We had some great Mead Cocktails entered in our competition. We'd like to congratulate our winners: Melissa Rixon and Chris Vintinner!

​And congratulations to Bryce Turner, our runner up! And, he was competing in the Collegiate category!

Full recipes coming soon...

Flowers make nectar, bees collect nectar, bees make honey, farmers collect honey, honey becomes mead.

Great. That part is easy. Now there are 8,000 cans of mead sitting at the Mead Hall. What happens next is the tricky part.

You see, our single most common phone call at the Mead Hall (other than telemarketers) is people telling us that they've visited their favorite store or bar and there's no mead!

With all those cans at the Mead Hall, how does it actually get to you?

Here's the TL;DR version: You ask for mead, and a system of people gets it to your bar.

And here's today's Viking Baby Countdown Special:
Go to your local bar, ask them to get Groennfell or Havoc, and if they pick up craft mead any time during the month of May, Jami will meet you there personally to have a pint!

So, if all you care about is having a pint with our company's most competent drinker, then stop reading here, and get out to your favorite bar!

If you want to know a little more about distributing here, you go...

Most craft brewers use a distributor, even if they're allowed to self-distribute. [1] We work with Farrell Distributing, and they're amazing. They run an incredibly complicated system of buyers, sales reps, managers, drivers, and those are just the people we see on a weekly basis.

It's incredible to realize that this team (no matter how large it is) represents literally thousands of products. Seriously, go check out their products page.

So, here's the quick version of how our mead gets into your favorite bar.
1) Farrell makes a prediction about future sales and tries to stock the right amount.
2) Jami visits stores and bars around the state telling them about our products.
3) If customers have mentioned mead or asked for it, the account is much, much more likely to pick us up.
4) A manager at the store orders the mead through their Farrell representative.
5) The order goes to Farrell's warehouse where they put our mead on a truck with hundreds of beers and wines.
6) The manager has to find a place in the bar or on the shelf to display our mead.
7) At last, ideally, someone goes in there to buy and enjoy it.

So go to your local bar and ask for mead! And don't forget to tell us where you've asked so that Jami can meet you there for a pint.

[1] In most states, it is legal for alcohol manufacturers to distribute their own product, if it is brewed within the state and the manufacturer takes on the burden of two tiers of the distribution system. In fact, many breweries that distribute their own product do so by starting a distributing company which they sell their product to, and having that separate company do the distribution to stores and bars.

It's Day 4 of the Viking Baby Countdown, and we have a great one for you!

Snap a selfie of yourself buying a 4-pack of Groennfell or Havoc anywhere around the state and be automatically entered for a chance to win...

wait for it...

A Free Dinner at Restaurant Night at the Mead Hall! That's right, we're finally releasing our full menu on Saturday, May 20th, and you could be one of the first to try it!

To help you find the nearest spot to grab yourself a selfie, Kelly has updated the Mead Finder. Click here to find Groennfell Mead and here to find Havoc Mead at a store near you.

And the winner of the Viking photo contest is...
Jax the Viking Dog!

Pirate photo winner coming soon...
We saw a lot of photos being taken, but not a lot have found their way to us. Be sure to make your photos public and tag Groennfell or Havoc so we can see them!

Congratulations, Matt Lorence and your Fenberry Orange Glaze! You two are the winners of Groennfell Meadery's very first recipe competition! 

You have won:

• A Private Tasting for you and three friends!
  
• A guest appearance on Ask the Meadmaker!
• Wicked awesome bragging rights!
• And your photo on our website making you look like you're wanted for armed robbery!

Have you ever wanted to appear in an episode of Ask the Meadmaker?

...um, is honey sweet?

Well, now's your chance to win a spot on an upcoming episode! Here's what you do:
- Enter a mead-based recipe below before July 31st
- Be 21 or over
- Be either a Vermont resident or live really close
- Wait patiently until we judge all the recipes

Then, on August 4th, we'll announce the winner! If you win you'll:
- Get a private tasting  and meadery tour for you and three friends
- Get bragging rights comparable to winning a Gold Medal in Speed Skating
- Get to eat delicious foods cooked with mead
- Get to co-host an episode of Ask the Meadmaker!

The Fine Print: Open to all US residents 21 and over. Transportation to the meadery will not be provided (this is why we recommend that you be a Vermont resident or live nearby). All recipes become the property of Groennfell Meadery, but we won't be dicks about it. All recipes  must be submitted by Midnight EST on 7/31/14.