New Jersey USA: Somerset County's first meadery now open in downtown Somerville

From eu.mycentraljersey.com

Most people’s only taste of mead – one of mankind's first alcoholic drinks – has been out of a drinking horn at a Renaissance fair while adorned in peasant garb.

But Middlemist, which just became one of just four meaderies in New Jersey and the first in Somerset County, is showing that what’s old is new again.

The meadery is now open at 30 E Main St. in Somerville, which was shuttered since the closure of Arusuvai Indian Restaurant. Hours are 2-11 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, noon to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays.

Its flagship offering is mead, a fermented, naturally gluten-free alcoholic beverage made with honey that ancient Greeks called “nectar of the gods.”

“Thousands of years ago people accidentally made the first mead when some rainwater got into harvested honey that fermented and it’s been a long tradition ever since,” said co-owner Ryan Guasp. “We also like to think of it as a new beverage because it’s been out of style for so long. We want to reintroduce mead to the public through lots of different flavours of mead that we have developed ourselves.”

Mead has fallen by the wayside in favour of alcoholic beverages that are cheaper to produce, like wine and beer, as honey is relatively expensive. But Guasp, as well as Middlemist co-owners Ilija Melentijevic and Caleb Ahles, believe people will be interested in the novelty of the new-to-the-public drink sometimes referred to as honey wine.

Middlemist offers meads made with honey from Stiles Apiary, a honey farm in the Fords section of Woodbridge.

The meads include various types of honey, fruits, hops, herbs, teas and spices to make them reminiscent of wine, beer or a drink in a class of its own, with ABVs from 4.5% to 17% and tasting notes ranging from sweet to dry.

           The meadery is now open at 30 E Main St. in Somerville, which was shuttered since the closure of Arusuvai Indian Restaurant

None of the meads served in Middlemist's tasting room contain sulfites, which are preservatives used in food and drinks that people sometimes blame for hangover headaches.

“Our meads are going as far as from the tanks in the back to the tanks and kegs in the front,” said Guasp.

Middlemist is also exploring options to keep sulfites out of to-go bottles of mead, which will be offered in several months, followed by bar distribution. The meadery is currently only selling its mead for onsite consumption.

Middlemist will offer house-brewed honey sodas, juices, teas and coffee in the future, filling the space for today’s desire for non-alcoholic options, as U.S. alcohol drinking levels are at an all-time low.

“Part of what we are envisioning here is not just a place where you can taste mead but also a community gathering spot where you can drink non-alcoholic options and just hang out,” said Melentijevic. “There are a lot of people looking for happy hour locations but if a few team members don’t drink, they’re left out. We wanted to make it inclusive so we can host anyone.”

The 115-seat, 6,500 square foot space is inspired by European-style bars and cafes as well as the solarpunk movement, which involves handmade items and achieving harmony between manmade structures and nature, said Guasp.

The tasting room includes 400 plants sourced and cared for by a neighbouring East Main Street business, Spotted Leaf Plant Company, intermingled with wooden furniture crafted by Melentijevic and steel mead tanks.

“It’s emblematic of mead because you take this wonderful natural product – honey – and combine it with high technology,” said Guasp. “We are trying to merge that ethos of nature and futurism with a very pleasant welcoming space where people can just relax.”

                                                                                                                                      Provided by Middlemist

The idea for the meadery was planted after the trio met at Rutgers University and began homebrewing with Melentijevic and Guasp’s expertise in microbiology, in which they both earned PhDs in at the university.

During the pandemic, that homebrewing morphed into making mead, which “was the best thing we’ve ever made,” said Melentijevic.

As they racked up mead awards, they realized that they – and their friends – liked their mead better than what was on the market.

They later decided to open their own meadery in Somerville, which became a conundrum that even the scientists struggled to solve as bureaucratic obstacles and New Jersey’s infamous arcane liquor laws stood in their way. They had hoped to have their meadery open nearly a year ago.

Each U.S. state has an average of 10-11 meaderies, while New Jersey only has four – Beach Bee Meadery in Long Branch, Armageddon Brewing in Somerdale, Rag and Bone Meadery in South Harrison, and Beetopia Meadery in Cherry Hill. New Jersey created a specific mead and cider license in 2017 – less than a decade ago.

“We haven’t had an easy time and there have been a lot of shifting goal posts to this day,” said Guasp. “But the community has been very welcoming and people are excited to have us.”

Go: 30 E Main St., Somerville; middlemistmead.com.

 https://eu.mycentraljersey.com/story/entertainment/dining/2026/04/20/somerset-countys-first-meadery-now-open-in-downtown-somerville/89425964007/

Honey, wake up: mead abuzz with a new lease of life

From thedrinksbusiness.com 

Forget everything you thought you knew about mead — Gosnells is rewriting the rules. Light, sparkling and refreshingly modern, it’s a bold new take on an ancient drink, writes Declan Ryder

Most of us know mead as the forgotten medieval tipple that faded into complete insignificance centuries ago. It is discussed in conversation much in the same light as other now obsolete relics like trebuchets and chamber pots. Though once relegated to obscurity around the Renaissance, mead has enjoyed a mini renaissance of its own in the past 10-20 years, moving out of the history books and back onto the palettes. 

The mead industry was declared the fastest-growing drinks category in the US in 2017. There are now around 250 meaderies across the pond – a figure that only increases year on year. And globally, the appetite is increasing too: Fortune Business Insights projects the global market to grow from US$591.5 million in 2024 to US$1,395.7 million by 2032, at an annual growth rate of 11.33%.

But while many hail this as a great revival, Tom Gosnell, founder of one of the UK’s leading meaderies, sees things very differently.

“I haven’t seen a resurgence of mead, at least in the UK,” he says. “There’s not that many producers, and they’re all quite small.”

This is the tension at the heart of mead’s modern moment: it may be the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, but its future may depend on forgetting its past.

                                                                                                            iStock

Rebranding mead for a new generation

Gosnell started making mead from his London kitchen in 2014. Now, over a decade later, he runs one of the biggest mead brands in the country. In March of last year, they opted to rebrand from ‘mead’ to ‘nectar’, sensing that the very term mead was proving a buzzkill to prospective customers. 

“Calling it ‘mead’ was only holding us back, to be honest,” Gosnell says. “Our rate of sale went through the roof immediately [after the rebrand].”

He believes if there is to be any true resurgence in mead drinking, it means veering away from its historic connotations, rather than into them. Rather than tailoring their target market to history buffs like many of their competitors, their focus lies solely on the drink and aims to appeal to those who don’t like beer but still want to drink a pint. 

“We wanted to talk about the liquid and the natural side of things,” Gosnell says. “We’ve always done this session style of mead called nectar, which is much more approachable and easy to drink.”

Bringing mead to the people

To truly give their nectar a voice, Gosnells are preparing for a big sampling campaign in the summer, with 15-20 pop-up bars throughout London. The company will supply the venues with kegs at wholesale prices, handling the staffing and sampling themselves. It’s a tactical move aimed at converting the curious who might not have yet thought of mead as a drink for today.

“We believe as a team that good brands are built in the on-trade rather than the off-trade. That’s where you go for new experiences,” he says. 

Yet despite Gosnells’ bold steps towards a contemporary identity, mead’s history is rich, spanning millennia and leaving behind a legacy that’s far from forgotten. Widely regarded as the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage, mead is believed to have been discovered as long ago as 20,000 BC in Africa through the natural fermentation of honey and rainwater. The first tangible proof of its existence dates from around 7000 BC, with archaeologists having found traces in ancient Chinese pottery vessels. Throughout the following millennia, it was a favourite drink of the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, lauded by the latter as “the nectar of the Gods”. 

The Viking myth and monastic reality

It is now mainly affiliated with the Vikings, conjuring images of six-foot-something hairy behemoths chugging tankards of the stuff with wild abandon. While the Vikings were indeed partial to the beverage, this is a rather reductive picture. Mead played a vital role in the economy of several societies. Monasteries across Europe brewed mead both as a source of income and for medicinal purposes, believing in its health-giving properties. The term “honeymoon” comes from the medieval tradition of drinking honey wine for a month after marriage, as it was believed to ensure fertility – a practice taken so seriously that a bride’s father often included a month’s worth of mead in her dowry.

So, what actually is mead? Essentially, it’s a honey wine – made by fermenting water with honey. As Will Grubelnik from Gosnell’s puts it, “As apples are to cider, grapes are to wine, honey is to mead”. In its purest form, it is a very simple production process, which explains why its history is quite so old. 

A drink of endless variety

Types of honey (and therefore mead) vary wildly depending on the bees’ diet of nectar and pollen. Traditional meads use milder honeys like clover or orange blossom, stronger honeys like buckwheat or wildflower add bold flavours, perfect for spiced varieties. The detailed recipes and methods developed by medieval monastic communities contributed significantly to the refinement and diversification of mead over the centuries, leading to the creation of various styles, including melomels (fruit meads), metheglins (spiced meads), and cyser (apple meads). 

It is this potential for diversification that is driving the drink’s contemporary appeal. Its possible flavour profiles, from sweet and fruity, to earthy and spicy, alongside the fact that it can be produced either still or sparkling, appeal to a wide range of palettes. Gosnells, for instance, offers both still and sparkling meads and utilises various honeys. Their flavour options include a fruity raspberry and hibiscus, which drinks much like a fruit cider and a wonderfully unconventional ‘blueberry velvet’ option (which the bar manager aptly describes as something between a Guinness and a Müller Corner).

Generation curious

The revival also sits as part of a broader drinks industry growth towards craft beverages. Consumers are seeking unique and artisanal products crafted with a real sense of provenance, and mead fulfils all of these criteria. 

For a drink that wrestles so fiercely with its past, it now faces a future that demands reinvention over reverence. Mead may have once been nectar of the gods, but today it’s shaping up to be something altogether more modern. 

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/04/honey-wake-up-mead-abuzz-with-a-new-lease-of-life/

Philadelphia: Ancient tradition meets modern craft

From chestnuthilllocal.com 

by Elie Bekelman

As Philadelphians get ready to toast America’s 250th anniversary this summer, they might find themselves enjoying some of the same drinks the first Americans did, such as wine, beer or cider. But there is another drink, though less well-known, with a much older lineage: mead. Also known as “honey wine,” mead was less common in colonial America — but 250 years later, it is gaining popularity, including here in the Philadelphia area.

Philadelphia Mead Company, co-owned and founded by brothers Rich and Steve Kassabian, is helping to resurrect the ancient drink.

The company has developed several varieties of mead.  Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Mead Company

“It’s widely believed to be the first alcohol known to man,” said Rich Kassabian. “Historians agree that it predates written history. There are examples of people buried with honey wine.”

Made by fermenting honey and mixing it with water, mead is a traditional beverage with origins worldwide. It developed independently across Africa, Asia, South America and Europe, with each version having distinctive flavours and heritage. Yet because honeybees weren’t brought to the colonies until the early 17th century, mead was scarce in early American history. Sources conflict on its prevalence: Some say it had medicinal uses, while others claim it was reserved for special occasions.

Regardless, colonial Americans found other ways to get their daily drink — and indeed they did drink alcohol daily. According to the National Museum of American History, colonial Americans were wary of water and milk because they carried disease. Instead, they drank hard cider, whiskey, rum and beer.

Apple trees were imported to North America in the late 16th century, and apple products like cider soon became extremely popular. Politicians even used this alcohol as a way to garner support and votes. George Washington’s election agent handed out 144 gallons of cider, rum and beer to voters during his 1758 campaign for the Virginia House of Burgesses. John Adams was said to have drunk hard cider daily with breakfast. Even families with children drank around 90 gallons of cider per year.

Rum, produced by European colonial powers, was widely recognized as the most popular drink before the Revolutionary War — but when Americans gained independence, they wanted independent alcohol, too. In came Kentucky bourbon.

While whiskey (sometimes spelled whisky, depending on the origin) came from Europe, notably Ireland and Scotland, bourbon was specifically American. Kentucky soil produced ample corn for the corn-based beverage, and production increased significantly.

Today, standards on bourbon are clear: “The word ‘bourbon’ may not be used to describe any whisky or whisky-based distilled spirits not distilled and aged in the United States,” says the Code of Federal Regulations. Bourbon became its own form of American revolution, surpassing rum and spreading across the country.

Not only were cider and bourbon drinks of the first patriots, but the founding fathers were also beer enthusiasts. According to the American Beer Institute, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and James Madison were proponents of colony breweries, and George Washington even operated his own.

Now, 250 years later, these drinks remain popular in the United States. But modern production leaves room for new drinks that weren’t as accessible back then.

Brothers Rich and Steve Kassabian started Philadelphia Mead Company in 2021.  

Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Mead Company

Today, mead is enjoying a resurgence. According to the American Mead Makers Association, the number of American meaderies has increased from approximately 60 in 2003 to more than 500 as of 2025. And Philadelphia Mead Co. is one of them.

“We’re both half Armenian,” explains Steve Kassiaban. “We grew up with our dad buying cured meats and cheeses. I went to college, and I couldn’t easily get them. So I tried to make some of them. I also knew a couple of guys who were talking about making fermented things and making meads. And I thought, that sounds cool, I’ll make those too!”

Following COVID-19, the job market was difficult. As a solution, the brothers combined Steve’s new passion for mead-making with Rich’s business background and founded Philadelphia Mead Company in 2021. It’s based in Chester County.

“Mead is a lot more user-friendly than brewing. At the end of the day, you’re just mixing honey and water together and fermenting it,” said Steve Kassiaban. He describes it as a hybrid of wine- and beer-making techniques.

“It’s an underserved market,” said Rich Kassabian. “A lot of people are having [mead] for the first time and agreeing that they might like it better than beer or wine.” Flavors can vary with the addition of spices, fruits and grains. “Each ferment is unique, and needs a unique type of care,” he added.

Because of the drink’s rich history, the brothers work to celebrate tradition while adding their own touch. While some versions are standard — honey, water and yeast — others offer opportunities for modern creativity and complex flavors. A popular flavor, Cardamon Rose Mead, recently won Best In Class at the Libation Awards Pennsylvania Invitational.

Since its founding, Philadelphia Mead Co. (whose motto is “Ancient tradition meets modern craft”) has grown across the city. The brothers visit farmers’ markets and sell their products to bottle shops and restaurants. They are also looking to get a Philadelphia taproom. But growth does not come without its setbacks.

“We make a pretty different product than the rest of the genre,” said Rich Kassabian. “Getting businesses to take our products has been a little difficult.” Other challenges are common among new businesses. “Establishing your business and getting the licensing you need, or applying for mercantile tax or business tax for the city,” he said, “that can be really daunting.”

Because mead is relatively new to most Philadelphians, it can be difficult to engage customers. “I think it just feels a little alien to people, and so they’re not really sure how to approach it,” said Steve Kassiaban.

In general, entrepreneurship is risky and challenging. But for the brothers, passion was motivation.

“There is so much you can accomplish if you are not afraid to fail,” said Rich Kassabian. “I think everyone should try if they have an idea or a passion for a business. You won’t believe how much you can accomplish by being determined and asking questions.”

So whether it’s a classic cider or a glass of mead, they hope you’ll try something new to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary while supporting local businesses. What better way to celebrate America?

https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/ancient-tradition-meets-modern-craft,40348

Idaho USA: Brewery with a medieval twist set to open

From boisedev.com

Idaho: A new brewery is set to open this month and expects to be a new community hangout spot with a medieval twist.

Noble Mead is opening at 9165 W Chinden Blvd in Garden City in the old Brown Beard Brewing Company location. 

Anthony Duer, one of the three owners of Noble Mead, is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He has a background in manufacturing and engineering, and decided to move into what he calls a “new adventure with brewing.” The other owners are James John Buongiovanni III and Blake Espedal.

Duer said that the brewing started at home as a hobby during COVID, but when he and his friends (now business partners and owners) started to brew together, and the hobby started generating ideas of becoming a real business.

Noble Mead is a mead hall that not only produces mead from scratch, but it also offers local beer, local cider, and a handful of other non-alcoholic beverages. 

“We also produce braggot, and braggot is a hybrid between a mead and a beer,” Duer said. “A mead is just fermented honey, water, and yeast, like wine is with grapes and water. Then, a braggot is kind of like a kind of beer.”

Duer said that Noble Mead is a community center for people to come together and hang out.

                                                                                   Noble Mead Photo: Courtesy Anthony Duer

The location of Noble Mead was offered to Duer by the owner of Brown Beard Brewing and he said it came at the perfect time.

“Beard offered us that location. He was already planning on downsizing to focus more on distribution and spending more time with his daughter,” Duer said. “…it allows Noble Mead to have a start issue.”

The theme of the mead hall is medieval. The inside has elements of castles, large tapestries on the walls, and the vibe of the inside takes its inspiration from wooden taverns. The community can also enjoy live music occasionally from local bands and artists.

The grand opening of Noble Mead is Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m., and it will be open every week from Wednesday through Saturday. 

Duer said his short term goal is to continue to grow and support the community. As for a long term goal, he hopes to eventually grow to the point where Noble Mead can be distributed throughout the greater Northwest area of the country so it can be enjoyed across multiple states. 

“Future plans right now in the next few years, is just establishing our name and outreach within the community and the area,” Duer said. 

https://boisedev.com/news/2026/03/18/brewery-with-a-medieval-twist-set-to-open/