Eric G. DeRise and Chris Courchaine, the partners of Salt Point Meadery started experimenting with batches of mead at home back in 2010, five gallons at a time. After the first brew day, consisting of a clementine mead, the beginner mead makers were hooked and have not looked back. After countless days of experimentation, research, planning, strategy, and focus, they have found themselves in the position to join the revitalization of the mead industry, bringing back to American culture the unique and delicious beverage. They are proud to represent the Hudson Valley and New York State in this growing revolution, while supporting local businesses, agriculture and the community.
They are very involved with the AMMA (American Mead Makers Association) who works hard to make sure the mead industry continues to be on the rise and thrive. They provide resources, an open platform for discussion among meadery owners, and the ability to reform regulations that affect the mead industry.
Q&A WITH ERIC DeRISE, ONE OF THE PARTNERS
Tell me a bit about your background and how you became involved with Salt Point Meadery?
My two friends and I have brewed mead for about a decade now and have been intrigued by it since the first batch. We decided to start a business revolving around mead, and established the meadery in 2017, releasing our first meads in October 2017. So, we're very new. We know the craft beer market is very saturated, especially in NY, along with the hard cider market. So, we wanted to focus on mead, which is unique and different, but mead is on the rise in the US. There's been an increase in mead from 30 to over 500 since 2005, and we're locking down the Hudson Valley area as the go-to meadery.
Tell us a little about what goes into making mead and sourcing products use?
Mead is a honey-based alcoholic beverage. Grapes are to wine, as honey is to mead. We source our honey from Wixson Honey up in the finger lakes region. They can provide enough supply for our production use and at a cost-effective price. Although all our meads are honey based, we use different ingredients for different flavor profiles in each of our meads. We heat the honey up with a liquid, normally water, to roughly 170 degrees for it to blend nicely, then it goes in the fermenter with any ingredients, along with yeast pitched in for fermentation. It then ferments over a couple weeks. After that, it's transferred to a storage tank for aging, anywhere between 1.5 to 3 months. At that point it’s bottled, kegged or even canned (we’re looking into canning our low ABV meads soon).
What is the difference between mead and wines?
Mead is based with honey, as opposed to wine. We avoid calling mead ‘honey wine’ as it has been traditionally. It’s not really a wine, since there’s no grapes in it (unless it’s a pyment, which is a mead blended with grapes). There’s no appellation or varietals like wine, but in the mead world there are names for different types of mead (i.e. melomel is a fruit mead, methgelin is a spiced/herb mead, cyser is an apple mead, etc.). Mead is in its own category, like beer/cider/wine. Mead is mead. It just hasn’t been in the public’s eye at all in the US or mainstream whatsoever. But that is changing as we speak, as more “modern” meaderies, like us, pop up around the country.
What are some of your products?
All our meads are crafted with all pure clover honey and are designed to be light bodied. We do not have any heavy, sugary meads (as opposed to the traditional style of mead). Some of our products are: Revival – lemongrass and ginger mead, 10% ABV dry, using Harney & Sons lemongrass; Currant Rose – black currant mead, 10% semi-dry, local black currants from Staatsburg; Tradition – apple mead (cyser), 12% dry, honey crisp apple cider, vanilla, cinnamon, molasses; Revolution – citrus hopped mead, 7% semi-dry, blood orange, local Cascade hops, “session mead”; Queen’s Crown – caramelized mead (bochet), 9% semi-dry, Crown Maple Dark Maple infused; Honeymoon – vanilla maple mead, 9% semi-dry, Crown Maple Vanilla Maple infused; Sweet Spot – lemonade style mead, 8% semi-dry, Summer line; Pumpkin Hallow – pumpkin pie mead, 12% dry, Fall line; Safe Haven – vanilla cinnamon mead, 9% semi-dry, and coffee mead in the works now.
What would you hope people say about your meads?
We hope that people react to our meads with surprise (they usually do at events, especially those who have either never had mead or had traditional style meads) at the fact that they are so light and not very sweet. Many expect mead to be heavy, syrupy and sweet, because of the honey and the way mead has been portrayed in the past. We expect everyone to find our meads delightful and refreshing, yet unique and interesting, as a “new” option compared to cider, beer, and wine.
What would you suggest people pair with your meads?
We suggest pairing our meads with foods specific to each mead we have: Revival – hard aged cheeses, dark chocolates, poultry; Currant Rose – soft cheeses, milk chocolate, red meat; Tradition – hard cheeses, pork and campfires; Queen’s Crown – soft cheeses, milk chocolate, chicken and waffles and Honeymoon – an assorted cheese/charcuterie board
Do you have any fun facts?
Mead is considered the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man, at 10,000 years old in the South African region. It’s possible for mead to be naturally created, without human interaction. When honey drips from a comb into a puddle of water and naturally ferments, that creates mead. This is how many historians expect mead was discovered. Although the honey bee population is in dire need of help, it’s a positive thing for many meaderies to be popping up in the country. An increase in meaderies means an increase in honey bee production. The term honeymoon comes from the middle ages, where couples enjoyed mead (honey) on the night (moon) of their wedding to promote fertility.
Do you have anything to add?
Mead can make a great contribution to some refreshing cocktails. For example, we’ve mixed Currant Rose with gin and club soda, and Revival with bourbon. Also, mead can range from as low as 4% to over 20% in alcohol content. It all depends on the amount of honey being used to craft the mead. Typical, traditional style meads have been in the 14-18% range. Although mead is under NYS licensing as a wine, this year the governor introduced a proposal to add a “farm meadery license” to the 2019 Fiscal Year budget. This is great news, as it shows mead is being recognized by the state and the general market, and it’s being recognized as its own alcoholic beverage.
FYI:
Pyment - mead blended with grapes, similar to a wine but with honey as a base
Metheglin - herb/spice mead
Melomel - fruit mead
Acerglyn - mead blended with maple
Hydromel - mead that’s low in ABV with mostly water (aka ‘session’ or ‘short’ mead).
VENDORS, SPONSORS, VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
15% off vendor pricing available until March 20th. Go to our website, www.putnamcountywinefest.com and download all applications.