In this episode, we wrap up the soda mead challenge. You’ll hear from the guys who helped kick off this competition. We’ll discuss the three winning soda meads from the 2016 Texas Mead Cup.
*** It should be noted in the photo above, this does not denote that Allen (left) or Tysen (right) won a medal. Rather, we host the winners in the episode and just wanted a fancy bee medal for the show notes.
Join us in Episode 48 for a discussion about Tej (pronounced tedge), the honey wine from Ethiopia. Tej is one of the oldest traditional honey wines still made today, and carries with it a history you’ll want to hear about. We’ve brought on conservationist and meadmaker Ayele Solomon from Bee D’Vine meadery to discuss Tej, what makes it different from other metheglins, how its made, beekeeping in Ethiopia, and what makes mead the most sustainable beverage in the world.
We welcome Sergio Moutela back on the Meadcast for Episode 47 to discuss his updates to the Tailored Organic Staggered Nutrient Addition (TOSNA) protocol. We jump right into the changes that come with TOSNA 2.0, so be sure to check out our initial discussion on yeast nutrients and why going all organic works in Episode 22 (our most downloaded episode to date!).
Allen: Honey Wine with Raspberries (Fringe Meadery)
Tysen: Hot for Teacher, a jalapeno cyser (Melovino Meadery)
Sergio Moutela: Sour Mead, a yet to be released draft sour mead created by happenstance (Melovino Meadery)
The TOSNA 2.0 Protocol
Without having to go into all of the nitty gritty details of the protocol, Allen made his deadline and did in fact build a calculator. You provide the necessary inputs (batch size, starting sugars (in Brix or SG), and nutrient requirement). We’ll crunch the numbers and give you a tailored protocol to follow in your next batch. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Congratulations again to the #SodaMead #MeadChallenge winners! Pavel Anisimov wins gold again (he crushed the 2016 Mazer Cup), followed by Josh Smith in second and Dan Daugherty, CiderSage and winner of the Episode 19 Cyser Challenge, wraps up the medals in third.
We welcome Bruce Leslie back on the show for a spotlight episode on Griffin Meadery. Tune in to hear some more about why you should check out Texas Mead, especially from Willis. Don’t forget the Texas Mead Fest is this weekend, September 24! Mini Meadmakr’s first birthday bash is keeping us from the trip, but we’ll be sure to follow the Texas Mead Cup results to see who won the Soda Mead Mead Challenge!
In episode 45 of the Meadcast we welcome Shannon on the show to share his latest BOMM recipe. Recall that we spoke with Bray Denard in episode 27 about his Bray’s One Month Mead recipe that has taken on a life of its own in online mead circles. Shannon recounts his experience with making BOMMs and walks us through a tasting of his own.
We welcome Ash Fishbein from Saphouse Meadery onto the show to discuss using plastic fermenters to make your mead. This might be geared a bit towards larger scale production in plastic (think greater than 20 gallon fermenters but peaking at 55 gallon barrels if you don’t have temperature control), but there are plenty of takeaways for the hobbyist as well. And be sure to check out the mead offerings of Saphouse! A lot of creativity, a lot of flavor, and just some all around great mead.
Join us in Episode 43 of the Meadcast to learn about the 5th Annual Texas Mead Fest. The Texas Mead Association started as a couple meaderies looking to pool their resources and improve the mead industry of Texas. Today it sports six members, and their annual Mead Fest is one of the largest public mead gatherings in the US. Listen in as Bruce Leslie, President of the Texas Mead Association, walks us through the reasons you should make the trip to Texas on Sept 24, 2016.
Join us in Episode 42 of the Meadcast to learn more about the meads we are making for the #SodaMead #MeadChallenge. We also have some tips from The Colony Meadery concerning how to make A Good Sarsaparilla.
We welcome Greg and Mike from The Colony Meadery in Allentown,PA to discuss how they make meads “burst with flavor.” It’s a pretty bold assertion, meads bursting with flavor, but their product stands up to the description. Learn how they do it in episode 41 of the Meadcast, where Mike shares his tips to make great meads and Greg talks up the business and where Colony is going from here.
Are you a hot spice fanatic looking for something new to try? Be sure to check out Orchid Cellar in Middletown, MD for a tour of some of the world’s hottest peppers in capsumel form (I hear they even ship!). And don’t forget to tune in to episode 40 where we taste five of their offerings. We’ll start small with some run of the mill (in terms of spiciness) chili peppers, graduate to the former hottest pepper champs in ghost and scorpion peppers, and culminate with a mead made from 2016’s hottest pepper, the Carolina Reaper. Orchid Cellar is a fantastic trip for the whole family. Don’t just take our word for it, join them July 2, 2016 at the Grand Opening of their new tasting room.
