Delaware’s up-and-coming Brimming Horn Meadery introduced two limited-release meads late last month. Brimming Horn is a Scandinavian-style mead hall that features a tasting area where meads and ciders are on tap, and served in bottles, growlers and glasses.
Brimming Horn Meadery has collaborated with the post-metal group Junius for its latest effort, a bourbon barrel mead. Brimming Horn contacted Junius vocalist Joseph Martinez at the end of the group’s East Coast tour to initiate the partnership. The meads made by Brimming Horn are complex, which mirrors the compositions created by Junius, and that symmetry gave birth to the new mead, Eternal Rituals, named after the group’s latest album, Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light.
The new mead is made from North Dakota clover honey, a light floral with just a hint of spice. After the completion of the fermentation process, the mead was placed in bourbon barrels for more than three months. The barrels gave the mead subtle hints of caramel, vanilla, and a bit more spice.
Mead maker Jon Talkington is an avid fan of Junius and thought the collaboration would appeal to what he calls the “refined mead drinker as well as the sophisticated bourbon aficionado.” Find out for yourself if this metal-meets-mead marriage is as good as it sounds. Eternal Rituals is available at the Brimming Horn tasting room in Milton, and is also available online at vinoshipper.com and brimminghornmeadery.com. Act fast: only 180 bottles were produced.