As the number of breweries in Florida increases, so does the number of meaderies. When exploring Florida’s breweries on the internet, Florida’s meaderies would inevitably appear as well. As new meadmakers opened their doors, it was quickly apparent that this beverage would gain followers and grow in esteem. While Florida Beer News is a site dedicated to Florida’s craft beer community, mead is also dear to us, so we do our best to support meaderies, since mead seems to grow right along with beer in many areas.
While mead continues to grow, in today’s competitive marketplace with thousands more breweries than any time in history and Florida having tripled its number of beer-makers in less than five years, there will inevitably be closures happening. These stories are some of the most somber ones that Florida Beer News posts about.
Harris Meadery of Orange Park owner John Harris posted on October 16th that the meadery will be closing its doors.
From Harris Meadery:
Opening the meadery was one of the happy successes of my life. Announcing it’s closing is one of the saddest. After substantial consideration, i’ve come to realize that I don’t have it in me physically or financially to reboot the brand again, nor really do it justice in the marketplace. It’s as simple as that.
Our meads might be great but it takes a lot more than that to run a successful business. Thank you to everyone that has supported us and enjoyed our meads over the past three years. Especially Cavalier Distributing Florida and all of Jacksonville, Florida.
Take care everyone. – John Harris
About Harris Meadery
Est. 2015, Harris Meadery is a Florida producer of fine meads and honey wines. Whenever possible, we try to use local Florida/Georgia honey and fruit crops. Our products are distributed by Cavalier Distribution to retail vendors, restaurants, bars, bottle shops and liquor stores all across the state. We are a true artisan small-batch cottage producer.