Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 4: Algomah Acres

May 31, 2014 Allen Jones Leave a comment

This is a continuation of our Crowdfunding your Meadery series, examining the funding tiers of successful mead Kickstarter projects to identify commonality between funding levels and determine what items are most likely to be purchased by a project’s backers. For a list of articles in this series, see the first article here. In this article, we will examine the Algomah Acres Honey House Meadery Kickstarter project, which can be found here.

Algomah Acres Honey House Meadery started as a passion and a lifestyle for Melissa Hronkin and John Hersman. Seeking to support sustainable farming and artisanal products, they combined their love of beekeeping with arguably the most sustainable form of alcohol available, mead. Made from only honey, traditional meads require no irrigation, fertilizer, or toxic pesticides, and are still labor intensive as the process to raise bees can not be mechanized like the processing of fruit orchards and vineyards.

To support this dream, Melissa and John started a Kickstarter project in July 2011, and ran the project for 60 days. Their initial funding goal was $9,300, and 170 backers provided a total of $9,676 to beat their goal by 4%. These funds would support the initial licensing fees and equipment purchases necessary to get bring the Sweetness and the Light to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Algomah project included nine funding tiers from $1 up to $2,500, with options from thank you cards and beeswax lip balm at the low end, up to a gourmet meal for 2 that included all other items available. Details concerning the funding tiers, number of backers who supported the funding tiers, and the total amount of funding per funding tier can be found in the figures below.

Raw data of Bee Well Meadery’s Kickstarter project. — Raw data of Algomah Acres Honey House Meadery’s Kickstarter project.

Analysis of the backers and total funding received per funding tier for Algomah Acres’ Kickstarter project.

The most purchased tier included a thank you card, lip balm, 4 oz jar of honey, and an invitation to the Harvest Party at the Algomah Acres Honey House a month after the conclusion of the project in October, with 69 total backers (almost 50% of the accounted for backers in the funding tier table above). However, this funding tier only accounted for 24% of the total funding received. The tiers that included a t-shirt and gift box, and a custom painted bee hive in addition to the other funding tier projects, brought in 24% and 21% of the total funding, despite only having 7 and 3 backers respectively. The two most expensive tiers, which included the option to help craft a production mead recipe and the option for a special dinner for two prepared by the head meadmaker, did not receive any backers.

While Algomah didn’t include a mead club membership option in their funding tiers, their project shows that unique ticket based options can drive backer purchases. Unfortunately, this tier’s success cannot fully be attributed to the Harvest Party invitation, as it included 4 oz of honey from the Algomah Acres. However, $25 for 4 oz of honey is an extremely steep price, so it is assumed that the majority of the interest in this funding tier was related to the Harvest Party ticket (if not only due to the this being a relatively cost friendly tier with the lower tier at $5 and the next most expensive tier at $50).

Check back with us next week as we continue our Crowdfunding your Meadery series, determining the most popular products amongst the successfully funded meadery Kickstarter projects. Next up, Golden Coast Mead, whose Kickstarter project can be found here.

Mead Industry Analysis

Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 3: Bee Well Meadery

May 30, 2014 Allen Jones Leave a comment

This is a continuation of our Crowdfunding your Meadery series, examining the funding tiers of successful mead Kickstarter projects to identify commonality between funding levels and determine what items are most likely to be purchased by a project’s backers. For a list of articles in this series, see the first article here. In this article, we will examine Bee Well Meadery‘s Kickstarter project, which can be found here.

Chris and Jeremy VanSice started their Kickstarter campgaign out of necessity to meet building code requirements. They had put five years of work into building out their facility, and were running out of funding just toward the end of their meadery build out. Like many enterprising entrepreneurs, they sought crowdfunding for the final push to install a new well and septic system.

Bee Well Meadery is located in a picturesque region of Northern Michigan. The VanSice brothers’ roots in the town of Bellaire span six generations. Their location nestled on a peninsula between Clam Lake, Lake Bellaire, and Torch Lake, guarantees that their bees only forage the local fruit orchards and wild thistle of the peninsula, resulting in a truly unique product that can only be found at Bee Well Meadery.

The Bee Well Meadery Kickstarter project had a funding goal of $9,000 to support the construction of a new well, septic system, and heating and cooling odds and ends. The VanSice brothers offered six funding tiers, starting at $1 for recognition on their future website, up to a $750 tier to create a custom mead recipe they would produce and sell through the meadery.

Over the 30 day project, Bee Well Meadery raised $14,348 from 218 backers, beating the funding goal by 59%. Details concerning the funding tiers, number of backers who supported the funding tiers, and the total amount of funding per funding tier can be found in the figures below.

Analysis of the backers and total funding received per funding tier for Bee Well Meadery’s Kickstarter project.

Bee Well Meadery’s Kickstarter project included stickers, honey from the Bee Well Meadery Farm, t-shirts, an exclusive founding club membership (to receive advance access to new products before they hit the shelves), and the unique opportunity to create the backer’s own mead recipe. Interestingly, every funding tier received backers, and the opportunity to create a mead recipe reached its limit of two backers.

Setting the first funding goal at $1 lured 14 backers into supporting the project, and likely much more from sharing the projects with their friends. Each successive funding tier included all of the rewards of the previous tiers. Interestingly, the honey and exclusive membership options were nearly identical in the number of backers, 65 and 73 respectively, but the funding received from the exclusive membership accounted for more than 50% of the total funding received.

Is Bee Well Meadery onto something here with the exclusive membership option to receive backers? Check us out later in the week (possibly next week) to find out if this trend continues as we continue our Crowdfunding your Meadery analysis series. Next up, Algomah Acres Honey House Meadery, whose Kickstarter project can be found here.

Mead Industry Analysis

Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 2: Vanaheim Gold

May 22, 2014 Allen Jones Leave a comment

This is a continuation of our Crowdfunding your Meadery series, examining the funding tiers of successful mead Kickstarter projects to identify commonality between funding levels and determine what items are most likely to be purchased by a project’s backers. For a list of articles in this series, see the first article here. In this article, we will examine Vanaheim Gold’s Kickstarter projects, which can be found here: successful project and unsuccessful project.

Torvald Adolphson, owner and vintner at Wide-in-Wisdom Winery in Bastrop, Texas, didn’t take no for an answer when his first Kickstarter project failed in early 2012. The Wide-in-Wisdom Winery creates its meads under the brand name Vanaheim Gold (website, facebook). According to Adolphson, the Vanaheim Gold name pays homage to the realm of the World Tree where the gods of farming and fertility lived.

Adolphson’s first project funding goal was $10,000, and consisted of six funding tiers, from $25 to $5,000 (project link). During the 30 days of this project, Vanaheim Gold secured $1,121 from 17 backers. A further explanation of the funding tiers used for this unsuccessful project, the number of backers per tier, and a comparison pie chart of how much money was received per tier are shown in the figures below.

Raw data of Vanaheim Gold’s unsuccessful Kickstarter project.

Analysis of the backers and total funding received per funding tier for Vanaheim Gold’s unsuccessful Kickstarter project.

Following his unsuccessful project’s conclusion, Adolphson was undeterred. Just 48 days after the first project, Adolphson sought funding for Vanaheim Gold again, but this time with updated goals, funding tiers, and project duration (project link). The funding goal of the new project was $3,950, and 40 days were allowed for collecting the necessary funds. Adolphson simplified the funding tiers to four levels, starting at $25 and going to $100. By the end of the project, the Kickstarter project had collected $4,502 from 47 backers, beating his funding goal by 14%. Additional details concerning the funding tiers, number of backers who supported the funding tiers, and total amount of funding per funding tier are shown in the figures below.

Vanaheim Gold's Successful Data — Raw data of Vanaheim Gold’s successful Kickstarter project.

Analysis of the backers and total funding received per funding tier for Vanaheim Gold’s successful Kickstarter project.

Comparing the two projects, some interesting trends appear. For the unsuccessful project, there were many high ticket items that did not receive any backers. These expensive options included a framed poster of the Vanaheim Gold logo, additional t-shirts to those provided at the lower funding levels, a set of six etched wine glasses, and a personal tasting for the backer and friends. When creating the second project, Adolphson removed these options from his project and simplified the set of items that could be purchased.

The successful project included four funding tiers, of which the first, a $10 option for a certificate of thanks bearing the official Vanaheim Gold logo, did not receive any backers. However, each of the remaining three funding tiers received backers: twenty-two backers for tier 2 at $25 each, seven for tier 3 at $50, and eleven for tier 3 at $100. These funding levels included a 4″ sticker of the Vanaheim Gold logo, grey t-shirts bearing the Vanaheim Gold and Wide-in-Wisdom Winery logos, and according to the Kickstarter project updates (but not in the table above), an undisclosed number of bottles from the first mead production run if the $100 or more was given. Kickstarter regulations forbid the giving of alcohol as one of the funding tiers, and thus it was left of the tier definitions for the project (and subsequently not included in the table data above).

A quick and dirty analysis of the data would suggest that certificates of thanks, meadery logo posters, and large funding levels for private tastings are not as popular as branded t-shirts, stickers, and (dare we say it) bottles of mead. But this is only analysis for Vanaheim Gold and its backers. A single data point is anecdotal.

Check back with us later in the week as we examine the other successfully funded meadery projects on Kickstarter. Up next, Bee Well Meadery from Northern Michigan. Their Kickstarter project can be found here.

Mead Industry Analysis

Crowdfunding Your Meadery, Part 1

May 20, 2014 Allen Jones Leave a comment

This is the first in a series of analyses conducted to identify common threads between the successful meadery projects on kickstarter.

Part 2, analyzing Vanaheim Gold’s project can be found here.

Part 3, analyzing Bee Well Meadery’s project can be found here.

Part 4, analyzing Algomah Acres’ project can be found here.

Part 5, analyzing Golden Coast Mead’s project can be found here.

Part 6, analyzing Leaky Roof Meadery’s project can be found here.

Part 7, analyzing Melovino Meadery’s project can be found here.

Part 8, analyzing Bos Meadery’s project can be found here.

Best Practices for Crowdfunding your Meadery, found here.

Crowdfunding your Meadery: An Analysis of Meadery Funding Raised on Kickstarter

New meadery owners face numerous challenges, from an intense regulatory burden designed to protect the existing of the beer and wine industries, to the time required to educate potential customers that mead is not just a mispronunciation of “meat.” Maybe most importantly, a meadery owner must also find the initial startup funding to create the meadery.

The upfront cost to enter the alcohol industry keeps many aspiring meadmakers from taking the plunge into the commercial market. It often takes more than a year to secure a winery license, during which rent is still being paid. Then there is the time it takes to ferment and age that batch before selling it on the market. When factoring in the costs of the fermenting and bottling equipment itself, and that honey as the primary fermentable is significantly more expensive than grapes (traditional wine) or cereal grains (beer), it is easy to see that it takes a small fortune to start a meadery. Luckily, recent changes in the crowdfunding marketplace provide a viable option for meaderies to seek funding directly from their potential customers before that first batch is ever started.

At the time of this writing, twenty meadery projects have sought funding through Kickstarter. Seven were successful in securing funding to start or expand a meadery. What set these seven projects apart from the others and led to their funding? Read on to find out.

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is the process of acquiring small amounts of funding from a large number of people, compared to traditional venture capital funding in large increments from a small number of donors. The majority of crowdfunding to date has been rewards based; that is, for a given amount of money the funders will get a small reward. Equity crowdfunding (where donors buy an equity stake in the company) also exists, but for the purpose of this article, only rewards based crowdfunding is examined.

Kickstarter is the largest and most well-known crowdfunding site, and is the only platform considered in the following analysis. Other crowdfunding sites, such as Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, Rockethub, etc., may also be great options to seek meadery fundings. However, based on quick searches, Kickstarter was the most commonly used project for meadery funding projects. For those seeking more information about these platforms and which is best for you, see Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites for Fundraising, at Forbes.com.

Kickstarter Project Analysis

A search for keywords “mead” and “meadery” of the Kickstarter project database returned a total of 20 attempted projects, seven of which successfully met their funding goal. The successful funding goals ranged from $3,950 to $25,000, with an average project value of $13,311. The number of backers per successful project ranged from 47 to 218, and the average amount of funding provided per backer was $120. Figure 1 presents the funding goals and totals per meadery, and Figure 2 shows the number of backers and average backer contribution.

Funding Goal and Total Funding Received — Figure 1. The funding goals and the total funding received for each of the successful meaderies.

Number of backers and Average Contribution — Figure 2. Number of backers and their average contribution to the successful meadery projects.

Check back soon for in-depth analysis of each meadery’s funding tier decisions, their performance in receiving backers at each funding tier, and an analysis of what rewards are the most successful when deciding on what you want to sell. I’m not sure the data will provide the best reward exactly, but there I believe there will be at least some correlation between the types of rewards purchased among each of these meaderies. For instance, I know I would be most interested in purchasing glassware (I already have enough t-shirts). But is that the most chosen reward among the meaderies? And how much money could you reasonably expect to make if you sold a pint glass for those session meads? And is a pint glass the most wanted glass type, or is it tulip shaped glass with a stem for the standard strength meads, or maybe even a tumbler for any sack or distilled meads? We’ll let you know what we find out as the week goes by.

Got any other analysis you’d like to know about meaderies and Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments section and we’ll try to include it in the upcoming series. And if you run a meadery and want to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you!

Musings

Musings, Episode 2

May 13, 2014 Allen Jones 6 Comments

Maybe I’ll turn this whole musings concept into a recurring feature. Looking at my page views, they spiked after my last Musings post, then tapered a bit and have started dropping off.

MeadMakr.com

I’ve been working on a few projects lately. First, after considering the content of the blog here at TBM, I have realized that I am writing too much on topics that don’t relate to the initial concept of this website. I want TBM to tell the story of expanding from a hobby meadmaker into a professional meadery. But, this step isn’t going to occur for many years, and it leaves me writing much more about general meadmaking concepts and less about the idea of planning a business, the legal ramifications of starting a company (should I choose an LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, sole-proprietorship?), or the general issues concerning scaling a batch from 5 gallons to 55 gallons or more. To this end, over the next few months I will again be shifting gears as I transition the blog content of TBM over to a new website, MeadMakr.com.

I have been reading a lot of Smart Passive Income lately, and am intrigued by the process Pat Flynn has chosen in developing new niche sites and getting them ranked high in search results. If you have a new website, or are fighting to increase your search engine ranking, it is worth looking at Pat’s Niche Site Duel website for ideas.

I am striving to be more strategic with the MeadMakr.com launch than I was with the original TBM blogspot or this webpage. I want to make an impact when I launch the site, and that means pre-writing content for scheduled releases, and actually putting forth the effort to market the website (check out this guide for how to launch: How to Launch a Brand New Website). Until all of this is done, I will continue updating here, but the topics may not be as in depth as some of my previous posts.

American Mead Maker, Journal of the American Mead Makers Association

On other fronts, I am trying to improve my credibility in the industry by volunteering to write articles for the American Mead Maker, the Journal of the American Mead Makers Association. These will be articles targeted towards the amateur and professional alike, and are much more akin to investigative journalism than typical blog posts. I have identified a few topics that I would like to write, and am working on the first one now. If I can get it done by the June 1st deadline, you might see my name by an article coming up in July.

First up, I am analyzing the best practices for meaderies pursuing crowdfunding for their initial startup cash. Breaking into the alcohol industry presents a series of barriers, and the process to start your first batch of legally produced alcohol can take up to 2 years. So how are meaderies coping with this? Crowdfunding is one option, and I am looking at both the funded and unfunded projects to identify any common threads between the successful meaderies. Plenty of advice exists on using crowdfunding sites in general, but I think by focusing on the mead industry, I may be able to identify some techniques that help ensure a strong following.

I also plan to contact those successful meaderies to get their take on whether it was a worthwhile investment of their time and energy to get funded. I’m hoping to have the article framework written this week, and to contact a few of the meaderies next week for their input.

Link Roundup

Lastly, I want to provide a roundup of a few links I found interesting this week.

Michigan Mead Brew Sales Take Off as State Fuels the Buzz. This is a great piece on the growth of the mead industry. Michigan is the top mead producing state by shear number of meaderies, and possibly by total quantity. This article highlights B. Nektar, and how they are working to expand production, hoping to reach 100,000 gallons of mead this year. That’s more than 40,000 cases!
Similarly, Moonlight Meadery re-linked an article about their founding. Considering their current distribution, this encompasses another great story of growth in the industry.
Cinco de Mayo was last week, and if you missed it, Meadist posted a great recipe for a Meadarita.

Got any thoughts on the MeadMakr.com transition, ideas for articles in the American Mead Maker, or general ideas on things you’d like to know about mead, let us know in the comments section below.

Uncategorized

Fermentation Temperature Control

May 5, 2014 Allen Jones 2 Comments

With the coming of spring (and hotter days), fermentation temperature control is once again an important issue. As I mentioned previously in the Analyzing Mead Recipes post, whatever yeast you choose for your fermentation likely has an ideal temperature range. Some yeasts are better than others operating outside their temperature range, but in general, it is best to find the right temperature and stick there. At our household, winter provides an ideal temperature setting for fermentation, as we keep the house in the mid 60s. This is right in the middle of many mead yeasts ranges. Unfortunately in summer our house often climbs into the 80s, well above the temperature range of most yeast types. This requires creative action to manage your temperatures and maximize their flavor contributions. Here are a few common ways to accomplish this.

The Fermentation Fridge

Using a temperature controller with a refrigeration unit to keep mead cool.

If you are a member of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), or frequent their website, you might have seen a recent article on a fastastic homebrew setup for controlling temperatures. Most may not be able to afford a setup this elaborate, but this is a good example of how refrigeration can be used to control temperatures. In an ideal world, at TBM we would be using a similar setup to control our fermentation temperatures. The only way to truly replicate a recipe is to control the temperature, and fermentation chambers are your best bet on a small scale (jacketed tanks with glycol coolers also work, but are a significant increase in setup cost and complexity).

To build a fermentation chamber, start with a simple chest freezer. When purchasing one, ensure that there is adequate space inside to handle the number of actively fermenting musts or worts that you will have at any given time. You will also need a temperature controller to maintain a constant temperature of the chamber. Chest freezers are meant to keep their contents below freezing, but meadmakers are going to want their temperatures between 50 and 75 depending on the yeast.

Many temperature controllers exist. Your more basic controllers only take the measurement of the chamber and ensure that the temperature stays lower than your threshold. More advanced controllers might include two temperature inputs, usually the temperature of the chamber and the temperature of the must or wort. Lastly, the most advanced controllers include a measurement of the ambient air outside your temperature chamber in addition to the temperature of the must and chamber. This provides the best control of the must temperature, as it can predict fluctuations in the external environment to predict the heat transfer of the system. As you can imagine, these controllers get more expensive as their capability increases. Choose the best setup for you starting out. You can always upgrade in the future if need be.

At a later date I will provide details of the buildout of a fermentation chamber for TBM, but I haven’t sprung for the supplies yet. But that doesn’t mean I can’t keep a must cool enough to keep yeast happy. The next two options are great for those on a budget who aren’t yet ready to spring for a fermentation chamber.

The Carboy in Ice Bucket Technique

Cooling a fermenting must with ice may be hands on, but it provides a great buffer against hot temperatures.

One way to keep a fermentation cold is to place your carboy or fermenting bucket into a larger container that has cold water inside of it. Playing around with the additions of ice, you can control both how hot and cold your must can get depending on your house temperature. I find it best to use ice packs or frozen water bottles rather than ice directly. With straight ice additions, you may overflow your bucket with too many additions.

Start with a wider bucket or tray than your fermenter with an interior dimension at least six inches high, strong enough to withstand the weight of your full fermenter, and waterproof. The larger your tray, the better. The amount of cold water inside acts as a heat sink, absorbing the temperature rise from an active fermentation and providing a barrier to the warmer ambient temperature. Five gallon fermenters can easily weigh 60 pounds when you include the weight of the carboy/bucket and its ingredients, so strength of the system is key. You don’t want to go through all this effort only to have it break (and spilling everywhere) during your fermentation.

Place your fermenter inside the tray. Fill the tray as high as you are comfortable, enough to provide adequate contact area with the bottom of the fermenter. Be sure to leave some room for ice pack additions. If you know the ambient temperature is above your ideal fermentation range, go ahead and add an ice pack to the tray. After 30 minutes, come back to measure the temperature of both the tray water and your must. If the temperature is still too high, add another ice pack. If it is in a good spot, or slightly lower, let it be. Check back a few times each day and add new ice packs when the temperature is too high, or remove old ones that are no longer cold. Over time you will get a feel for what is needed to keep your system in a good temperature range.

The Wet Rag Technique

Draping a wet towel over an actively fermenting carboy and blowing air across it may help prevent overheating of your yeast.

The simplest, and possibly cheapest, solution to keep your fermentation cool is to drape a damp rag (or towel, or old t-shirt) around your fermenter and place a fan blowing in its direction. Tie the rag around the top of the fermenter to ensure it stays in place. Also try to blanket the entire fermenter, and not just a small portion of it, for the best results.

The evaporation of the damp rag will cool down your must, just like evaporating sweat helps cool you down. When you first start out doing this, make sure to check on it frequently to ensure the rag stays damp and that you don’t have the fan turned on higher than necessary (hey, there’s no reason to waste electricity if you don’t have to). You may have to swap the rag a few times a day to maintain a good temperature.

Well there you have it. Three options for maintaining an appropriate fermentation temperature, the fermentation fridge, the fermenter in ice bucket, and the wet rag technique. Do you have any other ideas for controlling your fermentation temperature? Let us know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!

Terrapin Bluffs Meadery

Monthly Archives: May 2014

Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 4: Algomah Acres

Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 3: Bee Well Meadery

Crowdfunding your Meadery, Part 2: Vanaheim Gold

Crowdfunding Your Meadery, Part 1

Musings, Episode 2

Fermentation Temperature Control