6-30-26 Tonight we’re getting together with Glenn Lavender, owner and meadmaker at Silver Hand Meadery in Williamsburg, VA.
Glenn Lavender is a musician, mead maker, entrepreneur, and educator who founded Silver Hand Meadery in Williamsburg, Virginia, now in its 11th year.
His journey into mead began in an unexpected place: on the road as a touring musician and in the pages of homesteading and historical fiction books, where a curiosity about honey bees and mead grew into a passion for varietal honey, fermentation, and the ancient craft of mead.
Through Silver Hand Meadery, Glenn has built one of Virginia’s most recognized mead brands, with a mead club of more than 800 members, distribution throughout Virginia including Virginia ABC and Total Wine, and private-label projects for historic institutions such as Colonial Williamsburg and Monticello. The meadery’s tasting room and educational space has introduced thousands of people to the diversity of honey, the magic of the honey bee, and the creativity of modern mead making. Silver Hand has recently expanded beyond mead into cider production, continuing its commitment to crafting distinctive fermented beverages.
An advocate for mead education and industry growth, Glenn played a pivotal role in helping create the Virginia Mead Trail, supporting the visibility and success of mead producers across the Commonwealth. He has also been a featured speaker at the American Wine Society National Conference (2025) and the North Carolina Winegrowers Association Conference (2026), helping introduce new audiences to mead and its place within the broader world of wine and fermentation. In May 2026, Silver Hand Meadery’s mead was served on the Today Show, bringing national attention to America’s oldest fermented beverage. Glenn’s passion for varietal honey and terroir continues to shape Silver Hand’s approach to mead making and education.
A lifelong musician, Glenn continues to connect his passions for music, hospitality, and community through Silver Hand Meadery, which has become Williamsburg’s home for jazz, hosting regular performances that bring together local musicians and audiences. Whether discussing honey varieties, fermentation, entrepreneurship, or the future of American mead, Glenn’s goal remains the same: helping people discover something worth savoring.
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Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees. If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can send us a question via email, join to ask a question on the show, or via X @realGotMead and we’ll tackle it online! The show runs from 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) for about 2 hours every other Tuesday starting Jan 13, 2026.
To join live, you can use this link, and here are instructions on how to join in. Once you enter the waiting room, we get a notification and will bring you in!
Upcoming Shows
Show links and notes
- Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff
- The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff
- Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff
Upcoming Events
- July 2 – DiFrancesco Meadery, Wrightsville, PA – Mead & Meditation
- July 2 – Valhalla Meadery, Bozeman, MT – Meadery Jam
- July 2 – Dancing Skeleton Meadery, Sapulpa, OK – Harry Potter Trivia
- July 3 – Bumbling Fools Mead, Minneapolis, MN – Dungeons & Dragons One-Shot Adventure
- July 3 – Vinland Meads, Murchison, TX – Sarah Jills Birthday Bash
- July 4 – Adventures Await Retreat & Meadery, Houston, DE – Mead Tasting
- July 4 – Colony Meadery, Bethlehem, PA – Smooth Retsina Glow live music]
- July 7 – Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN – Writer’s Night & Open Mic – presented by Music City Movement
- July 8 – Crafted Artisan Meadery, Mogadore, OH – Ladies BrewGroup
- July 10 – Bløm Mead + Cider, Ann Arbor, MI – Mead & Cider & Candle Making
- July 11 – Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI – Drink Mead, Learn Things: Cornish Folklore: From Cornwall to Michigan
- July 12 – Clear Skies Meadery, Rockville, MD – Acoustic Jam
- July 12 – MoonJoy Meadery, Lenoir, NC – Make a mystical dusting besom!
- July 12 – Brimming Horn Meadery, Milton, DE – Mead Merchants & Music
- July 12 – Mead People 716, Hamburg, NY – Tai Chi & Mead
- July 15 – Mead Hall, St. Charles, MO – Acoustic Jam
- July 16 – Nucleus Mead, Linesville, PA – Mead & Read
- July 16 – Dancing Skeleton Meadery, Sapulpa, OK – Fiber Crafts Evening
- July 18 – Hex Meadery, Kaukauna, WI – Sparkle and Sip – artisan jewelry
- July 24 – Manic Meadery, Crown Point, IN – Paint & Drink: Espresso with a Bow
- July 25 – B. Nektar, Ferndale, MI – Mead for Mutts: A Toast to Survivors – A Fundraiser for Bark Nation
- July 25 – Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co, Caldicot, UK – July party: Borderlines + Tandoori G live music and custom food
You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com
She is also an experienced marketing coach and consultant who has recently decided to focus her marketing expertise exclusively on the craft beverage market to help meaderies, cideries, breweries and distilleries expand their business and get more customers while doing what they love.