5-21-24 Tonight we're talking with Adam Bystrom, Josh Mahoney, Al Boyce and Josh Holbrook, members of the aptly-nicknamed 'Minnesota Mead Mafia'.

Josh Holbrook has been home brewing for since 2011 and making mead since 2013. He discovered mead at his local homebrew club when a club member brought a bottle of an attempt at Curt Stock’s Triple Berry Melomel. Clouds parted, angels sang, and Josh became obsessed with mead. Josh has won numerous medals for beer, cider and mead, including AMMA National Mead Maker of the Year in 2020, and a couple Best of Shows at competitions such as Minnesota Mashout and Hoppy Halloween. He is also a certified BJCP judge and mead judge as well as a novice beekeeper, and one of the organizers for Valkyries Horn Mead Competition. One of Josh’s long term mead goals is to make mead with each of the 300+ varietal honeys found in the United States. He has 44 under his belt already and shows no signs of stopping.

In November of 2017 Adam Bystrom suddenly got a craving for that sweet nectar we all know; mead. With no meaderies in the area and little to no availability at liquor stores he decided to learn how to home brew. Since then mead has been the exclusive beverage he's fermented with a particular focus on session meads. He's been fortunate to win awards in a number of competitions all around the country and is a proud member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association.

Making mead since 2008. BJCP mead judge, addicted to collecting Mazer Cups, thinks JAOM is underrated, and his favorite spice is vanilla.

Al Boyce has been a homebrewer since the early 1990’s.  He tasted his first mead at Bunratty Castle in Ireland, and was hooked. Orange Blossom is his favorite honey, Sangiovese is his favorite grape, and 71B is his favorite yeast. He is obsessed with Jamaican Sorrel (hibiscus), and vows to keep making Sorrel meads until he finally gets it right.  He recently moved to a lake home in central Minnesota where he lives with his wife Beth and his Golden Retriever Cooper.

Join us for what will most likely be mead madness!

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Upcoming Shows



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
Monin liqeuer concentrates

Upcoming Events

May 22 - Beer Barons of Milwaukee, Hales Corner, WI - Modern Mead Making with Mazer Cup Best of Show winner Jason Rohloff
May 25 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Lisa playing live music
May 25 - Lilly Belle Mead, Holland, New York - Mead Festival
May 25 - Wye Valley Meadery, Caldicot, UK - Groove Jacks Live
May 31 - The Barge Inn, Pewsy, UK - Mead and Cider Weekend
June 1 - Battle Axe Mead House, Hickory, NC - 1st Anniversary Party
June 1 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Japanese Swordsmanship
June 7-9 - Brimming Horn Meadery, Milton, DE - Party Like it's 793: 2024 Mead, Metal and Viking Festival
Jun 13 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - Hurry Up, Say Something Funny Comedy night
June 15 - Mutton & Mead Tavern and Inne, Greenfield, MA - Medieval Bash: Roads to Revelry with mead from Sap House Meadery and beer ...