It's here! It's here! The day is finally here!

All of Groennfell and Havoc's recipes are in one place online!

Ricky has spent the last few weeks modifying and reformulating all of the recipes we brew here at the Mead Hall so that you can replicate them at home! 

There are a few things we do on a large scale that simply don't translate to the homebrew scale (certain concentrates and extracts), but Ricky has replicated all of our recipes using only homebrew scale equipment and gotten pretty darn close.

If you haven't read it yet, please go check out our article How We Brew Everything We Brew, then head on over to the New Recipe Page and get to brewing!

Starting next week, all of our recipes are going to be available in one place on our site so you can try your hand at making all of our meads at home.

No more bugging Ricky the Meadmaker to e-mail you his formulae!

That said, rather than having all of the steps for each batch of mead, we're going to focus on making sure you know the ingredients, the ratios, and a few specific pointers for each brew.

Generally speaking, all of our meads are brewed in a very similar fashion. So, we thought we'd give you our techniques all in one place before inundating you with recipes.

Big Disclaimer: These are our practices, we are not claiming that they are necessarily the best practices.

With that out of the way, here are all of our general principles in one place:

• Our honey is never heated above 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and usually only to 94F. This prevents the volatilization of complex flavor and aroma compounds.
• Our brewing water, for similar reasons, is never heated above 98F.
• We filter our water with a carbon filter to remove off-flavors and to give ourselves a stable starting point throughout the year. This prevents our having to worry about changing aquifers, treatments, and other issues.
• With the exception of our darker meads, all of our honey is raw (or strained) wildflower honey from Canada.
• With the exception of a few wild-fermented meads, we sulfite the must (the honey water combination) to kill or suppress wild yeast and bacteria. For more on that discussion, please check out Them's Fightin' Words. 
• We never filter our products because we believe subtle flavor and aroma is much more important than clarity.
• Fruit juices are almost always added in primary fermentation with the exception of citrus juices which are added in secondary.
• All spices and herbs are added in secondary.
• We only sulfite and sorbate post fermentation if a sugar-bearing ingredient is added such as orange juice, maple syrup, or raisins. This prevents refermentation and exploding cans.
• We are careful to brew our meads with an original gravity such that we can add ingredients in the secondary and still hit our intended ABV. (Specifics for each recipe will be included.)
• We force carbonate all of our products because many of our yeast strains produce hydrogen sulfide in a quantity that would render the packaged product... a little eggy.
• We oxygenate the ever-loving heck out of all of our products pre-fermentation, then we are very careful not to introduce oxygen at any later stage.

We know that's an awful lot, but we'll have reminders in each recipe. We hope this is helpful!

Head over here for our recipes!

In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about fermenting caramelized sugars, the best ways to add vanilla to mead, what would happen if you "carbonated" with nitrous oxide, and more!

Early on Sunday morning a local monster attacked our little Mead Hall. After destroying both doors but failing to gain entry, this villain shattered a window and made off with all of our money from the week.

Given that he took an envelope marked "Tips for the Staff," we at first assumed that this individual is a blood relative or protege of the unreformed Grinch. Then, a more likely suspect appeared...

Who would attack a Mead Hall, especially one who's so committed to our community? Well, according to the scholars of old, the answer appears to be obvious: Grendel.

That's right. The joy, revelry, and harmony that we promote at our Mead Hall has been stirring the evil in the heart of this great beast.

​But, unlike the men of Hrothgar: Our Wassail is not over; we do not weep to Heaven nor mourn under the sun! Why?

First and foremost, no one was hurt. Glass can be replaced, doors repaired, and money made; but our staff and customers are all safe and sound, and that's what really matters to us.

Next, The Colchester Police Department has been absolutely amazing. They were at the scene before we even got there from our home. They not only did an amazing job with the details of the case, but they were very, very supportive to our little six-year-old pseudo-staff member, Lillian.

Lillian was there when the break-in was discovered, and as you can imagine, she was really upset that one of her safe places was broken into. Officers Jeff and Mark went above and beyond to make sure she felt comfortable and safe, even making her an honorary member of the Colchester Police Force with her own little sticker badge.

Lillian is really the hero of our story. Last night, she came over to Ricky and Kelly's house to make sure that they were OK, even sitting with Ricky to read his favorite book.

Then, this morning, she proudly announced - before going to school - that she didn't care about the monster, she was going to go win all of our tips back. (Not giving a coherent plan, we asked her not to engage in mortal combat, but we told her that we really appreciate the sentiment.)

So, if you see Officers Jeff or Mark, please thank them for doing such an amazing job with our Little Hero.

And, of course, if you see our Little Hero, please tell her how proud you are of her, because we can't possibly tell her enough.


Of course, if you do have something to report, a little more information about the burglary is here, and you can contact the police at 802-264-5555