As two bills that might have ended the 34-day government shutdown were defeated today, many alcohol producers are nearing a crisis point. With the TTB closed, there are no new COLAs being issued and no new formulas being approved, causing a massive crunch in sales funnels and production schedules....
Recently, the TTB provided feedback on the use of “mead” in the brand of a company name, and how that would impact COLA submissions. If a company name includes “meadery,” “mead co.,” “mead company,” etc. your COLA should not run into issues. Example here: Charm City Meadworks: However, if...
The AMMA had a call to discuss and explain the recent New York State mead law changes. A recording of the conference call is below. Apologies for the quality; with people calling in from all over the place, there was definitely some garbled stuff. Also it starts about 3...
I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about GRAS numbers for ingredients in formulas lately, so I wanted to put together a quick guide to at least orient your attempts. The FDA folks have reviewed this and added feedback, so you can be confident in the information. How are...
As you may have heard, Congress recently did something. And, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, or your greater feelings about economics, this law benefits meaderies and their owners in a number of powerful ways. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included some language based on...
A guest post by Dave Lewis, Director of Production at Silver Hand Meadery in Williamsburg, VA. Many of us involved in commercial meaderies have had the “pleasure” of working with the TTB at some point. In the past, the process of filing for and awaiting approval for labels...
At the end of 2016, the TTB released Ruling 2016-2, which, despite its catchy name, lessened the formula submission requirements on meaderies. Some meads now do not require formula submissions: Meaderies do not need a formula for standard agricultural wine, including mead and: Carrot wine Dried fruit wine (e.g., raisin...
Getting a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) for your products can be one of the most stressful experiences in owning a meadery. There are a lot of regulations, and even more TTB rules, and, even after the supremely helpful FAQs, there’s still a lot of confusion. But there’s that...
Aging mead in barrels is one of the best things about being a meadery. But labeling those products has been one of the most frustrating things about being a meadery. Here’s what the TTB currently says about aging meads in barrels: Pursuant to 4.38, if barrel aging is claimed...
A major question for wineries, but particularly for some meaderies, is what the regulations allow with regard to the origin of the honey used. While it can get a little technical, there is some latitude in labeling. For the purposes of explanation, I’ll use my meadery, The Colony Meadery,...
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