Mead, an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water, will be making a comeback to people’s glasses in the Cochrane area this holiday season thanks to one local meadery.
The Fallentimber Meadery, located outside of Water Valley, will be attending the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee’s (CEAC) Christmas Market on Dec.12. The family-run meadery has been a regular vendor at this market as the demand for mead typically increases at this time of year.
“Fall and winter is a very welcome time of year for a product like ours,” said Nathan Ryan, one of the meadery’s founders.
Considered the “adult” form of cider, mead can be served heated with select spices stirred in, a process known as mulling. The Fallentimber Meadery started operations just over five years ago and has become a well-known brand in the area.
“We started making mead more for personal consumption at the beginning, using our father, Kevin’s, honey,” explained Colin Ryan, Nathan’s brother and another one of the founders. “Then we decided to make it into a business.”
The business involves beekeeping, brewing, and marketing, of which every family member has a role to play.
Kevin Ryan, father of Colin and Nathan, is the family’s beekeeper, Colin is in charge of brewing, and Nathan is in charge of marketing.
The business uses 350 hives spread out over 18 locations, a small amount considering they would need to maintain around 3,000 hives to be in the same league as large commercial meaderies. Once the honey is extracted from the artificial cones by a friend of the family, Colin begins the process of brewing a batch.
The self-taught brewer develops recipes through trial and error, a process that takes two weeks per brew due to fermentation.
Once Colin has found a recipe he likes, it’s time to bottle the brew, which is a full-family endeavor.
“When we bottle, it takes about six people to [help the operation] run smoothly,” said Colin. “That would include my brother and I, usually one other family member, and our staff.”
From there, Nathan takes over to market the beverages and get them onto store shelves.
“(Drinking mead) is not as fringe-of-thought as it used to be,” said Nathan. He attributes their growing success in the area to their “availability.”
Fallentimber Meadery is sold at a number of locations in Cochrane including Happy’s Liquor Store and Sobey’s Liquor Store. They are also in talks with The Texas Gate Bar and Grill in Cochrane about carrying their brand. Alongside selling honey and wax creations, both byproducts of their beekeeping, at the CEAC’s upcoming market, the company plans to let people sample their mead and “recommend spice mixtures” for those who intend to mull it.
They plan to be open on weekends leading up to Christmas for anyone looking for a way to entertain “house guests” during the holiday season. Fans of the brand can also expect two new varieties of mead being released in December, which they intend to sell at the market while quantities last.
For more information about the meadery, visit fallentimbermeadery.ca
