GARAGISTE

[ga-ra-jeest] noun

A small-scale entrepreneurial wine-maker who does not adhere to the traditions of wine making.

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Garagiste Meadery started with humble beginnings as home meadmakers in 2015.

The prior year we'd had the opportunity to try meads from a small commercial outfit in Michigan.  I don't know that we recognized at the time that it was a life altering event; but, mostly out of desire to have more mead in our lives that measured up to the quality we had experienced from them we decided to start making our own.  Having no local meadmakers to draw from, this gave us the luxury of being unafraid to experiment with flavors and ingredients not associated with meads.  Some experiments failed and others worked great, all had a powerful influence on how we saw mead and what we thought mead could be.

Like any hobby we dove face first into meadmaking.  Our goal was simple, to create memorable experiences through mead using locally produced ingredients to the extent possible.  Soon we were sharing those meads with friends and they shared them with others. I suppose a phenomenon of sorts was born and fast forward another year and we're being invited to pour at local festivals.

In early 2016 we decided to make Garagiste Meadery a legitimate business.  The original concept was a side job of sorts, we'd make mead between our other day jobs.  In April 2016 we launched a crowdfunding campaign to get started.  Without much expectations or fanfare we put ourselves out there.  The campaign closed a month later making Garagiste Meadery the largest publicly funded Meadery in history by a wide margin.

After some soul searching we decided that we'd throw our fate to the winds and let the voice of the people be heard.  Garagiste Meadery would be a full Meadery with a Tasting Room and become our family business.  As the Meadery came together we felt the impetus to get better.  

Thankfully, some great meadmakers embraced us and helped refine Garagiste Meadery to where we are today.  

Come on in, experience mead with us.  The exploration continues and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride.