Talon Bergen opened the business last September.
“That, to me, is the most important thing,” he said. “We’re not just here to make money, but really to be a part of Middletown — to serve the surrounding community.”
For Bergen, that meant a number of things — from their prices to how they treat people. He pays his one bartender, Tod Davis, a living wage, and tells customers that tipping is not necessary. All gratuities, so far, at $10,000, are donated to local charities.
Bergen said they have donated to the St. Vincent dePaul Amazing Grace food pantry and soup kitchen in Middletown, as well as the Trevor Project, a non-profit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth.
Other organizations have reached out to him. “The one that startled us the most was Prudence Crandall, over in New Britain,” Bergen said, noting the non-profit focuses on domestic violence.
“They reached out to us, and pointed to the fact that they have greater demand than they have had in the last 47 years. That kind of shocked us,” he said.
It is important to the owner that his business continues to donate to important causes, rather than having the idea be “just a flash in the pan.”
Talon Bergen, centre, owner of the Bergen House, a meadery and taproom in Middletown’s old trolley barn on King’s Avenue, said he wants his business to enrich the community. At left is his wife Emilie, and far right, bartender Tod Davis. Contributed photo / Winter Caplanson
Bergen started brewing beer in 2011, right after he joined the U.S. Army. He immediately fell in love with the science of fermentation. “I really just kept on learning and growing and making more and more things. I started making ciders and wine and stuff.”
When his friend gave him a bottle of mead, a wine-like alcohol made from honey, Bergen said he was surprised. “I expected it to be sweet, having read about it, but not tried it before. I was just surprised with the complexity. The offering he gave me was really dry, and I really enjoyed it.”
After leaving the Army, Bergen said his intention was to start a brewery. When he left New England to serve his country, there were very few such places.
That was not the case when Bergen returned in June 2017, pointing to how the popularity and number of microbreweries exploded during the mid-to late 2010s.
Then, inspiration struck. “I was at a Yard Goats game, and I gave my wife a cider, and she looked at me and said ‘I’d rather have one of your meads,’” Bergen said, recalling a game from 2018. “I realized that she’s not the only person who doesn’t enjoy beer and wants an alternative besides the same cider over and over again.”
Bergen said he and his wife, Emilie, are starting slow, making two or three batches of mead a week as they fine tune their recipe to make it less alcoholic and more refreshing.
“We eat out over here. We drive through Middletown on a daily basis. This is definitely part of our community, whereas Manchester and West Hartford isn’t in the same way. I toured a lot of buildings, but when I walked in that building, I knew where everything was supposed to be,” Bergen said.
The brick building with its large open space is utilitarian and the perfect space, the owner said. Customers will find a bookshelf filled with titles they can take, read and keep or bring back.
Bergen is really encouraged by the reviews customers leave — especially ones where they say they will return. “And they do come back and they bring friends,” he said. “That’s been really cool. It bolsters faith in what we’re doing and makes me realize we are on to something.”
Bergen has eight taps behind the bar, and he always makes sure there is at least one mead made from just honey, water and yeast. It helps people understand the basic concept and taste of mead, he explained.
“It’s not beer. It’s not wine. It’s honey wine,” he said. “Then, we have a lot more robust flavours, too.”
That includes a strawberry mint and mango chipotle. Those meads encourage more returning customers more than a basic variety, Bergen said. His most popular flavour is wildflower honey fermented with farmhouse ale yeast from Norway.
“Honey is such a dynamic ingredient,” he said. “The difference between and orange blossom honey and a sage blossom honey is vast, and they produce vastly different products.”
Currently open Friday through Sunday, Bergen said the meadery and taproom will also start opening on Thursdays in August.
The meadery is located at 725 Main St., Unit 27, in Middletown. For information, call 860-358-9326, or visit bergenhousect.com or Bergen House LLC on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment