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Looking for Meadmakers, again

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Crimson

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 30, 2004
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Hi guys,

Seems like a zillion years ago I posted here, but it's a new year, a new start of a new season. And it's been wild. Maybe a few of you remember, I don't suppose that would be many, but I am running a small average sized mead shop in the Netherlands. That has been a lot of fun and somehow the market seems to increase. Okay, who am I kidding, I am running out of stock so fast these days that in order to keep up I had to personally drive up and down to Germany with a truck to get my meads ready for sale on time. I've had a larger turnover in the first 3 months this year, then I had the complete last year. And I considered last year to be GOOD.

Mead, seems to be, popular these days. And so I see at it as my semi-personal mission to get more people to drink it. That being said, I need people to supply it. I myself are only a very small modest meadmaker, I make my batches for personal use only. There are however people around here (yes I mean you guys) that are so much better at it then I. Now I've googled around, wrote to meaderies and contacted whoever I can. GotMead seems to be my next logical step, after all, this is where I began.

Are you making mead? You think it's good enough to sell? Would you like to? Are you a brewer, a meadery or know someone that is? Are you Polish? British? Irish? American? Mexican? Hey, I am importing meads from Africa and Australia these days. Don't think your productions are to small, I've been selling batches as little as 15 or 30 bottles, and they are among the most popular. Those are 3 gallon batches people, I know that some of you making fine meads in those quantities.

I'll admit, this is starting to sound like a bad sales pitch, but the fact is, I am importing mead, and you guys are making it. Sure, there are legal issues and such to be worked out. But I've found it's often possible to work those out.

So help me out here, let us bring mead to the masses!
(Yes I know there are only 16 million Dutchies, and that that is hardly a mass for some, but you get my drift)
 
Summersolstice

Summersolstice

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Aug 14, 2005
173
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Central Nebraska, USA
Hi Crimson,

I remember you. After all, there aren't that many Dutch mead makers posting here. It sounds like you have your hands full but you're making a lot of contacts and selling some meads. More, in fact, than what you can source.

The sad fact is that here in the US, it just isn't possible for a home wine, mead, or beer maker to legally sell their products, and the US government is very, very strict when dealing with people who do. I personally have upwards of 50 US gallons of mead in bottles and larger containers, much of which isn't quite where I can consider them ready to drink. As hobbyists, we can afford to allow our meads to age because we aren't relying upon sales and turnover.

If you're looking to source meads from the US to sell then you're going to have to make contacts with commercial meaderies who are willing to jump through the additional hoops required to export their products for sale in another country. It's good that people in Western Europe are beginning to enjoy meads. I wish you luck in your endeavors!
 
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matt_maples

NewBee
Registered Member
May 23, 2005
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www.liquidsolutions.biz
This is something the International Mead Association should jump on. Organizing a multiple meadery export order would be easier if it were brokered through a third party.

Crimson, contact someone at http://www.meadfest.org/ and see what they can do for you. Also if you intend to do business it is customary to use full real names and post the name of your business. This lets people know you are legitimate and really looking to setup business relationships.


Matt Maples
Liquid Solutions Inc.
 
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CBBaron

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 7, 2007
83
0
0
Cleveland
Summersolstice said:
The sad fact is that here in the US, it just isn't possible for a home wine, mead, or beer maker to legally sell their products, and the US government is very, very strict when dealing with people who do. I personally have upwards of 50 US gallons of mead in bottles and larger containers, much of which isn't quite where I can consider them ready to drink. As hobbyists, we can afford to allow our meads to age because we aren't relying upon sales and turnover.
Click to expand...
Well no and yes.
No a home mead maker can't just sell your mead locally or for export.
But it is possible for a home mead maker to get the necessary licenses for selling their product. It just takes time and money. If I am reading the rules for Ohio correctly my state license for manufacture is about $4000/yr, which means I would have to make a ton of mead to make it profitable. However if I make wine from fruit that I mostly grow then the fee is only $75/yr. I think I could technically make melomel for the lower license price but there is additional fees for an export license.

I think the end result is that you really need to get in touch with a commercial meaderie if you want to export from the states. They would have already gone through the pain and costs of licensing for manufacture and would only need to work out the legalities of export.

Craig
 
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Crimson

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 30, 2004
37
0
0
45
matt_maples said:
This is something the International Mead Association should jump on. Organizing a multiple meadery export order would be easier if it were brokered through a third party.

Crimson, contact someone at http://www.meadfest.org/ and see what they can do for you. Also if you intend to do business it is customary to use full real names and post the name of your business. This lets people know you are legitimate and really looking to setup business relationships.

Matt Maples
Liquid Solutions Inc.
Click to expand...

Woah, yeah I forgot that crucial bit, my full real name is Mark de Ruijter, I live in the Netherlands, and can be contacted through e-mail and snail mail via the following;

info@mythstone.com
Westlandseweg 97
2624 AD
Delft
www.mythstone.com

Additional information on request of course. Been on the internet so long, that I've become used to those names as well and almost consider them my own.
 
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