Schramm's Mead

[Jas45678]

Any plans to barrel age any of your meads?

 

[Naegerbomb]

I too enjoyed B2 Black Heart far and away over B1. While I don't mind aging things to see how they develop, I do prefer to try those beverages fresh to have a gauge of change. Fresh B1 wasn't for me, not sure age will change that, but I look forward to the possibility of having my opinion changed.

Well the good news is that for every batch moving forward, our time on fruit will be the same as batch 2, or similar, to avoid these over extraction issues. Thanks for the opportunity to change your mind! We really appreciate the support everyone has given us, and the forgiveness for our hiccups as we settle into out process and our (admittedly larger than we're used to) equipment. Cheers! -James

 

[Naegerbomb]

Any plans to barrel age any of your meads?

Some small batch experiments are in progress. Probably never anything reaching an entire barrel for some time, until we get a few years under our belts. In the meantime, we'll try staves inside our stainless barrels, and honeycomb barrel alternative.

 

[trickytunadicky]

So I can

Some small batch experiments are in progress. Probably never anything reaching an entire barrel for some time, until we get a few years under our belts. In the meantime, we'll try staves inside our stainless barrels, and honeycomb barrel alternative.

start plotting to get you to FoBAB? If I am never going to collect on my free dessert I should at least get to have BA Schmead at FoBAB birthday weekend.

 

[quirkzoo1]

Is it pronounced "Shramms" or "Skramms". I always thought the former, but recently heard someone say the latter and I would feel very foolish if I was pronouncing it wrong this whole time.

Also, what is the fruit/adjunct that is currently in development or that you are dreaming about that is the most exciting for you right now?

Also, do you ever plan on doing a straight mead? Is there a particular reason you haven't yet? (or perhaps I am just ignorant and one has been made but not bottled)

 

[Johnnie Nepal]

Schrute or Skrute?

 

[Naegerbomb]

Is it pronounced "Shramms" or "Skramms". I always thought the former, but recently heard someone say the latter and I would feel very foolish if I was pronouncing it wrong this whole time.

Also, what is the fruit/adjunct that is currently in development or that you are dreaming about that is the most exciting for you right now?

Also, do you ever plan on doing a straight mead? Is there a particular reason you haven't yet? (or perhaps I am just ignorant and one has been made but not bottled)

Ken and family pronounce it the first way: German "sch" sound. It is pronounced Schramm's, as in hams (or yams). Some Germans and sommeliers pronounce the second half of Schramm's like Mom's (or Tom's). I use Siri a lot on my phone, and she pronounces it incorrectly: Schramm's like 'skramms', as in scram, get out of here, go away. The first two are considered correct, but Ken et al pronounce it the first way: german 'sch' sound, rhyming with jams.

Honestly, what we are dreaming about most right now is being able to make more of what we already make: mead made from balaton cherries and red raspberries from Michigan, blackberry, and ginger. We're trying to take better advantage of the vertical space in our meadery, using bigger and better tanks to be able to get our mead to more people. On a small batch level, I'm really excited about some of our small-batch ginger meads. It is such a unique product, and people are starting to see what they've been missing from meads/wines/beers that are filtered and treated with chemical preservatives. We're experimenting with fresh ginger from different countries and cultivars, and we'll be releasing these small batches to our Mazer Club members as they come out. I'd like to do a turmeric mead personally, but I'm not sure how that will taste fermented (I experimented with a bit of Michigan wildflower honey on turmeric slices the other day, it was pretty interesting).

A straight/traditional mead is something that we've always wanted to do. The "problem" is that we only want to create world-class products, and we're still looking for a honey that can stand on its own and produce that involuntary 'wow' that we hear when people drink our other meads, particularly our melomels. Traditional meads simply aren't as complex as fruit meads, grape wines, and other beverages (like coffee), so what we're looking for is a honey (probably a varietal) that we can source at a reasonable cost (Tasmanian Leatherwood honey is out, for the time being) that creates a mead (not every great-tasting honey makes great-tasting mead) that has the vertical and horizontal complexity on the palate that we want our meads to have. Our experiments are ongoing in this area in small batches at the meadery.

 

[quirkzoo1]

Ken and family pronounce it the first way: German "sch" sound. It is pronounced Schramm's, as in hams (or yams). Some Germans and sommeliers pronounce the second half of Schramm's like Mom's (or Tom's). I use Siri a lot on my phone, and she pronounces it incorrectly: Schramm's like 'skramms', as in scram, get out of here, go away. The first two are considered correct, but Ken et al pronounce it the first way: german 'sch' sound, rhyming with jams.

Honestly, what we are dreaming about most right now is being able to make more of what we already make: mead made from balaton cherries and red raspberries from Michigan, blackberry, and ginger. We're trying to take better advantage of the vertical space in our meadery, using bigger and better tanks to be able to get our mead to more people. On a small batch level, I'm really excited about some of our small-batch ginger meads. It is such a unique product, and people are starting to see what they've been missing from meads/wines/beers that are filtered and treated with chemical preservatives. We're experimenting with fresh ginger from different countries and cultivars, and we'll be releasing these small batches to our Mazer Club members as they come out. I'd like to do a turmeric mead personally, but I'm not sure how that will taste fermented (I experimented with a bit of Michigan wildflower honey on turmeric slices the other day, it was pretty interesting).

A straight/traditional mead is something that we've always wanted to do. The "problem" is that we only want to create world-class products, and we're still looking for a honey that can stand on its own and produce that involuntary 'wow' that we hear when people drink our other meads, particularly our melomels. Traditional meads simply aren't as complex as fruit meads, grape wines, and other beverages (like coffee), so what we're looking for is a honey (probably a varietal) that we can source at a reasonable cost (Tasmanian Leatherwood honey is out, for the time being) that creates a mead (not every great-tasting honey makes great-tasting mead) that has the vertical and horizontal complexity on the palate that we want our meads to have. Our experiments are ongoing in this area in small batches at the meadery.

Awesome, thanks.

Re: turmeric. Crooked Stave's Wild Wild Brett Yellow used honey, turmeric and mango and it was very unique and quite good, interested to see where you all take this.

 

[Adam Jackson]

This may have been asked before or you've probably answered this question MANY times

1. Is the global honey shortage / extinction of bees completely overexagerated?
2. If it's not exaggerated and is a real thing, how do you expect to keep making mead for generations to come? Will the price of honey and therefore mead continue to rise as honey supplies deplete?

 

[RyanG1]

This may have been asked before or you've probably answered this question MANY times

1. Is the global honey shortage / extinction of bees completely overexagerated?
2. If it's not exaggerated and is a real thing, how do you expect to keep making mead for generations to come? Will the price of honey and therefore mead continue to rise as honey supplies deplete?

 

[Adam Jackson]

well it is a legitimate question. I've seen a few documentaries that would honestly scare me away from building a business around a crop that is supposedly going away, right?

 

[Naegerbomb]

This may have been asked before or you've probably answered this question MANY times

1. Is the global honey shortage / extinction of bees completely overexagerated?
2. If it's not exaggerated and is a real thing, how do you expect to keep making mead for generations to come? Will the price of honey and therefore mead continue to rise as honey supplies deplete?

1. No, it isn't completely exaggerated. It is a serious issue that will affect everyone who enjoys eating food (and secondarily, drinking mead).

2. As a society, we need to place a greater value on pollinators. If you can find it, I highly recommend the documentary film "More Than Honey". It does a great job of not being alarmist, but showing the negative consequences that will occur here in the U.S. and worldwide if we continue on our current course of action. We haven't used pesticides like the neonicotinoids (highly toxic, highly persistent, pervasively used) since dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and we know now what the effects of its use were (eggshell thinning of songbirds, birds of prey, etc., and genotoxic/carcinogenic to humans). Honey and mead are just a side project for these bees, and for us. The more important issue is the health of our ecosystems, our crop pollination, and our own health and wellbeing. Personally, I'm scared shitless that in some dystopian future all of our crops will have to be pollinated by hand, like many crops in ecologically devastated areas in China, e.g. almonds. It is really frightening to think about never seeing a monarch butterfly again, or never seeing honeybees visit your garden. Watch that documentary, really. The cinematography is really excellent. There are a lot of documentaries on colony collapse disorder (CCD) that are way too alarmist, but this one shows the problem without having to even use words, and is focused on the entire range of issues affecting honeybee health worldwide.

 

[Michigan1]

I'm scared.

 

[Naegerbomb]

well it is a legitimate question. I've seen a few documentaries that would honestly scare me away from building a business around a crop that is supposedly going away, right?

Totally legitimate. Most documentaries on CCD are designed to be alarmist, because honestly the problem is slowly building (like the boiling frog metaphor) and people just don't give a **** sometimes unless the sky is falling. This issue is very serious and deserves a lot of attention. At Schramm's Mead, we only source our honey from those with 'True Source' certification or from beekeepers that we know personally. This way, we can be sure that our honey is coming from the U.S., and contribute to an organization that "actively support U.S. beekeepers, including supporting research to help beekeepers maintain the health and high quality of U.S. honey production and to fight colony collapse disorder."

 

[Naegerbomb]

I'm scared.

You should be.

 

[Michigan1]

You should be.

STOP BEING ALARMIST!!

 

[Adam Jackson]

I've never heard of True Source. So I guess in some ways, I'm glad that my freaking out isn't for nothing and secondly, it's nice to see at Schramm's that the buying of honey is with consciousness toward the current climate of bees. Thanks for the informational response. I like mead a lot so obviously anything that would one day keep me from getting buzzed is going to be a big deal!

 

[cosmicevan]

We're experimenting with fresh ginger from different countries and cultivars, and we'll be releasing these small batches to our Mazer Club members as they come out.

how will this work? i was under the impression that mazer club members get first crack at releases, but didn't realize there would be exclusive releases just for mazer members? as someone not local, i have not picked up a membership since all the perks really require you to be local. is there a way as a non local mazer member to take advantage of these small batch releases if you can't be there in person to buy or pick them up?

 

[Beerontwowheels]

how will this work? i was under the impression that mazer club members get first crack at releases, but didn't realize there would be exclusive releases just for mazer members? as someone not local, i have not picked up a membership since all the perks really require you to be local. is there a way as a non local mazer member to take advantage of these small batch releases if you can't be there in person to buy or pick them up?

You can appoint a trustee. While reservations for mead can be conducted via email, your trustee has to make the purchase on your behalf. This means you need to send your trustee the money via check, money order, paypal, etc.

Source: private messages with Naegerbomb

 

[cosmicevan]

You can appoint a trustee. While reservations for mead can be conducted via email, your trustee has to make the purchase on your behalf. This means you need to send your trustee the money via check, money order, paypal, etc.

Source: private messages with Naegerbomb

will your trustee get the discount that you would get if you were in person?

 

[Beerontwowheels]

will your trustee get the discount that you would get if you were in person?

I assume so. It's listed as a benefit of membership, so I would think it would be honored since the purchase is being made on your behalf.

 

[cosmicevan]

So will there be mazer club exclusive meads?

 

[trickytunadicky]

Ken and family pronounce it the first way: German "sch" sound. It is pronounced Schramm's, as in hams (or yams). Some Germans and sommeliers pronounce the second half of Schramm's like Mom's (or Tom's). I use Siri a lot on my phone, and she pronounces it incorrectly: Schramm's like 'skramms', as in scram, get out of here, go away. The first two are considered correct, but Ken et al pronounce it the first way: german 'sch' sound, rhyming with jams.

Honestly, what we are dreaming about most right now is being able to make more of what we already make: mead made from balaton cherries and red raspberries from Michigan, blackberry, and ginger. We're trying to take better advantage of the vertical space in our meadery, using bigger and better tanks to be able to get our mead to more people. On a small batch level, I'm really excited about some of our small-batch ginger meads. It is such a unique product, and people are starting to see what they've been missing from meads/wines/beers that are filtered and treated with chemical preservatives. We're experimenting with fresh ginger from different countries and cultivars, and we'll be releasing these small batches to our Mazer Club members as they come out. I'd like to do a turmeric mead personally, but I'm not sure how that will taste fermented (I experimented with a bit of Michigan wildflower honey on turmeric slices the other day, it was pretty interesting).

A straight/traditional mead is something that we've always wanted to do. The "problem" is that we only want to create world-class products, and we're still looking for a honey that can stand on its own and produce that involuntary 'wow' that we hear when people drink our other meads, particularly our melomels. Traditional meads simply aren't as complex as fruit meads, grape wines, and other beverages (like coffee), so what we're looking for is a honey (probably a varietal) that we can source at a reasonable cost (Tasmanian Leatherwood honey is out, for the time being) that creates a mead (not every great-tasting honey makes great-tasting mead) that has the vertical and horizontal complexity on the palate that we want our meads to have. Our experiments are ongoing in this area in small batches at the meadery.

First, you can correct Siri. Second, a friend of mine once bought some mislabeled turmeric for a ginger beer he was making. It dyed everything plastic yellow and could be paired only with Indian food. Be prepared for that.

 

[Naegerbomb]

will your trustee get the discount that you would get if you were in person?

Yes.

 

[Naegerbomb]

So will there be mazer club exclusive meads?

Not really. We don't want to do that. But if a batch is really tiny and we offer a bottle or two to each member, sometimes it sells out before we can offer it to the public.

 

[Naegerbomb]

First, you can correct Siri. Second, a friend of mine once bought some mislabeled turmeric for a ginger beer he was making. It dyed everything plastic yellow and could be paired only with Indian food. Be prepared for that.

Yeah, I had the orange hands for a day or two. Gloves and turmeric-only Vino Vessel, check.

 

[Naegerbomb]

how will this work? i was under the impression that mazer club members get first crack at releases, but didn't realize there would be exclusive releases just for mazer members? as someone not local, i have not picked up a membership since all the perks really require you to be local. is there a way as a non local mazer member to take advantage of these small batch releases if you can't be there in person to buy or pick them up?

Quite a few of our Mazer Club members are from out of town. I don't have the breakdown, but it's a lot. Many appoint a regular trading partner, friend, or family member as their trustee/proxy and then arrange to pay them back (or in advance) somehow, via check, paypal, blood sacrifice, etc.

When anything new comes out, you'll get an email from Alyson about a month before John Q. Public hears about it, giving you the opportunity to reserve a certain number of bottles, and then we set those bottles aside for a month or so, giving you or your proxy plenty of time to come in and pick them up and pay at that time. The reservation/ proxy system really works quite well - people seem to be really happy with it in practice.

 

[steimie]

Naegerbomb, quick question, just out of curiosity...

What Varieties of apples were used in the apple mead?

 

[trickytunadicky]

Naegerbomb, quick question, just out of curiosity...

What Varieties of apples were used in the apple mead?

Cmon Zestar! I love trendy apples! /s
EDIT: for real, I hope you used proper cider apples.

 

[Naegerbomb]

steimie / trickytunadicky : More than 30 heirloom and modern varieties from Ken's property. The recipe couldn't be simpler: fresh pressed cider from over 30 heirloom cider apple varieties, expertly grown, picked, and pressed, to which was added only honey (no water, no yeast, no preservatives, and never filtered). It's a spontaneous fermentation, and I think this year's blend makes one of the best meads we've ever made.