“Beginner’s Introduction to Mead Making” is the most recent mead short course from the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, UC Davis. The course was developed for anyone interested in mead to explore the history and recent resurgence of the beverage. The workshop includes lectures and hands on experience to taste, learn the styles, select ingredients and review steps to making good mead.
The center has been working with mead makers from across the United States to offer annual courses that cater to both home crafters and commercial producers.
Instructors include:
Chik Brenneman – Winemaker and Manager, LEED Platinum Teaching & Research Winery, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis, CA
Petar Bakulic – President, Mazer Cup International Mead Competition
Michael Fairbrother – Proprietor, Moonlight Meadery, Londonderry, NH
Mike Faul – Proprietor, Rabbit’s Foot Meadery, Sunnyvale, CA
Amina Harris – Director, Honey and Pollination Center, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, UC Davis, CA
Ken Schramm – Author The Compleat Meadmaker, and Proprietor, Schamm’s Mead, Ferndale, MI
Elina Lastro Niño – Apiculture Extention and Research, Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, CA
The center has been working with individual mead makers, the American Mead Makers Association, the Mazer Cup and GotMead.com for more than two years to meet the needs of both the craft and professional mead makers. To further this effort, the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Honey and Pollination Center have submitted a grant to the National Honey Board to investigate paths to a successful mead fermentation.
The spring course will offer two days of detailed information about fermentation and yeast selection, chemistry, ingredient selection, sensory expectations and working with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. There will be an additional day devoted to the business of designing and running a Meadery including information on finances and distribution.
This course – aimed at the beginner who wants to know more – is the first in a series being developed by faculty in the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Honey and Pollination Center. We plan to offer a more advanced course in spring, 2016, targeted to those who have recently started meaderies and those who have been making mead for several years.
– Amina Harris, Director of the Honey and Pollination Center
Date: Friday, November 13, 2015 – Saturday, November 14, 2015
Fee (Including a $25 material fee):
$500 (Early Registration)
$575 (After September 1st)
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