How to Start a Meadery: How about a step-by-step?

[pain]

I was reading the Meadmakers list, and there were comments that Julia's article (on the main page of Gotmead.com if you haven't already read it) wasn't really detailed enough.

It's not. Yeah, it is fairly top level. That’s because every state has its own laws on getting licensed, and the TTB laws are just too complicated to reproduce in an article. When Julia wrote that, she was trying to give folks an idea where to start, and a top-level guideline to proceed.

I get probably 6-8 emails a month asking 'give me a step by step on how to get my meadery up and running'. The problem is, every situation is unique, and what works for say, Redstone Meadery, or White Winter Winery are not necessarily going to fit.

It comes down to this: Do the research for your state by visiting your state ABC or TTB website. Likely all the rules are right there. They are in NC, and we're not exactly an easy state to deal with. Figure out costs of licensing. Figure out costs of manufacture (this will vary depending on whether you buy new equipment vs. used equipment). What are your recipes? Think they'll get approved under your state law? Find out. What costs are involved with your recipes. If you're using Ethoipian hops, you'll have different costs than if you use blueberries.

See what I mean? There is no 'pat' answer to the question 'How do I start a Meadery'. Like any business, you need to do your homework on your local market, your state laws, and the federal requirements, vis a vis your available funds, location, etc.

I wish it were a plug-n-play situation, we'd have a lot more meaderies! I know folks want the current pros to give out chapter and verse on how they got started. But, they did all the work to figure it out for their own business, right? Should they be expected to just give that away? It likely cost them much time, and much cash to get there. If you spent 2 years and the gods only know how much money figuring out the process and getting started up, would you spend additional time giving that info out, in detail, with sales figures and start up costs, to everyone who asked? Or would you think, 'Hey, I did it, and I'll give you some pointers, but I'm not going to disclose everything I did?'.

Better, ask them if they'll consult with you, and see what they'd charge. Or contact small meaderies and wineries in your area and see if they are looking for help, and see if you can get in as an intern or apprentice. Asking them to give away all the plans, ideas and hard work they spent getting up and running is like asking a web designer to teach you how to code for free, so you can go ahead and build your own web design business. Why would they want to? They've got a business to run, and it likely eats their life, like most small businesses do. And lets face it, mead-making is a small (relatively) market right now. So, you open up, and even in a small way, you're competition. Since most meaderies in the US operate on a shoestring, and aren't exactly raking in the cash, they're understandably a bit reluctant to give away *anything* that could possibly cut into their meager profits.

Lastly, if you haven't already, get some books on starting a small business, and on starting a winery or brewery. Not the same, but you'll get lots of info that could help you flesh out your *own* business plan, and help you on the road to a successful and profitable meadery.

Oh, and don't forget to get listed on Gotmead.com and contact me to see when I'll be your way to interview you for an article on the site!!! LOL

I'm planning on expanding this into a full fledged article with links to various places for more info, etc. so watch for it (in around a month, I figure) on the main page article links.

Vicky - halfway on the Redstone Meadery site re-design

 

[Michael_Ng]

Great Summary Vicky,

I have just one other piece of advice when dealing with your local/state ABC office.

When asking for guidance from your local ABC, go to the office that services the wine-producing region in your state. They’re more likely to have done it before and will make sure you have all the paperwork you need the first time you ask. If at all possible, go in person, you’ll get much better service and attention.

Case in point, my wine distribution business:

Knowne World Meads is based out of Fairfield, CA, which is in Solano County.

Because of this, we fall under the jurisdiction of the Oakland ABC Field office.

In comparison, Napa (just over 10 miles from here) falls under the jurisdiction of the Santa Rosa ABC Field Office. (And we all know that the majority of the wine produced in California comes out of the Napa area.)

When I first started researching licensing for my business, I spent more than 2 months going back and forth with the Oakland field office trying to get the correct information.

After beating my head against the wall repeatedly, and almost subleasing space from a local paint store in a desperate move to get the needed licenses, I finally went to the Santa Rosa Field office to ask them how to do it.

In less than 30 minutes, they explained how to do everything correctly and gave me a packet with all the paperwork I might need to get my licenses. They even gave me advice on how to avoid some of the problems they’ve seen other applicants run into in their quest to get licensed. The words of the licensing supervisor I spoke to were something like "we have to deal with this 1000 times a year, Oakland has to deal with this maybe 2 times a month." ;D

I then filled out everything exactly the way that Santa Rosa told me to, and aside from my licensing officer in Oakland dragging his feet, I had no problems getting my license issued. (The paperwork sat on his desk for about 6 weeks until I started calling his manager’s boss, the director of the Oakland field office, on his personal line on a daily basis.)

In comparison, when I needed another license for my warehouse, I went to the Oakland office to get my paperwork. They didn’t give me all of my paperwork and didn’t let me know until more than 2 weeks after I applied that something was missing. I got the missing paperwork into the office the next day and it took them another 2-3 weeks to start processing it. As a result, it took me about a month longer to get my license than it should have.

Lesson learned, go to the people that deal with it every day to get your information on how to do it. File your paperwork in the local office only because you have to.

Michael

 

[Fortuna_Wolf]

Out of curiousity I thought I'd pop over to NCwine.org which is run by the NC Grape Council, apparently part of the NC Dept of Agriculture. Seems that NC is trying to encourage its wine industry (whenever I drive to Raleigh on I-40 I see several billboards for ncwine.org and local wineries).

Anyhow, on the page they have a walkthrough for the steps to take to get licensed, and information on the relevant laws and taxes.

http://www.ncwine.org/wineMaking/commercialWineryStartUp.html for a walkthrough to starting up
http://www.ncwine.org/legal.html for some legal bits,
http://www.ncwine.org/wineMaking/wineryPermits.html for what permits you'll need

So it seems that the permits will at a minimum 300-500 dollars to produce and sell to up to 3 wholesalers.
Plus application fees and bits.

And there is a 21 cent/liter tax (which amusingly goes to the NC Grape Growers Council...).

It just looks like something that you'd need a day off every week for a month to slog through the necessary applications and forms. Hell... if I had my own house/shed I bet I could start up for under a thousand dollars. I will be able to give free tastings and sell mead on the premise even in a dry county, and can have up to three off premise retail outlets (must be in a wet county).

They don't give any info on labeling mead though.

Edit:
I noticed that the tax was 21c/L for unfortified wine and 24c/L for fortified wine. The page says that 17% ABV and under is unfortified and above is fortified. We know that yeast can push a mead up to 22% ABV if we coddle it enough (although it might not be drinkable). Would this be considered a fortified wine and be illegal to make in NC?

And to see what I could find I googled unfortified wine and the first page that came up was http://www.ncabc.com/product/approval.aspx?type=unfortified
What serendipity, its a page on NC's ABC wine label regulations!

Edit again:
Seems that GS 18B-101 (15) says (I quote) Unfortified Wine means any wine of sixteen percent (16%) or less alcohol by volume, made by fermentation from grapes, fruits, berries, rice, or honey; or by the addition of pure cane, beet, or dextrose sugar; or by the addition of pure brandy from the same type of grape, fruit, berry, rice, or honey that is contained in the base wine and produced in accordance with the regulations of the United States.
A malt beverage however can only be 6% ABV maximum... so, I wonder if a malt beverage produced with more than that could be considered a wine (as the grains are technically berries).
But, 16% or 17% ABV for the unfortified cutoff?

The system NC has in place is three tired so that the unforitifed winery permit will cost 300 dollars and allow you to produce mead to sell to a wholesaler. You can also get a wholesaler's permit which is another 300, and that can sell directly to a retailer. So if I wanted to produce mead and sell to a retailer I'd need both permits.

Ok, I am TIRED, so now I'm heading to sleep

 

[jab]

I noticed that the tax was 21c/L for unfortified wine and 24c/L for fortified wine. The page says that 17% ABV and under is unfortified and above is fortified.

See, this is the kind of thing that the IMA is hoping to lobby congress (I know that doesn't necessarily help with individual state laws) to try and fix. Mead is a monster of it's own. Classifying it according to guidelines for beer and/or wine will generally put mead makers at a disadvantage.

Of course I won't go into the fact that determining whether a drink is 'fortified' or not based solely on ABV means that there are is a group of people in NC that are in charge of these regulations who have no clue what they are talking about. But then again, I guess that isn't much different than any other gov't agency or body.

-jb

 

[Dagda]

Found this. Thought it could help.

http://www.southernillinois.biz/downloads/wineryworkbook.pdf

You might have to change, add, or omit some stuff, but its a place to start a business plan.