemen made a raspberry mead with some raspberries he brought, everyone else made a traditional mead…. but they all look different!

It was a full house today, with all 6 attendees making mead. Sadly we had to turn a few people away for lack of space…. which of course gives us some solid motivation to have another workshop soon. Watch this space, it could be as soon as January 2015.

Thanks to all the attendees!

Next Meadmaking Workshop!

UPDATE, Oct 8:

For a variety of reasons, this workshop is going to be rescheduled for later in the fall. Watch this space for details!

I am happy to announce that I will be giving a “From Alcohol to Alchemy – the Lore and Craft of Mead” workshop at The Honey Exchange in Portland, Maine on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 10:30am. 

Class registration is $50. Complete meadmaking kits are on sale for $75, and a variety of bulk honey is available starting at $50 per gallon (enough to start your first 3 gallon batch of mead.)

The Lore And Craft of MeadThis workshop will include:

  • A talk on the Lore, history, cultural, and nutritional aspects of mead
  • A copy of The Lore And Craft of Mead eBook
  • A demonstration as I brew up a batch of mead
  • An (optional) opportunity to acquire your brewing gear and make your first batch of mead under my supervision, keeping both the gear and the mead you make!

Call the store to sign up, or for more information: 207-773-9333. Or, for the Facebook denizens in the house, you can get more info there.

Space is limited, so register soon!

Star Thistle Mead

The Mead Workshop yesterday at The Honey Exchange went very well! Most of the attendees were experienced beekeepers, and one of them brought his own honey from his hives to make his mead. That was great! Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of either the workshop itself or the batch of mead that I made.

One of the things I stressed during the workshop is how lucky we are in the greater Portland community to have a resource like The Honey Exchange. By far, the biggest question I get from people contacting me about mead is “where do I get good honey?” With a resource like The Honey Exchange, who not only support local beekeepers with beekeeping supplies and extraction services, but also support the general public with a wide selection of varietal and artisan honeys and honey products — including a fine selection of commercial meads — it makes things a lot easier for those of us in this area. If you have any needs whatsoever related to honey or meads, go see Phil or Meghan at The Honey Exchange and they will take great care of you.

I had looked forward to making my first batch with a varietal honey. I always use good quality local honey, but it’s usually a somewhat “typical” wildflower honey. It’s great honey and there is nothing wrong with it by any means, but it was a treat to broaden my honey palette with this batch of mead.

Star Thistle (Centaurea maculosa)

The honey I ended up using comes from Sleeping Bear Farms in Michigan. Their Star Thistle Honey is gathered from the nectar of Star Thistle that only grow in northern Michigan in abundant quantities. It truly is locally produced for them, and ships out directly to Portland.

Apparently this species of Star Thistle is native to Eastern Europe and is an invasive species in North America. It is also called Spotted Knapweed and is interesting that there have been efforts to eradicate the species, but these efforts have been resisted by honey producers in the area because of the quality of honey it produces. There is also a good argument for keeping the species active in Michigan:

Star Thistle is a non-native plant, but one that has significant benefit. Primarily, it grows and blooms at a time of the year when there is little forage for honey bees. This period typically occurs around the end of June, after clover has finished flowering, and lasts for about 6 weeks. This nectar collection is vital for the survival of the honey bees, as they are busy storing food for the upcoming winter.

Star Thistle in Michigan is a fine example of how invasive species isn’t as cut & dry of an issue as we would think. Humans have so profoundly affected the ecosystems of the planet that I think the balance of nature will have to adjust. It is no surprise to me, then, that certain non-native plants thrive in an ecosystem like this.

As far as the honey itself goes, Star Thistle Honey is fantastic. It is thicker, with a very mellow, floral, musky, flavor to it. It is lighter than what I am used to, unfamiliar to my palate, which is accustomed to sweeter and fruitier Maine honey. It’s delightful to work with, and I look forward to seeing how this mead turns out.

I used the same Mad Trad D recipe I have been using, with a chaga/sumac decoction, and added enough honey to get to a 15% initial alcohol potential for a drier mead. So this mead will be a bit drier, and also the flavor profile of the honey should be different.

Interesting to note that I did not go home immediately after the workshop, so the carboy spent about 8 hours in my car, in 30-40 degree temperatures. As such it is starting slowly. I will watch it carefully over the next 48 hours as it warms back up; I may even artificially add some heat to it. If I need to do anything technique-wise I will document it here.

Star Thistle Mead. 15% Initial alcohol potential.
Star Thistle Mead. 15% Initial alcohol potential.

As you can see the color is a bit darker than other traditional meads I’ve done with Maine Wildflower honey, but we’ll see how it settles out. Much of the dark color is due to the chaga, which does tend to fade as the mead progresses.

UPDATE: March 26, 2014

Star Thistle Mead, freshly racked and already clear, dry, and delicious!
Star Thistle Mead, freshly racked and already clear, dry, and delicious!

I finally racked this version, now that I have some empty jugs after the recent bottling session. This mead is already mostly clear, and is delicious! It has 1% remaining alcohol potential, so it is quite dry, and is 14% ABV. There is only a subtle hint of that young dry mead harshness, this is probably the best young dry mead I’ve done yet. It is quite drinkable already, and I’m sure it will just improve with age. It has a lovely almost tartness (sumac?) as well as a somewhat caramel-y overtone that lingers in the mouth, reminiscent of aged mead. I’m kind of blown away at how good this is already!

Still seats left!

There are still a few seats left at the Meadmaking Workshop on Saturday, November 16th at The Honey Exchange in Portland, ME.

I’m really looking forward to this event for a lot of reasons, but the main one is in working with all the incredible varietal honeys that they have available! I’ve always used high quality local honeys, but The Honey Exchange gives me (and you!) access to much more exotic honeys for use in fermentation.

As always, this workshop will include:

  • A talk on the Lore, history, cultural, and nutritional aspects of mead
  • A copy of The Lore And Craft of Mead eBook
  • A demonstration as I brew up a batch of mead
  • An (optional) opportunity to acquire your brewing gear and make your first batch of mead under my supervision, keeping both the gear and the mead you make!

Registration for the workshop is $50. The (optional) brewing equipment kit is $75, and you can choose from the varietal honeys available.

To reserve your spot, call Phil at The Honey Exchange at 207-773-9333.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Meadmaking Workshop – Sat Nov 16

I’m excited to announce that my next meadmaking workshop is set up and ready to go in Portland, Maine on Saturday, November 16 at The Honey Exchange. The Honey Exchange is a fabulous resource for meadmakers in the area, because they offer a very wide variety of honey to use in our meads! You can get a base honey for about $50/gallon (this is enough to do a 3 gallon batch of very sweet honey), and they have more exotic varietal honeys available at various prices.

Mead-Workshop-Flyer - 2

Registration for the workshop is $50, and you will also have an optional opportunity to brew your own batch of mead and take it (and all the equipment) home with you. The brewing equipment kit is $75, and you can choose from the varietal honeys available at The Honey Exchange. To reserve your spot, call Phil at The Honey Exchange at 207-773-9333.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Wyrd Ways Radio interview

On Wednesday, August 7 at 10pm Eastern Time, I will be interviewed on Wyrd Ways Radio, a show on heathenry and polytheism hosted by Galina Krasskova. We’re going to be discussing craft as devotional work, the place of mead in Northern Tradition lore and ritual, and, basically, all things mead. We’ll also be opening up the phone lines and taking calls.

Tune in to paganstonight.com to listen and chat live, call in to the show at 347-308-8222, or if you miss the live show, get it archived on iTunes.

I’m very much looking forward to this one.

UPDATE:

The show is archived here. The interview with me begins at about 71:30 into the podcast.

Midsummer Harvest

Well, I am officially behind on my meadmaking thus far in 2013. Only 4 batches have been started this year thus far (though a fifth will be forthcoming in the coming week or two).

That said, a bountiful midsummer harvest, consisting of the Black & Cran Cysers from last fall (one sweet, one dry), and the Chaibernation Spiced Mead from January. 30 beautiful, golden bottles of mead:

Black & Cran Sweet Cyser, Black & Cran Dry Cyser, and Chaibernation Spiced Mead
Black & Cran Sweet Cyser, Black & Cran Dry Cyser, and Chaibernation Spiced Mead

Gratitude!