What is Bos Meadery?
Bos Meadery is Madison, Wisconsin’s first Meadery. Madison has local craft breweries and distilleries, as well as a thriving local beekeeping culture. It's time for a craft meadery to join the scene.
Bos Meadery makes the best fermented drink you've never had and I really want to share it with you.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/BosMeadery
What is mead?
Mead is fermented water and honey. It’s about the strength of wine and it's like drinking the aroma of honey. Great mead reflects the flavor its landscape and Bos Mead will be the essence of the flora of Wisconsin in drinkable form. Like craft beer, it combines well with some very unique ingredients and flavors, like black pepper or lavender. It also gives you a very happy buzz!
It is the world’s oldest fermented beverage. However, it’s also experiencing a renaissance here in the US. New meaderies are opening up all over the country. The rise of mead has been covered by the New York Times, Forbes and NPR. It's inevitable that one will open up here in Madison and I'm excited to be the one to do it.
Check out the following if you want to learn more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/mead-enjoys-a-renaissance.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2011/10/24/top-10-food-trends/
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/01/135818740/medieval-no-more-mead-enjoys-a-renaissance
What makes Bos Mead different from other meads?
Bos Meadery is going to make dry and sparkling meads from local and regional honeys. Many meads available nationally are traditional, sweet, still (uncarbonated) meads. Bos Meadery is focused on a modern approach to mead using the latest research on yeast and fermentation. The result is a mead that is smoother and lighter on the palate and more suitable for pairing with food. If you are a food and beverage connoisseur, you will really enjoy exploring this new avenue in food and drink pairings.
Bos Meadery will also source ingredients from local and regional suppliers as much as possible. The flavor will be unique to southern Wisconsin. And money you spend on Bos Mead will also be channeled into the local economy wherever possible.
What will the funding go toward?
These Kickstarter funds will go towards bringing Bos Mead to market. This includes buying honey, yeast, juices, and other ingredients for the initial batches. It also includes bottles, corks, foils, cleansers and so forth. You'd be surprised how these things all add up fast. I've got the space and the equipment, but your support in making these first batches the best that they can be will be critical to get Bos Mead on the market successfully.
Funds will also be used to get tables and chairs, so we can eventually have a small tasting room (mead hall!) on-site. If you live in Madison, you'll eventually be able to stop by our near east side location and quaff the latest in fermented gold. Bos Meadery will be a part of a food and drink renaissance on the east side that includes the Underground Food Collective, Old Sugar Distillery, One Barrel Brewhouse and many others who are keeping the east side as lively as it always has been.
My family and I have invested a lot of private capital and taken on considerable debt to get this Meadery off the ground and I am very close! With just a little help from you, we will have mead on the shelves of your favorite local store or available in your favorite bar this Fall and long into the future.
Of course, you'll also be indirectly supporting the Wisconsin honey farmers and beekeepers who are helping to ensure that the bee colonies are healthy and happy to pollinate our crops for years to come.
Who is behind Bos Meadery anyway?
I’m Colleen Bos, a former medieval historian and long-time home brewer. I’ve been making mead for 9 years. I’ve studied brewing technology at the Siebel Institute in Chicago, the world-renowned instructional facility of brewing science. I also worked as a project manager for research and technology companies for about 12 years. I’ve taken some business classes and I collaborated with an amazing network of people to help develop my business plan.
What’s in it for contributors?
Lots of things:
- You’ll get the satisfaction of being an elite member of a community of people who helped make this creative enterprise happen.
- You’ll be bringing more boozey goodness to Madison and the Midwest.
- You’ll be supporting a small business that will be a responsible member of the community and employ people in the future.
- You’ll get the cool rewards outlined to the right.
- You'll be supporting local agriculture and helping to keep bee colonies alive and thriving in Wisconsin.
How can I help?
Participate by selecting your reward from the list at the right.
Spread the word to others you know who might be interested. If I don't reach my entire financial goal by my project's deadline, I will receive none of the funds raised thus far. Use email, facebook, twitter, or good ol' word of mouth to help me spread the word. It goes a long way these days, and I appreciate it.
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (32 days)