I came accross this info on the Canadian Honey Council website. Not easy to start a meadery.
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The provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia have all improved their liquor manufacture licencing regulation in the past five years and added a cottage winery category. Others like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have no cottage winery category and wineries are expected to be large commercial facilities--2500 hl, or 66050 gallons minimum annual production. Quebec has always had more reasonable liquor laws and the product "hydromel" is available from meaderies in the province.
The cottage winery or farm winery is a relatively new category. This allows beekeepers with a certain number of colonies (50 in NB , 100 in ON) to apply for a wine manufacturing licence. A minimum (often 60%) of the honey used in the mead must be produced by the beekeeper. The other 40% can be bought from off farm. The licence entitles them to on-site sales or to sell to the liquor commission at a set price, provided their production meets a quota. The licencing fee is in the range of $500 to $1100 but this is nothing in comparison to the costs of commercial grade storage tanks, fermentation tanks, labels, bottles, corks and lab fees for testing every batch. Don't think about dumping a bad batch down the drain. The liquor commission has to give permission for disposal. Bookkeeping is essential because there are regular audits. Selling "off site" is exceedingly difficult. Permits are needed for shipping, the truck may not park overnight and alternatives such as courier companies are out of the question as they will not ship alcohol.
Most producers who enjoy making their own mead do not want to take the venture to the commercial stage.
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The provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia have all improved their liquor manufacture licencing regulation in the past five years and added a cottage winery category. Others like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have no cottage winery category and wineries are expected to be large commercial facilities--2500 hl, or 66050 gallons minimum annual production. Quebec has always had more reasonable liquor laws and the product "hydromel" is available from meaderies in the province.
The cottage winery or farm winery is a relatively new category. This allows beekeepers with a certain number of colonies (50 in NB , 100 in ON) to apply for a wine manufacturing licence. A minimum (often 60%) of the honey used in the mead must be produced by the beekeeper. The other 40% can be bought from off farm. The licence entitles them to on-site sales or to sell to the liquor commission at a set price, provided their production meets a quota. The licencing fee is in the range of $500 to $1100 but this is nothing in comparison to the costs of commercial grade storage tanks, fermentation tanks, labels, bottles, corks and lab fees for testing every batch. Don't think about dumping a bad batch down the drain. The liquor commission has to give permission for disposal. Bookkeeping is essential because there are regular audits. Selling "off site" is exceedingly difficult. Permits are needed for shipping, the truck may not park overnight and alternatives such as courier companies are out of the question as they will not ship alcohol.
Most producers who enjoy making their own mead do not want to take the venture to the commercial stage.
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