4-22-25 Tonight we’re talking with Arne Defurne, owner and head meadmaker of Clockwork Bee Mead in Antwerp, Belgium. Arne has a nano-meadery that is growing, and makes some pretty ‘ok’ mead, producing mostly dry and off-dry meads, which is uncommon. We will dig into this and see what Arne is up to over there.
Back in 2019, Arne came to the 2 first European meadmakers conferences and at the end of the second one was told to bring his own mead next time. Little did they know he had started making first batch right before leaving for EMMAcon. Arne is one of the people behind European meadmakers Association and worked on the just launched realmead certification program in Europe.
It was 2019 and Arne did not have a pico meadery but a shower meadery (see photo to the right). He had a separate spare shower where he installed a rack where all fermentation was done. In 2020 he entered in the Mead Madness Cup home competition in Poland, but due to covid EMMcon was canceled and the Mead Madness Cup was an online medal ceremony and Arne won 2 gold medals. From then on the hobby became too expensive (he made more than 15 different meads in 1 year) and he started as a gypsy meadery at the Blacksmith's Meadery.
From a mead enthusiast to home meadmaking spiraling out of control, and two years ago launching the first Belgian gypsy meadery under the guidance of the Blacksmith's Meadery. Driven by a passion for intricate flavor combinations, Arne’s goal is to reintroduce this ancient beverage to modern audiences with a fresh twist. As a mead maker, he focuses on crafting what he loves to drink. He’s deeply intrigued by how different flavors interact and how to blend them effectively. This curiosity leads him to explore methods that allows him to elegantly and fully integrate these flavor profiles into his meads. As a result, his products are uniquely positioned as semi-dry and dry meads, setting them apart from the more typical sweeter options.
As a certified Belgian craft producer, Arne uses only the finest local ingredients and honey sourced from controlled European origins, resulting in high-quality meads that have already earned several awards.
Join us to chat with Christian and explore meadmaking!
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Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.
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Crafting excellent mead requires excellent honey. Luckily The Honey Jar is here to help. Since 2005 The Honey Jar has been supplying delicious pure raw honey in easy to handle 12-pound pails to hobbyist brewers around the United States. Visit us at TheHoneyJarHome.com/gotmead
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Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff
The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff
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