Toggle sidebar

Finally

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
J

johnnymax

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 17, 2008
50
1
0
63
www.crazymead.com
Well, it has been a long run with a lot of red tape and crazy limitation to my licensing (because I am in a dry county in Texas), but we will start our first mead fermenting this week.
I need to find a new location for our meadery in a wet area to get away from the restrictions, but for now we are going to start fermenting.

I need to update our website, because it still says we are waiting on licensing.

Anyway... WooHoooo!
Just had to post a yell here!
Oh, BTW I started the process almost 2 years ago!
Just don't get in a hurry and keep plugging away...
I think we have the smallest meadery registerd in the United States of America.
It is in a space that is about 7'x14' total and we have a 90 gal glycol jacketed conical fermenter in there. LOL

Any way I am just excited and had to post...
Johnny MAX
 
Congratulations!! This is wonderful news.

So what are you going to ferment first? A traditional? A Mel? Have you decided? What is the official name of your meadery?
 
Well, the problem I have being in a dry area is that to ferment aclohol 50% of the fermentables by volume have to be from fruits and or grapes grown in Texas. It does not include honey produced in Texas. I need to talk to my represenative and see how to go about getting honey added, so..... I can't even produce a standard mead yet. I am looking for a property in a wet area, but I really want the meadery at home. I am located in Southeast Texas between Vidor and Evadale in the country. The meadery is called the "CrAzY Mead Co." I need to finish up the website CrAzYMead.com.

Our first mead will be a spiced cyser. I just bought 200 lbs of Texas grown Gala apples (peeling, coring and slicing in all my spare time). You know one good thing about the way the law is written, it says 50% by volume, so 10 gallons of honey and 10 gallons of apple juice, LOL the alcohol will almost all be from the honey.

We are going to add the spices to each bottle before we add the cyser and the cycer will be back sweetened with honey and apple juice. Anyway, I am excite to finally be able to start paying taxes on alcohol I make. I am not going to use my 90 gallon stainless conical fermenter just yet. I don't want to spend over a thousand bucks on a batch of mead until I go through the process in the meadery a few time with 10 gallon batches.

Night all,
Johnny MAX
 
johnnymax said:
Well, the problem I have being in a dry area is that to ferment aclohol 50% of the fermentables by volume have to be from fruits and or grapes grown in Texas.
Click to expand...

That could be to your advantage, since business models for similar beverage bars (soju, coffee, tea, etc.) stress variety as the key to their success. It makes the product more accessable to the consumer. I'm imagining seasonal local fruit melomels galore, like melon, mango, coconut, etc. Sustainable businesses that support local farmers are very stylish these days.

That's okay about the mead wench gig: I don't know if I'd be up for that kind of a commute. If you start something a little closer to Houston, holler and I'll send you a resume. Just tell the little lady I'm safe -- I'm single on purpose, afterall.
 
Ya'll are funny.
We are starting very small and going to slowly ferment more and more (we hope) and expand production by the aid of automated equipment. All by hand now of course. We don't want to have to have employees, because of all the red tape and taxes you have to pay just to have an employee. Been there done that and it is crazy how much you pay federally and state to have employees. My wife owned a florist for years and towards the end her employees made more on minimum wage that she did, because she was taxed to death. Sorry, I better stop before I take this too far off topic.
Anyway, we want to run a Mom & Pop, or should I say a Maw & Paw Meader here in Southeast Texas.

Johnny Max
 
Awesome!
Congratulations to you both!

Here's looking forward to some more great commercial mead!

Eric
 
I need to clear out my schedule, I am running behind, Got the yeast in and the nutrients and other clearifiers etc, but We are recording 4 podcasts today and streaming two live. It will be hard to get the Med fermenting, but hopefully this evening after I finish show prep and get the fermenter cleaned up. I decided to up the sive of the batch and go ahead and ferment our first batch in our 90 gal conical fermenter. It was given to my by the homebrew club buy NASA in Texas called the Bay Area Mashtronuaghts (BAM) so I named the ferrmenter BAM-BAM
I hope Bam-Bam is going to be happily fermenting away today.
:-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom