He began making mead 2 years ago, with immediate success, winning 2nd place for fruit mead at the 2018 AHA Nationals. He's won several Best of Shows for Beer, Cider and Mead during the past 9 years. I also make Vinifera wines from California and Washington state grapes. I find this hobby to be an ideal blend of creativity, science and process for my interests. In addition, I have the dubious “honor” of being one of the organizers for Valkyries Horn Mead Competition Kevin Meintsma is our guest this episode.

Home meadmaker Paul Johnson joins us at the house this episode. While sipping on a Rhubarb mead, he shares his thoughts and sticks around for the whole show! Jeff is wearing his lab coat again, he's been experimenting with pasteurization, and we lightly touch on alternative fermentations. Paul helps us out on a couple Facebook Friends, and locks the gate on our way out after wrapping the show.

Outside there lies a great opportunity to go back a few thousand years and follow the footsteps of the great hunter-gatherers that came before us and gather up ingredients to make a mead. Well, maybe not everything, but certainly the one component you need to kick it off…yeast. Our guest

Brian Hart is our guest this episode, his smoked tea mead showed up and Valkyries Horn this year, and we want to know more! Along with his smoked tea, he's also done a carrot mead, and has a peach habanero mead carbinating right now. Fitting right into JD's world, he also enjoys good Bourbons, Scotches and whiskies.

Do you know what a Jackfruit is? Does anyone? Better yet, has anyone ever made a mead from a Jackfruit? Well, we found a guy who does. Meet Joe Leigh. A software architect by trade got hooked on mead while attending a beer share event, the mead? Ken Schramm's Black Agnes. he started collecting and trading up, looking for the best meads, and in 2017, started adding yeast to water and honey.

More from Valkyries Horn with rules and things others say you must do...or do you? Plus, mead fails, we've all had them, for some it's been a determining factor, we'll give you our two cents on it. Then, a trip around the table for "What's in the hopper,"  with projects from the crew. JD, Jeff and Ryan came back with some inspirations from Valkyries Horn, we'll talk about a few of them as well.

Valkyries Horn has come and gone, but we're not done with it yet! In this episode, we discuss the event, the after parties and the most amazing meads ever brewed by home mead makers. The first annual Valkyries Horn was a great success, over 300 entries, 2 days of judging and some ingenious and inspirational recipes washed over the taste buds of those who were lucky enough to try some.

At 14 years old, listener William Dial was able to join a Living History group out of the University of Maryland called Markland. They would reenact the culture and battles of the Viking, Saxon and Norman period. During this time, he would learn about the culture and the people of the time and this gave him resources to explore even more. It was just a matter of time before William would learn about Mead.

Knowing the difference between cleaning and sanitizing is one of the basic fundamentals of brewing. Preventing off flavors from forming, keeping unwanted bacteria out, and making sure your equipment is properly cleaned and cared for is essential to keep consistency in your brew house. Jonathan Ettlie from Craft Meister National Chemical  joins us this episode in an in depth conversation about cleaning and sanitizing. If you have questions, Jonathan says to email him at Craft Meister.

Mead House Keyholder and home meadmaker Michael Trainer visits the House. On December 29, 2017 this biker and fan of all things fermented pitched yeast on his first home brew ever and his love of mead making was born. In a few days he had started 4 more batches and by the end of 2018 had made 20 different meads totaling about 75 gallons and is on track to almost double that in 2019 if he can manage to stay off his motorcycle for more than a week.