The Mead House

In this episode, make sure you have a pencil & paper with you, you'll want to take notes! Home meadmaker Tom Repas is back in the house to share some insight on making a mead to go with your meals. Rather than trying to pick a mead off the shelf, why not make a mead yourself. Check out his Facebook page for some inspiration, he's quite a cook, gardener and beekeeper! The we wrap the show with ...

Evan Henderson is in the house this episode. Beginning a career as a civil engineer, he spent 10 years behind a computer monitor before he decided he needed to move on. He was hired on at Sap House Meadery and quickly mastered the mead making production there, evident by the best meads you ever tasted!     Also in this episode, home mead maker and author of The Lost Art, A Comprehensive Guide for...

Adam Thoms, our second place medalist in the Iron Bee 2020 secret ingredient category, is a home mead maker who started off home brewing beer a few years ago and really found my ideal hobby/addiction after pitching the yeast on my first batch of mead in January 2019. What he did with Rose Hips and Cacao Nibs was amazing for his very first competition entry ever! He lives by the idea that there are...

There was a time when gluten-free beers tasted like, well, the leftovers at the bottom of a slop bucket used to feed hogs with. Well, maybe not that bad, but they were sort of disgusting. Then along came Grouse Malt House, that changed everything. Gluten-free malts with the same awesome flavors of regular grain malt from brown sugars and caramels to coffee and cocoa, now those with intolerance hav...

We're back! With this episode, we toss the mic around the table and talk about what we did or didn't accomplish during our 2 week hiatus. Jeff has some 411 on another method of carbing up mead, and we wrap the show with a laundry list of questions from our Facebook/Reddit friends!       Get notified when an episode is posted, join our Twitter feed @TheMeadHouse ! Iron Bee 2020 results are in! Chec...

A free for all! This episode, we go all over the map just talking mead, plus Mead Day is coming in a couple days, how are you spending yours? We'll give you an idea of how we're spending ours. Then, we do an extended Facebook Friends. Just a reminder, this is show 6 on our 6 & 2 calendar, so we'll see you in two weeks when we come back for episode 170! EDIT: Sap House Meadery mead club is $75...

This is another nugget show. There is much to say about Nathan Steigman, however, it would take several pages to explain it all. Nathan lives in the heart of mead country, Minnesota. He's a tinkerer, an experimenter, and a qualified master home mead maker. His meads, some with very unusual ingredients, are much sought after around his hometown and beyond, and if you've been lucky enough to have on...

Like many recent grads, Martin Key and Justin Schoendorf found themselves relatively poor and possessing an insatiable appetite for craft beer. As Martin and Justin learned to make new and interesting beers, they tinkered with various styles and recipes creating things that were not yet available in the market. Eventually, they stumbled upon an alcoholic drink made with fermented honey. Both Justi...

With an avid interest in archaeological and historical research he has been making mead using traditional pre-modern techniques, wild yeast and local, often foraged ingredients since 2000. With a  license in 2010 he founded the first commercial meadery in New York State, and opened the first meadery in New York City. These meads have been embraced by the natural wine community and are served at so...

Aloha! In this episode, Stephanie Krieger from Nani Moon Meadery in  Hawaii stops by the house to talk about the only meadery in the Hawaiian Islands, and a few of her amazing meads like Buzz Squared, crafted from Kona Coffee and organic local honey. With access to Hawaiian vanilla straight from the Orchid which grows wild there and some of the most unique and sought after honey's in the world lik...

There is only one man who can claim the title, Chairman of Mead. David Myers of Redstone Meadery is that man. His flagship Black Raspberry Nectar put Redstone Meadery on the map, and pretty much set the standard.  He joins us this episode for some fun and entertaining thoughts on mead making. Redstone Meadery is also one of many proud sponsors of the 2020 Iron Bee Competition. Also, the crew remin...

All the way from the UK in 2011 to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota where he makes his home, he started out as an accountant, when he got here, he became a beekeeper!  In this episode we talk with Jonathan Gardner of Gardner Bees , about melter honey, something new to the meadmaking world. If you're looking for honey that has a head start on caramelizing for a bochet or a dark grain braggot, maybe this is yo...

Another Facebook Friends episode! From continuous fermentation, bourbon bochet and elderflower mead to adding a smokey flavor, using centennial hops and no, really? Coffee meads again?! It's all here in this episode!   Iron Bee 2020 is on! It's time to register, and you must be a Mead House Keyholder to enter. It's gonna be a shindig, so don't miss it! After party dates will be announced later. Th...

Twice American Homebrewers Association Meadmaker of The Year, Steve Fletty returns to update us on what he's been brewing lately. Last here on episode 67, Steve has been trying to perfect a dry traditional mead with some brewing techniques he hopes will prove hopeful. In segment two, we turn our broadcast spotlight to one of our own, Jeff Shouse, and his early days as a student in Slovenia. You'll...

John Jacob started Old Sol Enterprises LLC in 1997 with the goals of creating and sharing sustainable farming practices with an emphasis on beekeeping and pollinators.  John’s educational background includes a BS in biology with minors in Economics and Chemistry from Southern Oregon University.   Old Sol has pioneered a bee breeding program to develop disease tolerant bees and innovative farming p...

In this episode, we talk to a pair of home brewers, Ravi & John who became brewing buddies. Ravi started his fermenting hobby on a backpack trip making prison hooch using Tang and bread yeast! He also put together an amazing creamsicle mead, and is experimenting using sourdough starter! John had  to seriously downsize from a house with a garage to brewing in an apartment. That didn't slow him...

In this episode, we talk with returning guest, Bryan Heit of Sui Generis Brewing about DIY'ing your own candi syrup. At usually between $9 - $10 per pound, sugar is sometimes priced at $.75 cents per pound, With a few additional easy to get ingredients, Bryan explains how it can be done at home. In segment 2, Ryan tells us there are thousands of kegs of beer, some from craft beer distributers, mos...

Get out your pen and paper and prepare to take notes! Ash Fishbein from Sap House Meadery is here with us again, and if you listen carefully, he'll reveal a few secrets to some successful home brewed mead! Sap House has one of the most amazing barrel  aging programs and Ash has some info for those of us looking to barrel age, and he also lets out a secret if you read between the lines regarding co...

This week, we spend the whole episode dealing with our Facebook Friends, including Reddit and other forums. This is where the crew answers questions with no formal expertise other than what we've experienced in our own brew house. Mead House welcomes listener questions and comments, if you have one, send it to info@themeadhouse.com .   Iron Bee 2020 is on! It's time to register, and you must be a...

We sent Ryan to HomeBrewCon 2017 in Minneapolis this year, and he talked to a few mead makers and fans at Club Night. It's not too late to start a holiday project, Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good time to share a nice cider, or mead made with a few holiday spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc. And can you store wort or must for any length of time? JD, Ryan and Jeff toss it around the ta...

Ryan and JD had a chance to sit down with Eric Lowe from the Texas Mead Cup , Susan Ruud of Hoppy Halloween and Andrew Adams of Orpheus Meadfest for some brief discussions on their competitions. It's not too late to get in on any one of these, so get your project packaged up and submitted!

Susan Ruud from Prairie Rose Meadery in Fargo, North Dakota joins us as Mississippi opens the show! JD, Aaron, Jeff & Ryan dig into barrel aged honey and discussions on a Chocolate Cherry mead recipe. Don’t forget to subscribe using your favorite podcast player such as Podcast Addict, or iTunes.

Chris leads a discussion about some of the finer points of fermentation starting with the yeast. Jeff takes the next segment into the world of Brettanomyces   after learning about JD’s Mars project, and finally, ever use extract flavorings in mead? Beer brewers do, JD explores the idea of replacing fruit, juice & puree with extracts. Enjoy the show and don’t forget to subscribe with your favor...

Carlos Bassetti joins us from Superstition Meadery in Prescott Arizona, and what’s that growing in one of JD’s carboys? Science session with the boys in this episode of The Mead House!

Bonus episode! 2 hours with JD, Ryan, Mississippi, Jeff and Aaron! We spent some time with Michael Sedlecek and Megan Wannarka from Worker-B  tasting 9 different honey’s; Basswood from Minnesota, Printemps from Quebec, Honeytrees from Kentucky, Autumn Gold also from Kentucky, Cranberry from Wisconsin, Eucalyptus from Tasmania, Meadowfoam from Oregon, Buckwheat from Quebec, and Carrot from Oregon.