8-20-19 Tonight at 9PM EST we're talking with Kent Waldeck, owner of Crafted Artisan Meadery in Mogadore, OH.
Kent started homebrewing in around 2004, and like many homebrewers, ended up with mead. Kent worked for over a decade in Product Management and Marketing in consumer and B2B industries in North Carolina and Ohio before starting Crafted. Spending as much time as he can with his wife, Kristy, and their three sons traveling, camping and being outdoors is how he enjoys his time when he’s not busy whipping up their next seasonal release.
Crafted’s story started in North Carolina where Kent Waldeck lived for nearly a decade prior to returning to his home state of Ohio. During his time in North Carolina Kent had started homebrewing and he was absolutely convinced that one day he’d try to open a brewery (along with every other homebrewer...ever).
It was during this time that he came across mead in Charlie Papazian’s Complete Joy of Home Brewing and made his first batch.  In 2008 Kent and his wife returned to Ohio to be closer to family and to start their own family.  Although relocating for a job in Cleveland he was itching to start his own venture. That venture, though, was to start a meadery instead of brewery.
Between 2009 and 2012 Kent would plan and eventually launch Crafted Artisan Meadery with Crafted ultimately opening it’s doors to the public in June of 2012. Adding session meads to the mix in 2013 allowed Crafted to expand the range of meads they offered and this breadth of category became a cornerstone of their vision and mission. Kent continued working full-time until 2015 when he was laid off and forced to jump headfirst into Crafted full-time.  In the 7+ years since opening Crafted has won numerous Mazer Cup medals and they have grown their distribution footprint to include 10 states as of 2019.

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Show links and notes

Evoak - Oak Solutions
Black Swan Barrels (exotic woods)
Ethiopian Spice Market (for gesho)
Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff
The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff




Upcoming Guests:

Aug 27 - Sam Slaughter - Food and Drink Editor at The Manual
Sept 3 - Mateusz Blaszczyk and Krzysztof Jarek - EMMA/Mead Madness Cup
Sept 10 - Meadcon East and Cornell Mead Intensive (off)

Upcoming Events

Aug 21 - New Day Craft Mead - Mead Education
Au 25 - Heidrun Meadery - Bee Experienced, from flower to flute
Aug 27 - Redstone Meadery - Yogis and Mead Drinkers
Aug 31 - New Day Craft Mead - Meadful Things and Outciders Festival
Aug 31 - Brimming Horn Meadery - Viking Jerk Beard Competition
Sept 5-7 MeadCon East
Sept 7 - Folklore Brewing and Meadery - Pints for Pets Flower Girl Class
Sept 21 - Royal Manor - Mead Festival
Sept 22 - Starrlight Mead - Mead Day Celebration and Fall Festival
Sept 28 - Orpheus Meadfest - Tasting and Award Ceremony for Orpheus Cup Mead Competition
Oct 5-5 and 12-13 - Stonekeep Meadery - Artisan Wine and Cheese pairing weekends
Oct 19 - Texas Mead Fest

Got an event you’d like us to mention on GotMead Live? Send us an email at gotmeadlive@gotmead.com and tell us about it!