It all started in the summer of 2005. Dan was encouraged by his Aunt Nancy to head to Denmark for 10 days with his 2 cousins to do some "on the ground research" regarding the family genealogy. He left Deb back in Massachusetts with infant twin girls just over a year old. He on vacation, Deb in baby work world. So, he, being the thoughtful husband, brought back for Deb a ceramic bottle of "Viking Mead." "Viking Mead??" She scratched her head. Very romantic (??). Never heard of mead. He (being testosterone laden) thought it looked cool. Deb (being full of estrogen) thought it a waste of money (She would have loved a lovely old vine zin at that point being by herself with 2 "busy" babies to look after while he was gone "researching.") So, there it sat on the liquor shelf along with all the other half used weird booze one buys for a specific cocktail you only use once.
Fast forward several months...
"Hey, what is this?" as he dug deep into the pantry. There is was, no worse for wear, a bit dust coated, but "well aged." We opened it, lacking that lovely old vine zin of which Deb spoke, and poured 2 glasses. We sniffed. We sipped. We were HOOKED. Mead was amazing! It was not the sweet syrupy drink we assumed it was! Delicious. "We can make this!" He said with a smirk. The rest, as they say, is history.
We had always been beer brewers - started that in grad school as a hobby and to save some money. But mead and wine was to follow. Dan tried his hand at all sorts of wine, some good, some okay, some, well, good for cooking. Mead creating soon followed the wine. Neighbors came to sample and give feedback. "This smells like dirty socks." "Wet sponges?" "Nice fruit overtones." These are some of the comments overheard on our deck among or many friends. Dan became the "mad scientist," keeping dutiful log notes about quantities , measurements, temperatures, and fermentation activity. Honey was ordered by the bucketful. Spice racks were gone over and perused and spices chosen. Kids were shooed out of the basement. We waited. We watched the bubbling. We waited some more. And then we sipped. Pure bliss! He did it! The hard work had paid off!
So, now many years down the road, we are ready to share our passion for mead with others. We hope you will come and check us out, come tour the production room, partake in the tasting room, and hopefully support our honey nano-winery!
A Chocolate Expo! What a fun time this weekend, January 29th. 10am until 6 pm, with ticketed time slots.
Check our this article in the Boston Globe:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/17/lifestyle/chocolate-expo-comes-wilmington/
and buy your tickets here:
https://www.facebook.com/TheChocolateExpo/
We will be bringing some of our best meads for pairing with your favorite chocolate that you find!
Raspberry Delight
Devil's Footprint
Beewitched
And more!
Come join us!
Here is our list of our own and customer supplied cocktail recipe:
THE 1634 BRIGHT AND SUNNY
Optional: Turn this into a Devil Mule by adding vodka and more lime!
THE 1634 MEADMOSA
1634 PEACH LEMONADE recipe credit: abbigail hickey , c . k . pearl restaurant, essex, ma
1. In a Boston shaker, muddle lemon balm.
2. Fill shaker 2 ⁄ 3 full with ice. Add all liquids; shake.
3. Fill a highball glass with ice. Strain cocktail into glass; garnish with lemon wedge.
HONEY SIMPLE SYRUP :
½ cup local honey, ½ cup water
CRANBERRY 75 recipe credit: abbigail hickey , c . k . pearl restaurant, essex, ma
The Back porch CRANEBERRY SIPPER:
Equal parts of our Craneberry mead mixed with a great local vodka, like Ryan and Woods, on ice, splash of soda, lime. Lots of lime!
1634 Raspberry Lime Rickey:
Equal parts Raspberry Dream mead and spiked (or regular) lime seltzer with an extra squeeze of lime.
1634 Lambic:
Add one ounce of raspberry or blueberry mead to your favorite chilled wheat beer!
Mead Toddy #1: Warm Winter’s Knight
4 ounces of homemade dark hot chocolate mixed with 2 ounces of Raspberry Delight mead! Heaven! Top with whip cream!
Mead Toddy #2: The Warm Up
Hot brewed tea of choice (6 ounces) with 2 ounces of any of our traditional meads such as BEEwitched, Wicked Wench, or Orange Elation!
Mead Toddy #3: Beyond Valhalla :
Add 3 ounces of Viking Victory spiced mead to 3 ounces warmed apple cider or apple juice. Garnish with lemon twist.
1634 Sangria: The Crowd Pleaser
1 bottle Strawberry Fields mead with 1 bottle of sparkling wine. Add sliced apples and / or pears.
*Can substitute any 1634 fruit mead and any in season fruit to change the sangria for the season!
1634 Deacon Giles Peachy Mule: credit Jesse Brenneman, Deacon Giles Distillery, Salem Ma
Top up with Ginger Beer
1634 Deacon Giles Raspberry Daiquiri: credit Jesse Brenneman, Deacon Giles Distillery, Salem Ma
1634 Deacon Giles Mead Fashioned: credit Jesse Brenneman, Deacon Giles Distillery, Salem Ma
Creations by Erica Yeomans, Aloha Mobile Bartending Services
1634 Appletini: 1634 Mother Clucking Mule:
1634 Mead-a-rita: 1634 Just Peachy
The Covid Victory of 1634 (or 2020) – sent in by a mead fan John LeJeune
3 Parts Viking Victory 1634 Mead https://www.1634meadery.com/buy-online
1 Part Royal Rose Saffron Simple Syrup https://royalrosesyrups.com/collections/all/products/saffron-syrup
1 Part Cinzano Sweet Vermouth https://www.cinzano.com/int/en/vermouth/aperitif-classics/rosso/
I Mead Ah Diffusion Brett Henderson The Poynt
+ To enjoy with friends, quadruple the recipe, heap a scorpion bowl–style glass with ice, and serve with four straws. A martini glass or a beer goblet is a good alternative if no coupe is available. The recipe will fill an 8- to 10-ounce glass when strained over crushed ice. Henderson says crushing is easy at home with a blender.
House Lemon Cordial
1. Combine ingredients
Mead Cocktails below from Clint Petersen, Ginger, Salem
The Midwinter Warmer:
Oaken Pride
Tall Black Maple
Maine Sea breeze – by Marissa Scarano
A New Hot Blonde – by Marissa Scarano
Mommy’s Time Out
Equal parts Blueberry Dream mead (or Raspberry Delight mead) and Santa Cruz organic lemonade over ice, top with seltzer or soda water.
Lemon Berry Fizz:
Equal parts Raspberry Delight mead with lemon seltzer over loads of ice! Lemon wedge to garnish.
We are fully open! You can do an indoor tasting at our bar, or sit outside on a beautiful patio and have a glass of mead! We do not have any food service, but you are welcome to bring your own food!
We serve a "flight of mead", which is a sampling of six pre-selected meads that best represents the styles that we make here at 1634 Meadery. Going from dry meads up to sweeter, you will sample many styles of meads - plain, fruity and spiced. All made with locally sourced fruit and honey.
We also sell full glasses of mead, in addition to selling our bottles for offsite consumption. Come check us out!