{"id":15511,"date":"2025-06-11T22:11:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T02:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/?p=15511"},"modified":"2025-06-11T22:11:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T02:11:58","slug":"mead-and-more-with-ken-schramm-beersmith-podcast-326","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/11\/mead-and-more-with-ken-schramm-beersmith-podcast-326\/","title":{"rendered":"Mead and More with Ken Schramm &#8211; BeerSmith Podcast #326"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-via=\"beersmith\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-url=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/11\/mead-and-more-with-ken-schramm-beersmith-podcast-326\/\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Ken Schramm joins me this week to discuss mead, our relationship with alcohol and the future of home brewing and mead making.<\/p> <p><strong>Subscribe on iTunes to <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/beersmith-home-beer-brewing\/id398500515?mt=2\">Audio version <\/a>or <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/beersmith-home-beer-brewing\/id824963861\">Video version<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7vwQRBi8HJBpePV3I7Dpj5\">Spotify <\/a>or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9iZWVyc21pdGguY29tL2NvbnRlbnQvZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/beersmith\/BSHB-326-Schramm.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download the MP3 File<\/a>&#8211; Right Click and <strong>Save As<\/strong> to download this mp3 file.<\/p> <audio controls=\"\"> <source src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/beersmith\/BSHB-326-Schramm.mp3\" type=\"audio\/mpeg\"\/>\nYour browser does not support the audio element.\n<\/audio> <hr class=\"wp-block-separator alignfull has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q0q2uCnux5A?si=VLj2lfJ_xmRX2D8Q\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"topics-in-this-week-s-episode-50-46\">Topics in This Week&#8217;s Episode (55:06)<\/h3> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This week I welcome back Ken Schramm from <a href=\"https:\/\/store.schrammsmead.com\/storefront.aspx\">Schramm\u2019s Meadery<\/a>.&nbsp; Ken &#8220;wrote the book&#8221; on mead making called <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2mcdAju\">The Compleat Meadmaker<\/a> (Amazon affiliate link).&nbsp; Ken was also a founding member of the Mazer cup and has won numerous national awards including a lifetime achievement award from the American Homebrewers Association.&nbsp; His meadery makes some of the highest rated meads in the world from fresh fruit, spices and honey.<\/li> <li>We discuss the progress Ken has made with his farm, which targets growing individual varieties of &#8220;noble fruits&#8221; for use in meads. Ken has actually been able to find several varieties of various fruits that work very well in big fruit meads.<\/li> <li>Ken explains the &#8220;noble fruits&#8221; for mead making and defines which fruits work best in a mead based on their flavor, acidity and high tannin levels.<\/li> <li>We discuss the modern push towards &#8220;temperance&#8221; and prohibition with new social trends like &#8220;dry January. Ken also talks about why craft beverages across the board have been in a slump the last few years.<\/li> <li>Ken explores the complex relationship between people, alcohol and our social web.<\/li> <li>We discuss how mead is almost certainly the oldest fermented beverage, and also how it has played a central role in many cultures in terms of religious and as a drink of kings.<\/li> <li>Ken talks about how mead has fallen out of favor in most modern societies and some of the reasons behind this.<\/li> <li>We talk about how humans, bees and plants have a very symbiotic relationship, and how mead is an expression of all three.<\/li> <li>Ken also talks about yeast and how it has played a central role in our lives including both food and drink.<\/li> <li>We switch to discussing the future for home brewing and mead making as well as the craft industry.<\/li> <li>Ken tells us where to find his meads and how you can still schedule a tasting at his meadery.<\/li> <li>He provides his closing thoughts.<\/li>\n<\/ul> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sponsors\">Sponsors<\/h3> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thank you to our sponsor <a href=\"http:\/\/beerandbrewing.com\">Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine<\/a> for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!<\/li> <li>Also check out <a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\">BeerSmith<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmithrecipes.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BeerSmith Web<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/mobile\">BeerSmith Mobile software<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/dvd\">DVDs John Palmer and I filmed<\/a> &#8211; How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/subscribe\/\">subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter<\/a> for free to get some great articles on home brewing.<\/li>\n<\/ul> <p><br \/><strong>iTunes Announcements<\/strong>: I launched a new <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/beersmith-home-beer-brewing\/id824963861\">video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes<\/a>, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/mrbeersmith\">Youtube channel<\/a>. Also all of my <a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/podcast\/beersmith-home-brewing-blog\/id398500515\">audio episodes are on iTunes<\/a> now &#8211; so grab the older episodes if you missed any.<\/p> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"thoughts-on-the-podcast\">Thoughts on the Podcast?<\/h3> <p>Leave me a comment below or visit our <a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/forum\">discussion forum<\/a> to leave a comment in the podcast section there.<\/p> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"subscribe-to-the-podcast-on-itunes-or-beersmith-radio\">Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio<\/h3> <p>You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our <a href=\"http:\/\/BeerSmith.com\/Radio\">BeerSmith Radio<\/a> online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Audio feed on iTunes &#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/podcast\/beersmith-home-brewing-blog\/id398500515\"><\/a> (direct: <a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/content\/feed\/podcast\"><strong>http:\/\/beersmith.com\/content\/feed\/podcast<\/strong><\/a>)<\/li> <li>Video feed on iTunes &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/beersmith-home-beer-brewing\/id824963861\"><\/a> (direct: <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/tv\/category\/podcast\/feed\/\">http:\/\/beersmith.com\/tv\/category\/podcast\/feed\/<\/a><\/strong> )<\/li> <li><strong>Audio podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cDovL2JlZXJzbWl0aC5jb20vY29udGVudC9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qv&amp;hl=en\">on Google Play here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul> <p>And finally, don&#8217;t forget to subscribe to the blog and <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/subscribe\">my newsletter<\/a> (or link at the top of the page) \u2013 to get free weekly articles on home brewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tweet Ken Schramm joins me this week to discuss mead, our relationship with alcohol and the future of home brewing 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