National Honey Board’s Mead Crafters Competition Online Registration Is Open

The National Honey Board will once again present its Mead Crafters Competition and is now accepting entries in its 2020 competition via its online registration. This annual competition recognizes the best meads in the nation.

“We talked to quite a few meaderies about whether we should host this year’s competition due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the mead industry,” said Catherine Barry, National Honey Board’s director of marketing, in a statement. “We received a resounding ‘Yes, have the competition!’ because we’re able to offer a free competition and truly promote some amazing meads in the country.”

The Mead Crafters Competition is a BJCP-sanctioned competition hosted by the National Honey Board, aimed at recognizing the best meads in the United States. Categories include dessert mead, metheglin, pyment, varietal meads, braggots, cysers and a design/packaging category, among others. This year’s entries must be submitted by Thursday, Sept. 3, and entries must be commercially available in the United States. Meaderies may submit multiple entries per category, but each mead may only be entered in one category. The competition will be limited to 350 entries. To register, visit http://meadcrafterscompetition.com/.

Last year, more than 344 meads competed for hardware in the inaugural competition. The S’mores the Merrier from Dragon’s Lair Meadery in Lakewood, WA, won Best of Show honors. Rounding out the Best of Show podium were Ancient Fire Mead & Cider’s Sweet Burn Dude! and Lost Cause Meadery’s Heavy Meadow.

Here’s a rundown of the 2019 Gold Medal recipients.

2019 Gold Medal Recipients
Braggot: Heaven and Heathen — Guadalupe Brewery in collaboration with Mjodhall Meadery
Cyser: Dakota Apple — Prairie Rose Meadery
Dessert Mead — Semi-Sweet: Bourbon Stag — Haymaker Meadery
Dessert Mead — Sweet: Sky River Solas Honey Wine — Sky River Mead
Fruit/Vegetable Melomel: Embrace — Moonlight Meadery
Fruit/Vegetable Melomel — Semi-Sweet: Red Dress — Moonlight Meadery
Fruit/Vegetable Melomel — Sweet: Heavy Meadow — Lost Cause Meadery
Metheglin — Dry: Lipgloss & Gunpowder — Unpossible Mead
Metheglin — Semi-Sweet: Zydeco Buzz — Lost Cause Meadery
Metheglin — Sweet: Sweet Burn Dude! — Ancient Fire Mead & Cider
Pyment — Dry: Melissa — Meridian Hive Meadery
Pyment — Semi-Sweet: Zen Orange Blossom — Feisty Brood Meadery
Pyment — Sweet: Sky River Pyment — Sky River Mead
Session Mead — Dry: Standard Ile — Philadelphia Mead Well
Session Mead — Semi-Sweet: Pollen-Nation — Crafted Artisan Meadery
Session Mead — Sweet: Apple Crumble — Crafted Artisan Meadery
Specialty — Dry: Hawaiian Lehua Blossom Naturally Sparkling Dry Mead — Heidrun Meadery
Specialty — Semi-Sweet: Collaboration Peach Methomel — Space Time Mead & Cider Works in collaboration with Honey Hole Winery
Specialty — Sweet: The S’mores the Merrier — Dragon’s Lair Meadery
Traditional — Dry: Brother Adam — The Mead Werks at Wilderbee Farm
Traditional — Semi-Sweet: Orange Blossom Mead — Martin Brothers Winery
Traditional — Sweet: Boudica’s Uprising — Honey Grail
Varietal — Dry: 2018 All-Wise Rhodomel — All-Wise Meadery
Varietal — Semi-Sweet: Buckwheat Mead — Feisty Brood Meadery
Varietal — Sweet: Oak Meadowfoam — Garagiste Meadery
Design/Packaging: Meloluna — Blacksnake Meadery

For a complete list of the 2019 Mead Crafters Competition winners, click here.