All Over Albany

Helderberg Meadworks

Check it out: There's a meadery in Duanesburg called Helderberg Meadworks.

Mead? You know, the alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey, first produced by people thousands of years ago.

Blurbage from Helderberg Meadworks' about page:

This is not your average mead.​ It is not flavored, sweetened and processed to appease the masses. My mead is a tribute to the classic, my interpretation of the beverage that the Norse explorers would have made. Fermented to fruition until the yeast perish of their own doing, oak aged and full of natural honey flavor.

Perish of their own doing... very Viking.

We heard about the meadery via Greg Back's In the Name of Beer blog -- he recently stopped at the meadery to talk with its founder, Peter Voelker, and learn about the process of making it. Greg writes of the mead:

It's delightful. There is a raw and feral quality to it that is completely lacking in any other mead I've tried. It is unrefined, but in exactly the way that works for me. The honey shines through brilliantly, and the floral aroma that Peter is looking for is present both on the nose and in the strong sweetness up front. It isn't a sugar bomb at all, but instead there is raw honey in the initial taste that is tempered by oak notes at the back end.

There are a lot of interesting details at his post, it's worth a read.

The mead is available at a bunch of local outlets here in the Capital Region.

photo: Helderberg Meadworks