Before the Meadery

If you've found your way here, chances are you're interested in mead, honey, or perhaps you've stumbled across a small dream that's slowly turning into a business.

Either way, welcome.

Before I talk about fermenters, recipes, and the journey of building a meadery, I thought it would be worth introducing myself and sharing a bit about the road that led me here.

I've always enjoyed making things.

Not necessarily because I wanted to sell them or turn them into a business, but because there's something satisfying about creating something with your own hands. Whether it's building, fixing, experimenting, or learning a new skill, I've always been drawn to projects that start as an idea and slowly become reality.

Like many people, I spent years working, raising a family, paying bills, and getting on with life. But there was always a part of me looking for the next challenge, the next thing to learn.

That challenge eventually arrived in the form of a jar of honey.

What started as curiosity quickly became obsession. I discovered mead and found myself diving headfirst into a world of fermentation, yeast, honey varieties, traditional techniques, modern methods, and an endless stream of opinions from brewers around the world.

My first batches were small. Five litres at a time. Simple ingredients and plenty of mistakes.

Batches line up at the starting line.

Some batches were fantastic.

Some batches taught valuable lessons.

A few taught very expensive lessons.

But every batch left me wanting to learn more.

Batches lined up again after their first racking.

Before long, the hobby began to spread. Fermenters appeared in cupboards, laundries, and any warm corner of the house I could claim. Books, notebooks, hydrometers, sanitiser, buckets, and bottles slowly became part of everyday life.

Fortunately, my wife Kylie has been incredibly supportive throughout the process, even when the house began looking less like a home and more like a small-scale fermentation laboratory.

Bottles taking over the fridge!

The deeper I went, the more I realised something interesting.

Making mead wasn't just about producing alcohol.

It brought together so many things I enjoy: creativity, craftsmanship, science, history, problem-solving, and the satisfaction of sharing something you've made with other people.

Eventually a question started forming in the back of my mind.

What if this could become something more?

That question became the seed of what would eventually grow into Neilson Meadery.

This blog is going to document that journey honestly. The successes, the mistakes, the challenges, the lessons learned, and everything that happens in between.

I'm certainly not claiming to know everything. In many ways, I'm still learning every day.

But if you're interested in mead, small business, building something from the ground up, or simply following along as one bloke from Taranaki and his wife chase a dream, I hope you'll find something here worth reading.

Thanks for joining me.

The story of the meadery starts next time.