Lost Cause Meadery Wins Best Mead At First-Ever US Mead Open

Congrats to San Diego’s own Lost Cause Meadery, who won best mead at the inaugural US Mead Open!

Lost Cause Meadery took the top spot with its locally-crafted mead, Wolf: The Dawning, which Lost Cause’s husband-wife founders Billy and Suzanna Beltz created in late 2022 in honor of their young son.

The US Mead Open is a nationwide competition held in late May 2023 and organized by The Mead Institute to elevate the mead industry.

The open format, winner-take-all type competition included such renowned judges as Madeline Triffon, the first Master Sommelier to pass on United States soil and the first American woman to pass the Master Sommelier exam, and Randy Mosher, a faculty member of the Siebel Institute and author of popular titles including Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink and Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass.

A very personal win!

“Winning with Wolf: The Dawning is something I can’t explain. A mead made for the birth of my son; a mead I’ve been holding onto so we can enjoy it together in a couple decades. Now when we toast and share his mead together, we can say this mead won it all back at the very first US Mead Open. I think that’s pretty damn cool,” said Billy Beltz, who started Lost Cause Meadery with wife Suzanna in 2017.

“I’m so grateful to our staff, especially Chris Herr our Meadmaker, as well as the Mead Institute and all the volunteers that made this first competition happen. It’s an honor to even have meads at that table with judges like that.”

Congratulations, Lost Cause Meadery, for a well-deserved win!

Keep up to date with Lost Cause Meadery through their website here and on Instagram and Facebook.

See you there, San Diego!