The Mead House

While JD is on the road somewhere between here and there, Ryan and Jeff are left alone in the studio to produce episode 200! Jessicka of Mountain Rose Herbs returns to The Mead House. MRH will again be sponsoring the secret ingredient category of the Iron Bee (announcement on dates soon!). She’ll talk about what she’s seen at MRH during the pandemic and offer some thought on the secret ingredient…...

This here is JD. Welcome listeners! We always have fun with our Social Club segment, so this episode is dedicated to all our valued listeners. We’ll spend the entire episode answering questions from meadmakers and brewers with no formal expertise other than what the three of us have experienced in our own mead house. You can now listen to The Mead House Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify,...

Michael Jordan is the owner of A BEE Friendly Company, Inc. His growing interest in self-preservation and the love of the earth has made him more than a beekeeper. One of the few called “Bee Activist”, his teaching on beekeeping has been heard all over the world. He has worked with Worlds of Wonder Discovery Channel, Bee’s Without Boarders, The Pearl Foundation, Boys & Girls Scouts, various 4-...

Previously joined us with his co-brewer John last May to talk about a mango braggot they’d put together. Toward the end of the episode he mentioned a sourdough starter we’ll have to ask about and says he’s recently filled up 170 bottles of mead, so it sounds like he’s been busy in the last year. Here to tell us what he’s been up to during his pandemic period is returning home meadmaker Ravi Hausne...

Our guest this episode is one of the most incredible home mead makers I think this show has ever met. This will be his 3rd appearance at the House, and back on episode 129, his first appearance, we billed him as “He’s a Minnesota-native, has six International Mazer Cup wins, a Minnesota State Fair Best of Show and two first round placements in this year’s National Homebrew Competition. And, he’s o...

Continuing our “Homebrewing in the Pandemic” series. Master home meadmaker, Nathan Steigman returns to The Mead House. Nathan pursues his craft with dedication and a willingness to fail only to go back through the notes and do it again differently. A Statesman in the art of crafting some of the best tasting homemade mead. Also, Have you got your MacGyver on? Jeff touches on some DIY projects that...

Chip Walton is the producer and host of Chop & Brew , a web show about homebrewing, craft beer, and cooking. His day job is that of digital content producer at Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply for the second time in ten years. During his first tour of duty at Northern Brewer, he co-created and produced the popular Brewing TV webshow. Chip is a former member of the AHA Governing Committee and a...

Medal winning home brewer Matt Weide joins us this episode. A regular here at the house, Matt brings us up to date on his projects and how the pandemic has affected his home brewing. We also get into a nutrient discussion about step feeding, when is it used, and do we stick to a step feeding regimen. Also, we had a question from an avid listener, Tyler Cott, he heard on an earlier show how Ryan wa...

Wrapping up our 6 week run with discussions and interviews on honeybeer, this episode we hook up with a long time friend and supporter of the show, Ash Fischbein, owner of Sap House Meadery and Hobb’s Brewing Company in New Hampshire. Hobb’s has been brewing a honeybeer called Wannabee and we’ll talk to Ash about what his influence was foro this honeybeer as well as how they incorporate it into th...

This episode we talk to Jon Kielty, Head Brewer for BIG aLICe Brewing Company in Queens, New York, Starting off brewing one-off brews, they quickly found their niche with awesome flavors and a brewing philosophy that includes using local products from sustainable sources. “As a licensed New York State farm brewery, our beers support local and state agriculture.  We partner with state hop farmers a...

One off batches – this is the holdover from last week. We often hear about making sure you can repeat batches and to get good at brewing you need to be able to make consistent replicateable batches. How do you approach batches when they are going to be one-off, either because of special ingredients or just desire to always make something different. Raw Ale – We hear a lot about the desire to have...

Shawn Adams began his brewing journey 20 years ago. What started as a thirst for simply trying new craft beer has turned into creating quality craft beer of his own. He has committed himself to becoming a master brewer and thrives on the creative process involved in brewing great beer. He is a Certified Beer Judge, a member of the Master Brewers of the American’s and has traveled across the countr...

Ryan Richards is the Co-Founder and Production/Distribution Manager at Roy-Pitz Brewing Company , Chambersburg PA. Ryan studied Business Management at West Chester University near Philadelphia, PA earning a bachelor’s degree. During the time at school Ryan and Co-Founder Jesse Rotz honed and tweaked a business plan to start a craft brewery in their hometown of Chambersburg Pa. There’s much more to...

All the way from an 18 acre farm in the frigid East coast of Maine, Mike Fava, and award-winning accomplished brewer from Oxbow Brewing stops by the house to talk honey beers and barrel fermenting sours. Now, if you’re into braggots like we are, listen to Mike as he describes his brewing and bottling process on a few of his honey beers, you should pick up a few nuggets here and there! To stop the...

In this episode, Jeff reviews the Quick Mead recipes in T he Elder Scrolls cookbook from a popular game, The Elder Scrolls , an old world fantasy style series of action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Then, we double up on Social Club questions as we wrap up show number 6 of our schedule. We’ll be on hiatus for our regular...

In this episode, ever consider an all fruit mead? We mean, ALL fruit? Whole fruits, honey and yeast? We’ll give it a go in segment one, along with any fruits you wouldn’t use? And then, as promised a couple weeks ago, (yeah, we missed the mark last week), a Social Club double header. Lots of questions from our listeners including, why mead? Why do you guys make mead? Why do you like it more than b...

Aaron started as a volunteer at Saint Arnold pouring beer in the beer hall during Saturday tours. Soon became a tour guide, and would constantly pester the brewers and Brock about opportunities to become a brewer. Eventually it came, and 9 years later Aaron has held positions as a shift brewer, Lead Shift Brewer, Barrel Program Manager, Director of Brewing Operations, and currently Innovation Mana...

So, last episode it was a pharmacist that got it started, this week it’s an IT specialist who after 20 years, gave up his desk job for a hydrometer. Meet Kevin Martin, head fermenter for Good Road Ciderworks in Charlotte, North Carolina. An award-winning brewer, meadmaker and cider maker, he also specializes in braggots, a category of mead we try to bring to the front burner here at the House. Chr...

“DIY has never gone out of fashion, but in the last few years we’ve seen a real revival in this area. What started in 1972 as a pharmacy and drugstore has grown over a few decades into Europe’s most highly specialized wholesaler for products for making your own wine, beer, liqueurs or dairy products.” Meet Bart Balis in this episode. He is the son and CEO of the founder of Brewferm , Frans Balis,...

Back by popular demand, the one and only Raphael Lyon from Enlightenment Wines Meadery . He's an avid historical mead study, likes to forage for natural and local ingredients, digs wild fermentations, believes in farm to table sustainability, and makes great meads! An entertaining segment you'll be sure to enjoy! Also in this episode, ever feel intimidated by a project that went south and never ga...

I n this episode, we devote the entire show to Social Interactions. Actually, we have renamed it, from now on we'll call it the Social Club! Big shoutout to William Douglas Norris, he's an avid listener, found us recently, and has started with show number one! Thanks William! We'll tackle questions form listeners like, "How do I store yeast in a hot & humid environment?" and " What's the best...

Putting on a competition in a pandemic isn't easy, but Valkries Horn organizers Kevin Meintsma and Al Boyce found a way. A large effort went into organizing and planning this premier mead competition, and after much work Valkries Horn took place in 2020. This was the first major competition to take place during covid. We'll talk about how they did it! Also, Kevin and Al hang around for segment 2 w...

I n this episode, Justin Schoendorf, owner of Monks Meadery in Atlanta Georgia stops by for a second visit, first appearing on episode 167 last July, Justin reports that they have secured several impressive medal to add to the shelf, and a brand new mead, Dragons Con a limited edition Session Mead made with Passion Fruit, Hibiscus, and Dragon Fruit. Get it while supplies last! In the second segmen...

Home meadmaker Greg McNulty stops by the house to share some insight. Getting started 3 years ago with a pin cherry mead, as he put it, "the rest is history." "I am now in the R&D phase of starting a small Meadery in Buffalo, Ny, focusing on crushable sessions. Along the way, I found your show, and decided to give the famous Ryan Braggot a try since now I have the proper equipment!" Thanks Gre...

We're back after an extended hiatus, and in this episode we find out that over the break, Ryan scores at the Mazer Cup! Jeff re-visits Graf with a new recipe he found at Brulosophy . JD talks about way back when Mississippi Chris was on the show how they both started a Graf using a recipe found at HomeBrewTalk.com . In segment 2, we hook up with Will Otte, a homebrewer with a bit of useful science...