1-27-26 Tonight we’re talking with Ryan Carlson again. He had a lot of information, and we just ran out of time last time!
Ryan is a Colorado mead maker who has been making mead for quite a while. Those of you who have listened to the early GML episodes may remember him. He has been quiet publicly for a few years, dealing with personal things, but during that quiet time, he’s also been doing a lot of learning and experimentation to deepen his mead making expertise.
I'll just let Ryan tell you himself:
Hi, my name is Ryan. Some of you will know me from the mead world going back a long way. Some of you won’t know me at all — and that’s just fine.
I was very active in mead for many years, right up until around 2020. Then life hit hard. Multiple things at once. Survival mode. For about five years I was mostly just circling the drain and trying to stay upright. Things are finally closer to normal now, and I guess you could say I’m back in the saddle.
I’ve been a successful meadmaker for a long time. I’m a certified judge. I’ve taught hundreds of people — maybe more — how to make good mead. I love teaching, but I’m picky about it. I only teach what I’ve lived. I only teach what I can prove. If someone wants receipts, I can bury Mount Rushmore with them.
I also teach mead in a way most people have never experienced. From here forward, I’ll be approaching things a little differently. We’re going to “get small.” We’re going to pretend we’re a single-celled yeast and jump down inside Mead City. We’ll look at fermentation from the inside of the vessel outward and change our perspective completely.
Mead is going to do what mead does. Yeast is going to do what yeast does. When we actually understand the science and biology, our job isn’t control — it’s assistance. We learn when the window opens, and when it does, we can hand the yeast exactly what they need so they can do the job they were already built to do.
Most of the time, when people don’t understand what’s happening, they get in the way. They step on the yeast without realizing it. They try to force outcomes that biology simply doesn’t allow, and they miss the chance to co-create.
My goal is to help raise everyone’s bar by changing perspective first, then layering in real science and real biology — not folklore, not wives’ tales, and not parroted bad science.
If you want to understand mead well enough that you don’t have to beg for recipes anymore — recipes that often produce mediocre results at best — then this is a good place to sit down with us and learn the craft the way it’s actually lived.
To listen live, you can find us on Youtube, Twitch, X (Twitter), and Facebook on the Gotmead Page. On our new platform, chat is part of the podcast! Just comment from wherever you are watching, and we'll see it!! If you'd like to call in, we can get you a link to come on!
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/meadwench
YouTube: YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@Gotmead
X(Twitter): https://x.com/RealGotMead
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GotMead
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GotMead
JOIN CHAT ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/zEKNujQTtM
Listen in! This player will show the latest episode:
Sponsor:
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.
Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online!
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
Feb 10 - Roger Wanner - W A Meadwerks - New York
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
Jan 29 - Valhalla Meadery, Bozeman, MT - Live Music by Bozeman Area String Jams
Jan 29 - Bardic Wells Medery, Montague, MI - Henna Party by Bohemian Awakenings
Jan 29 - Dancing Skeleton Meadery, Sepulpa, OK - Karaoke Night
Jan 30 - Manic Meadery, Crown Point, IN - Paint and Drink: First Snowflake
Jan 31 - St. Ambrose Meadery, Beulah, MI - Barefoot Music party
Feb 5 - Dancing Skeleton Meadery, Sapulpa, OK - Trivia Night
Feb 6 - Red’s on 7th, Delavan, WI - Meads and Masterpiece - mead tasting and wine glass painting
Feb 6 - Manic Meadery, Crown Point, IN - Grown Up Book Fair
Feb 6 - Chubby Cheeks Meadery, Temecula, CA - Halo Mega Bowl LAN party
Feb 8 - Clear Skies Meadery, Rockville, MD - Acoustic Jam with Mike Rocke
Feb 8 - Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff, AZ - Beeswa Candle Making Valentine Workshop
Feb 13 - Starrlight Meadery at the Honeysuckle Tea House, Chapel Hill, NC - Valentines Mead Tasting
Feb 13 - Clear Skies Meadery, Rockville, MD - Make Your Own Mosaic Heart
Feb 13 - Hex Meadery, Kaukauna, WI - Anniversary Party
Feb 13 - Manic Meadery, Crown Point, IN - Paint and Drink: Valentine Animal
Feb 14 - Bee Immortal Mead, Round Rock, TX - Valentines Mead Workshop
Feb 14 - Southern Origin Meadery, Canon, GA - Couples Painting Each Other (Tiktok trend)
Feb 18 - Lancashire Mead Company at the Jorvik Viking Centre, York, UK - Mead Tasting event
Feb 19 - Dancing Skeleton Meadery, Sepulpa, OK - Fiber Crafting
Feb 21 - Monks Meadery, Atlanta, GA - Exhibition Armored Combat
Feb 28 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Anatomy of a Killer: When Doctors Become Predators
Mar 20-21 Valkyrie’s Horn Mead Competition, Minneapolis, MN - entries open!
Mar 28 - Zymarium Meadery, Orlando, FL - Bonsai and Cheers with L&J Nursery
Mar 28 - Folklore Brewing and Meadery, Dothan, AL - Dothan Songwriters Festival
April 11 - Mershon’s Artisan Cider, Stoughton, WI - Wisconsin Cider and Mead Festival
You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com
