National Mead Day

On August 2nd, Alternative Beverage / Homebrew Adventures will host the Carolina Brewmasters and the Gaston County Beekeepers Association in a celebration of Mead.

This is the tentative schedule of the days proceedings:

9:00 Set up the tents & displays. Start the cooker. Open the warehouse. Arrive early and help us set up. Thanks.
10:00 Welcome by Jess
10:00 - 10:30 A tribute bees and beekeeping (30 minutes) given by Cliff Mullis, a member of the Gaston County Beekeepers.
10:30 - 11:00 Information about mead making varieties, honey varieties and a short how to session.
11:00 - Kevin Martin & Gary Cathey make their batch of mead
12:00 - 1:00 lunch - Food will be furnished by Alternative Beverages but will be accepting donations that will go to a local charity. Everyone is encouraged to bring a covered dish, chips or soft drinks.
1:00 - 1:30 serve samples of different mead varieties commercial and homemade
1:30 Group Mead participants will make up their batch of mead
1:30 willing individuals will be taken on a tour of my bee yard
the day winds down.
 

Attendees are encouraged to bring: chairs, sodas, covered dishes such as baked beans, potato salad, slaw, chips and picnic foods.

Mead makers are encouraged to bring some samples of their homemade meads and any commercial meads they can share.  Homebrewers, feel free to bring a few homebrews.

We would like beekeepers to bring their suites or veils and gloves (if they are willing to allow the use by others to get a close look at a working hive).

Alternative Beverage will supply cooker, food, paper plates, napkins, plastic ware, ice, water, tables, tents, posters on beekeeping & what ever is needed.

About 1:30 PM we will do a Group Mead where individuals can brew a 3 gallon Mead.

3.5 Gallon Batch
ingredients price

9 lbs Honey  (discounted 20%)

options of:
Clover-Orange Blossom-Star Thistle-Wild Flower

 32.04

Yeast Nutrient and/or Yeast Energizer

 .50

D47 Yeast for people that want a sweet mead

 .85

K1V-1116 Yeast for people that want a semi-sweet to drier mead


Participants in the mead making batch can buy anything they need to brew the batch of mead. They can also bring anything they already have including honey and equipment.

Equipment Needed

3.5 gallon Plastic Fermenter & Grometed Lid
5-6-6.5 gallon Carboy can be used

9.44

Airlock

 1.05

Hydrometer
Free use at during this event

 6.65

The equipment needed can be a 5 - 6 - 6.5 glass carboy which will be more than adequate size to accommodate the fermentation cap. If you bring a carboy, don't forget to bring a stopper to transport the mead to prevent spillage.

Participants will take their meads home where they can oversee the fermentation process. We will encourage them to call with any questions during the following weeks and months. Participants will be encouraged to bring their bottled meads to next years 2009 National Mead Day event for tasting and evaluation.

It should be a fun day with a lot of learning about mead making and meads and beekeeping.

We would like you give us will need us a RSVP if possible so we plan on food allocations.

You can sign up for the Group Mead in advance but you can participate even without advance notice.

Check out the website at www.carolinabrewmasters.com for more info and get directions here.

Honey Varieties that will be on hand

Clover

Orange Blossom

Star Thistle

Wild Flower

A variety of commercial Meads will be sampled

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