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!
This multi-berry mead (blackberry, raspberry and blueberries), all locally sourced, are fermented dry with local wild
flower honey. A slightly tart berry first mead, combines with a hint of honey for this almost red-wine tasting mead.
This mead was named in honor of the legend of the "Devil's Footprint" here in Ipswich. So the story goes:
The famous Rev. George Whitefield was traveling thoughout New England giving sermon to thousands of people.
His stop in Ipswich was no different - he was preaching atop the town hill, at the location of the First Church of Ipswich.
So impassioned was his speach, in front of thousands of listeners, that the Devil himself showed up, as he did not like
what was being said about him. A wrestling match ensued, with the Reverend and the Devil going at it! They chased
each other around the pews a few times, and eventually made there way to the the top of the steeple. There, the preacher,
in all his glory, knocked the Devil of the top of the church. The Devil found him falling to the ground, and when he landed, his
feet hit the ground, sending sparks everywhere. He had left his footprints embedded in the rocks. We do not know what
happened to the Devil after this, but his footprints can still be found!
Yes!! You can still safely visit the meadery!
During the COVID-19 situation, we are no longer offering tours of our facility, but you can try the mead and stay for a short visit. If the weather is good, we have seating at our outdoor patio (until the weather gets to bad!). If you would like to do an indoor tasting we have limited space inside to meet safe requiements, so reservations are necessary.
We serve a "flight of mead", which is a sampling of six different meads, covering the styles that we make here at 1634 Meadery. We also sell full pours of mead, in addition to selling our bottles for offsite consumption. Come check us out! Dry mead, sweet mead, spiced and traditional - we think you will find your favorite mead!
Reservations are NOT needed if you are dropping in to buy a bottle or two. We just ask that you wear a mask, and respect social distancing during your visit!
Schedule a Visit
Our 'Lil Jack Hormer mead has been release! This fine, after dinner sipping mead is made from local plums
and local honey. Aged to perfection (over 10 months), this mead goes down easy. Fresh plum aroma with
warm soothing after taste, this off-dry mead will please you pallet!
