Okay, for no particular reason, I have been contemplating my development as a mead maker. Well, what else are you going to do when all your fermenters are full and you’re waiting for stuff to clear? I figured I would take a stab at identifying the various stages a mead maker progresses through.
Why do this? For starters it fills some deep internal need in me to try to classify and pigeon hole things – but hey, that’s my personal hang-up. From a continuous quality improvement standpoint, I have always a believed that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it!” With something involving as much art as mead making, this may not hold true, but I think it is still worth a try. What’s more, such a scale may provide some individuals with motivation for advancement, and I am all for “progress” (note – that is not the same thing as “change”). After all, a little self-actualization never hurt anyone
So here is my first go at it. This is just an outline and has plenty of shortcomings, so please feel free to beat it up, add/delete, or otherwise refine it to provide a better way to chart one’s progress along the mead continuum.
Stages of a Meadmaker
1. NewBee – Has made little or no mead. May not have even tasted mead. Groping to learn terms and basic process. Usually found asking, “Is it supposed to look/taste/smell like this?”
2. NuVice Meadmaker – Has made mead beyond JAO. Understands basic terms in mead making. Basic techniques still being learned. Questions abound regarding nutrients, additions, and processes. Easily follows basic recipes. Wants to taste more meads.
3. InterMeadiot Meadmaker – Has mastered basic techniques and explores advanced processes including fining, pH management, and staggering nutrients. Modifies recipes with unpredictable consequences. Mead taking up most of spare time.
4. AccompLushed Meadmaker- Understands advanced management techniques. Can reliably reproduce the most complex recipes, and can plan meads and routinely achieve predictable results. Explores sensory components and outcomes. Mead crowding out other activities.
5. Mead Mazestro – Has mastered advanced technique as well as the art of flavor and sensory harmonization. Consistently designs recipes producing outstanding meads, making optimal use of available ingredients. Understands mead/food pairing. Pushes the mead frontier forward. Would rather do without food than mead.
6. Meadhisattva – A Meadmaker who combines advanced technique along with artistry in combining honeys and ingredients to create masterpieces of liquid poetry. Mead circulates in their veins, and for them, mead is life. They unselfishly offer their wisdom and experience to assist other mead makers to advance their skills. Oskaar and Ken Schramm are prime examples.
Personally, I am hovering in the InterMeadiot stage near the AccompLushed border, but I am working on it day by day (by day by day). If anyone else wants to share where you think you are on the scale, please feel free.
Good meading to all!
Medsen
Why do this? For starters it fills some deep internal need in me to try to classify and pigeon hole things – but hey, that’s my personal hang-up. From a continuous quality improvement standpoint, I have always a believed that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it!” With something involving as much art as mead making, this may not hold true, but I think it is still worth a try. What’s more, such a scale may provide some individuals with motivation for advancement, and I am all for “progress” (note – that is not the same thing as “change”). After all, a little self-actualization never hurt anyone
So here is my first go at it. This is just an outline and has plenty of shortcomings, so please feel free to beat it up, add/delete, or otherwise refine it to provide a better way to chart one’s progress along the mead continuum.
Stages of a Meadmaker
1. NewBee – Has made little or no mead. May not have even tasted mead. Groping to learn terms and basic process. Usually found asking, “Is it supposed to look/taste/smell like this?”
2. NuVice Meadmaker – Has made mead beyond JAO. Understands basic terms in mead making. Basic techniques still being learned. Questions abound regarding nutrients, additions, and processes. Easily follows basic recipes. Wants to taste more meads.
3. InterMeadiot Meadmaker – Has mastered basic techniques and explores advanced processes including fining, pH management, and staggering nutrients. Modifies recipes with unpredictable consequences. Mead taking up most of spare time.
4. AccompLushed Meadmaker- Understands advanced management techniques. Can reliably reproduce the most complex recipes, and can plan meads and routinely achieve predictable results. Explores sensory components and outcomes. Mead crowding out other activities.
5. Mead Mazestro – Has mastered advanced technique as well as the art of flavor and sensory harmonization. Consistently designs recipes producing outstanding meads, making optimal use of available ingredients. Understands mead/food pairing. Pushes the mead frontier forward. Would rather do without food than mead.
6. Meadhisattva – A Meadmaker who combines advanced technique along with artistry in combining honeys and ingredients to create masterpieces of liquid poetry. Mead circulates in their veins, and for them, mead is life. They unselfishly offer their wisdom and experience to assist other mead makers to advance their skills. Oskaar and Ken Schramm are prime examples.
Personally, I am hovering in the InterMeadiot stage near the AccompLushed border, but I am working on it day by day (by day by day). If anyone else wants to share where you think you are on the scale, please feel free.
Good meading to all!
Medsen
