Thursday, March 15

We have included a menu listing the items from the 2018 MeadCon for your Convenience.

Daily Program-at-a-Glance

Time	Event	Location
7:30 am – noon	Registration	Centennial Foyer
8:30 am – 5:00 pm	Exhibitors	Centennial Foyer
Morning	8:30 am – 12:30 pm
8:30 am – 9:30 am	Bochet – The methods and effects of caramelizing honey for mead Matthew Weide	Centennial E
8:30 am – 9:30 am	Mead Clubs and Compliantly Expanding Direct to Consumer Sales across the United States Theresa Dorr	Centennial F
9:30 am – 11:30 am	Honey Varietal & Mead Tasting Plus Honey Industry Topics Evan Himes	Private Dining Room
9:30 am – 10:00 am	Coffee break and trade show	Centennial Foyer
10:00 am – 11:00 am	Influence of Fermentation Temperature and Nutrient Addition Protocols on Sensory and Chemical Characteristics of Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead Jack Twilley	Centennial E
10:00 am – 11:00 am	Know Your Why: Building A Meadery With Purpose Ash Fishbein Matt Trahan	Centennial F
11:00 am – 12:00 pm	Mead Tools and Techniques – Barrels vs oak strips/chips/spirals Adam Crockett	Centennial E
11:00 am – 12:00 pm	Scaling Production from Small Batches to a Large Facility Jared Ro Bear and Kate Nicolai	Centennial F
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm	Lunch on your own
Afternoon	1:00 pm – 7:00 pm
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm	Different Fruit Addition Techniques for Mead Carvin Wilson	Centennial E
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm	Meadery Tasting Rooms – To Bee or Not to Bee Becky Starr	Centennial F
1:30 pm -3:30 pm	Mead Making: Best Practices – a Panel Discussion Carvin Wilson, Sergio Moutela, Bob Slanzi	Private Dining Room
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm	Refreshment Break and Trade Show	Centennial Foyer
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm	Beginning Beekeeping: Your First Year Tom Repas	Centennial E
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm	Rules on Mead in the European Union Florian Laufenstein	Centennial F
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm	Refreshment Break and Trade Show	Centennial Foyer
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm	All about Sulfites (and Sorbate) Tom Repas	Centennial E
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm	Panel Discussion – Starting/Opening a Meadery Alex Gonzales, Daniel Bauer, Billy Beltz, Sergio Moutela	Centennial F

7:30 am – noon

Registration

Centennial Foyer

Bochet – The methods and effects of caramelizing honey for mead

Presenter: Matthew Weide, VP Minnesota Home Brewers Association

8:30 am – 9:30 am

Home Track

Centennial E

We will discuss the methods of caramelizing honey for meads. The pros and cons for the different methods along with how it will change the end product. We will also cover how caramelizing honey can differ depending on the contents of the honey. How caramelizing honey will effect fermentation and the flavor components in the mead. We will end with thoughts on recipe formulation and tips and tricks to keep the brew day safe and problem free. Several different candied honey and bochet samples will be available for a sensory discussion during the presentation.

Mead Clubs and Compliantly Expanding Direct to Consumer Sales across the United States

Presenter: Theresa Dorr, Vinoshipper.com

8:30 am – 9:30 am

Pro Track

Centennial F

Mead Clubs: Best Practices for building and growing profitable mead clubs which are easily managed and generate recurring revenue to help you grow your business. With 18+ years in our industry I will highlight the best practices for designing your club program, unique benefits that don’t cut into your profits, and considerations for managing your club releases. Direct to Consumer Regulatory Compliance Made Affordable and Easy: Sharing the key that compliantly unlocks direct to consumer sales to many states.

Honey Varietal & Mead Tasting Plus Honey Industry Topics

Presenter: Evan Himes, Dutch Gold Honey

9:30 am – 11:30 am

Home Track

Centennial E

Evan will be presenting several varietal honeys and offering tasting and discussion of these flavors, then presenting varietal traditional meads made from these honeys for comparison.

Clover, Orange Blossom, Mesquite, and Avocado honey varietals will be presented for tasting and discussion alongside traditional meads fermented from the honeys. Related honey industry topics include sourcing, processing, packaging, and labeling with time for Q&A.

9:30 am – 10:00 pm

Coffee Break

Centennial Foyer

Influence of Fermentation Temperature and Nutrient Addition Protocols on Sensory and Chemical Characteristics of Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead

Presenter: Jack Twilley, Oregon State University

10:00 am – 11:00 am

Home Track

Centennial E

Ask any well-regarded mead-maker for tips on making better mead, and the odds are you will hear two suggestions: “control fermentation temperature” and “feed the yeast”. The research I conducted for my master’s thesis focused on these two topics and their influence on the resulting mead. Fermentation occurred under controlled conditions at several different temperatures, and four different nutrient addition protocols were tested. Chemical composition was determined using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and sensory panels were conducted with trained panelists. In this seminar I will discuss what inspired me to work in this field, how the research project was designed and conducted, the results of the research, and what I learned along the way.

Know Your Why: Building A Meadery With Purpose

Presenters: Ash Fishbein, Sap House Meadery, Matt Trahan, Sap House Meadery

10:00 am – 11:00 am

Pro Track

Centennial F

Matt and Ash will be discussing the reasons to know your “why?” and how you can turn your story into dollars. We founded Sap House Meadery on what we call a triple bottom line. Where most businesses focus solely on profit as their bottom line, we focus on Community, Sustainability and Profit. This has proven to be not only a socially responsible method, but one that has helped tell our story and turn that story into a tangible return on investment. Everybody’s why is different. Ours was to revitalize a community. Let’s dig our heels in and find your why.

Mead Tools and Techniques – Barrels vs oak strips/chips/spirals

Presenter: Adam Crockett, Haymaker Meadery

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Home Track

Centennial E

Intro – Who I am and my experience in the barrel industry
Recommended Reading – Books and Websites
Brief history of wood/barrels Wood terminology – Types, parts, sizes
Wood: Anatomy & harvest – parts of the tree, cutting, curing, etc
Selection – oak (French, American, European), chestnut, acacia, cherry
Barrel selection – What’s best for your meadery (Size, type of wood, type of liquid held previously)
Sourcing – Where & who, Barrel vs Foudre/Cask, New vs used – Benefits of both
Oak alternatives – Rice, cubes, staves, spirals
Wood care & maintenance – Cleaning, caring, and maintaining.
Q & A

Scaling Production from Small Batches to a Large Facility

Presenter: Jared Ro Bear and Kate Nicolai, Superstition Meadery

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Pro Track

Centennial F

A comprehensive look at Superstition Meadery’s experience moving from 60 gallon batches to 1000 gallon batches. Equipment, processes, and techniques will all be discussed. Equipment recommendations and tricks we have learned will be shared.

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Lunch on your own

Different Fruit Addition Techniques for Mead

Presenter: Carvin Wilson

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Home Track

Centennial E

A side-by-side comparison of difference meads made with all fruit in the primary, all fruit in the secondary, half primary/secondary, and one late fruit addition in primary. All meads will be made with the same fruit without any acid adjustments. The goal of this is to educate mead makers on the difference flavor profiles of each different fruit addition technique.

Meadery Tasting Rooms – To Bee or Not to Bee

Presenter: Becky Starr, Starrlight Meadery

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Pro Track

Centennial F

Many new and existing meaderies are struggling to decide whether or not to have a tasting room on site. Although there are many benefits, such as higher profit margins, there are things to take into consideration before jumping directly into the hospitality industry – hours, employees, brand experience, expenses. This seminar will look at the pros and cons, costs, and other important considerations to remember when thinking of opening your space to the public and creating a tasting room. Bio: Becky Starr is the wearer of many hats at Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro, NC. For the last 7 years, she has run the tasting room side of Starrlight Mead, including merchandising, advertising, hiring, training, and customer service. Prior to opening Starrlight Mead, she worked for 2 years at a local winery as Wine Club Manager, and over 8 years in corporate training as a field trainer, training developer, and National Consumer Training Manager.

Mead Making: Best Practices – a Panel Discussion

Panelists: Petar Bakulic, Bob Slanzi, Carvin Wilson, Sergio Moutela

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Breakout

Private Dining Room

This panel will be an open forum to interact with a group of extremely experienced and talented meadmakers. Microphones will be available to ask questions and get in-depth feedback on your mead making questions.

The session will be video taped and copies provided to all breakout session attendees.

:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Both Tracks

Private Dining Room

Beginning Beekeeping: Your First Year

Presented by Tom Repas, Canyon Rim Honey Bees

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Home Track

Centennial E

More people are interested in becoming a beekeeper than ever before. However,there is a learning curve when it comes to keeping bees; caring for them is not quite as intuitive as caring for other animals. In this seminar I will go through an overview of what to worry about and how to best care for your bees your very first season as a beekeeper, all while avoiding common mistakes and pitfalls. (This seminar will be directed towards brand new beekeepers as well as those who are planning on becoming a beekeeper in the near future).

Rules on Mead in the European Union

Presenter: Florian Laufenstein, Metmanufaktur Laufenstein

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Pro Track

Centennial F

A walkthrough on requirements and legislation to be observed, when producing mead suitable to sell in the European Union. (Recipes, ingredients, naming conventions, analysis, labels,…..)

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Refreshment Break and Trade Show

Centennial E

All about Sulfites (and Sorbate)

Presenter: Tom Repas, Canyon Rim Honey Bees

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Home Track

Centennial E

In this presentation Tom will review the chemistry behind stabilization of mead with sulfite and sorbate; discuss some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding sulfite; demonstrate how to determine rate of sulfite additions and how to account for binding; as well as the available options for sulfite testing. (This will be directed towards beginning and advanced home mead makers as well as meaderies in planning and commercial meaderies interested in a better understanding of sulfites)

Panel Discussion – Starting/Opening a Meadery

Panelists – Alex Gonzales, Honey Pot Meadery, Billy Beltz, Lost Cause Meadery, Daniel Bauer, Kaw Point Meadery, Sergio Moutela, Melovino Meadery

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Pro Track

Centennial F

One of the things I’ve found true no matter what industry I’ve worked in is that you don’t know what you don’t know. From validation of market, to production facility layout and construction, to marketing your brand, opening a meadery is no small task. There are hundreds of ways to arrive at the end goal of opening, with at least twice as many pitfalls along the way.

Goal – Discuss multiple topics, adding insight into each of the approaches we have taken to similar problems. Answer questions for aspiring meadery owners, we want to share as much knowledge as possible to help those aspiring to open their own production facility as well as those who may have opened recently and are still in the startup phase (typically within the first 3 years of open)

Format – A panel led discussion on a handful of topics, each of us adding a different perspective and commentary on the approaches that we took to finding solutions. We will take a limited amount of questions after talking through each topic, with a larger Q & A session at the end.