Nectar Creek Mead: Exploring Barrel-Aged Meads

Meads are a unique brew that hasn’t still reached the popularity of beer – but it’s getting there. We talked to Nick Lorenz, sales and marketing director of Nectar Creek Mead in Corvallis, OR, to find out what makes Meads special and how Nectar Creek is taking things one step further with their unique production techniques.

QUESTION: Can you tell us a bit about your choice to barrel age your Meads and how that impacts the flavor/quality of your drinks?

NICK LORENZ: Barrel-aging Mead can do a lot of different things depending on the type of barrels used and the flavor profile being sought out for that specific Mead.

Barrel-ging Mead was something we had always wanted to do and something we will continue to expand. It gives an added level of depth to the styles and complexities of the Mead we can make. Mead is so versatile that depending on the variety of honey and the style of mead we are making we can use anything from bourbon barrels to gin barrels to tequila barrels. There is not a barrel out there that we would not be able to use.

The greatest impact barrel-aging has on our Meads is that it adds a depth and complexity that is unique to the barrels and cannot be achieved anywhere else. The complexity, the time, the flavor of the oak, it is all apparent whenever you taste any of our barrel aged mead.

QUESTION: How is the age-old craft of fermenting with honey different to other types of brewing? What made you choose Meads instead of going with beers/wines?

NL: Mead is its own category of alcohol. The way I see it, it is the last explored frontier of alcohol commercially. Simply, all categories of alcohol are defined by where their fermentable sugar comes from and for Mead that means honey. It is not associated with a specific level of alcohol, sweetness or carbonation level, and that is part of why Mead is so amazing because the possibilities and the potential within the category are endless.

Mead is the oldest purposely fermented beverage in the world and was most likely making itself before we (humans) learned how to make it. My brother and I got excited about and learned how to brew starting at a young age. We had always wanted to open up a business together and with a background in both fermentation and agriculture making Mead was a perfect marriage. My brother had worked at a bee farm helping manage 5,000 hives. The beekeeping background helped us trouble- shoot and make a quality product that we were happy to bring to market that uses knowledge from winemaking, brewing and an in-depth understanding of honey.

Mead our way to join the craft beverage market by adding depth rather than direct competition with all of the already existing breweries.

QUESTION: How important is the quality of honey in making high-quality Mead? Where do you get honey and why?

NL: The quality of honey is everything. If you have a product that is just honey and water and you do not use good honey, then you will not be able to have a top quality product. Using quality honey is also important to supporting sustainable beekeepers. It is a decision we have made that has a much larger impact than the quality of our Meads. We source all of honey directly from sustainable beekeepers. With my brothers history as a beekeeper, we can get all of our honey from either the farm he worked on or other bee farms that he already had established relationships.

QUESTION: Can you tell our readers about the Meads you produce and sell, what flavors you incorporate and what makes those recipes special?

NL: We make a large variety of Mead, but one of the most important factors is we make session style Meads. Nectar Creek focuses on making dry, carbonated Meads that can be consumed like beer or cider. All of our Meads are very clean, crisp, refreshing and made from pure raw honey. Nothing is too intense or overpowering. They are in a style that is approachable and with our range of varieties there is one our there for everyone

QUESTION: What goes into the process of making mead at Nectar Creek? How much of the process is automated and how much is just “personal touch”?

NL: We are a small operation, and Nectar Creek is still very much a business that is a labor of love. We continue to use a hand labeler and a rely on hand bottling. On the other hand, we have taken and continue to make advances in our process that make it possible for us to increase our quality and consistency in every batch. We never heat our honey up warmer than it is naturally in a beehive. Our brewing process is truly a hive-to-bottle process. Cold brewing makes it possible for us to make very light and dry Mead that still carry over all of the great qualities, tastes and aromas of the honey.