vikingalchemist

4-12-2016 – 9PM EST – Viking Alchemist Meadery – Like and share!

Viking Alchemist Meadery actually happened as sort of a surprise, when Robin’s son said ‘lets start a meadery’, and his wife did the research and found that the craft beverage industry was going nuts. So they dove in headfirst, weathered nearly a year of permit hell, and opened up just a month ago.

Viking Alchemist is Georgia’s second meadery, and has a couple melomels all ready to go, a peach and and a blueberry. More mead!!

Join us to talk mead with Robin and Company, and learn more about what they’re up to, and where you can get their mead!

This week on ‘Making Good Mead – Back to Basics’ with AJ, Manny and Ryan, we’re looking at good habits. If you start out with good mead-making habits, then making good mead becomes a lot easier.

Bring your questions and your mead, and let’s talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you’re a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow.


This player will show the most recent show, and when we’re live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don’t get feedback.


What we were drinking:

  • AJ – Chateau Chevette spiced apple cider
  • Vicky – Red Branch Cider – Lemonade
  • Robin – Transmutation – cranberry pre-fermentation, gets better with age

Show links and notes:

An outline of good habits includes:

  • Sanitation!
  • Removing labels
  • Caps
    • Crown caps that fit champagne bottles (Yasssss!). You will want a capper that fits the larger caps. This one does regular and larger caps, and also wine corks!!
  • Taking Notes
    • Track:
      • Ingredients
      • Yeast type and amount pitched
      • Adjuncts (such as acids, clearing agents, etc.)
      • Dates and times
        • Pitch date/time
        • First break (when it foams)
        • The ‘thirds’ – divide your hydrometer reading between where you start and 1.00 and those are your thirds, and where you generally will feed the yeast and change frequency of stirring and/or degassing.
      • Don’t do math as a beginner, use a proven recipe where the math is done for you when you’re starting out
  • Before you start!
    • get things set up before you start (including researching and asking questions about your ingredients)

Upcoming events:

Thursday April 14: 111 Bistro 2736 Medina Road, Medina, OH  is holding a five-course B United International Beer Dinner at 6:30 p.m. • Hitachino White Ale (Japan) with spicy Ahi tuna roll.

  • Baladin-Nora Spiced Beer (Italy) with spicy braised lamb shanks, cous cous arancini, date gastrique.
  • Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen – rauch/smoked bier (Germany) with barbecued spare rubs, Yukon potato salad.
  • Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien – Bier de Garden, strong pale ale, (Switzerland) with cocoa cherry duck wings.
  • Vikings Blod Meade/Honey Wine (Denmark) with orange spice cake, honey ice cream, hibiscus crème, caramel lace.

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April 20 and April 27: Mead Mixology Mixer at the Atomic Fern in Durham, NC (my neck of the woods!) on April 20 and April 27, from 6-8PM. The Atomic Fern 108 E Parrish St, Durham, North Carolina 27701. Come sample some new mixed drinks made with five different Honeygirl meads, and vote for your favorite. The winning drink will go on the drink menu at Atomic Fern. $10 for five drink samples and one vote, per night. Voting will occur on both nights and the winner will be announced on 4/27.

For this event, we teamed up with some local mixologists to create seasonal cocktails with Honeygirl meads.

NOTE: Vicky Rowe, owner of GotMead.com will be at this event on April 20!

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April 28: Vahseer Meadery is having their grand opening on Thursday, April 28 @ 11AM at their location in Altavista, VA. This is an invitation only event, and it is being keynoted by the Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture. Visit vahseer.com to inquire about obtaining an invite, There will be tastings going on, a great chance to check out a new meadery!

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April 30: Mead Free or Die is April 30. This is one of the biggest mead competitions in the country, and a definite must do for any mead maker or professional meadery who wants to compete to attend. Check them out at meadfreeordie.com

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May 20-21:

UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center
Honey Sensory Experience – May 20-21
Two days featuring a survey of nature’s perfect sweet!
Taste Honeys from across the Globe!

The essential course for the professional buyer, importer, category manager, producer, packer or anyone who wants to gain expertise in the arena of honey analysis. Over two days, expert teachers will guide participants through a unique tasting and educational odyssey.

http://honey.ucdavis.edu/events/honey-sensory-experience

 

Vicky Rowe
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