This year has been full of tremendous happenings around the meadery.

We built a Mead Hall within our current space, started serving food, released the final year-round offerings from Havoc Mead, completed the transition to cans for all of our products, doubled our staff, sponsored Vermont's first Renaissance Faire, and much more.

So, could 2017 even compare? You bet your hornless helmet it can.

• Starting in just a few weeks, Colchester's Mead Hall is going to be expanding its offerings to include a rotating menu of Viking-era inspired recipes. In addition to our current house-made herrings, local vegetables, Scandinavian cheeses, and fine bratwurst, we're going to be playing around with ancient recipes to bring you foods few have eaten in a millennium.
• Speaking of recipes, we're finally going to have a single resource for all of our mead recipes on our website so that you can try your hand at replicating any or all of our meads at home!
• In addition to the VT Renaissance Faire in June, we're also sponsoring Vermont's first Winter Ren Faire this March.
• This spring, we're going to be releasing new special brews including our fan-favorite, Fire on Snow.
• New seasonals will also be coming out (hopefully in cans)!
• We're going to be acquiring a catering license so that we can serve our fabulous Scandinavian Fare at more events and locations around the state. 

If that's not enough, you should know that we're keeping our biggest surprise under our belt for now... more details coming soon.

In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about de-gassing, bottle shock, using agave in mead, pitching temperature, aging temperature, and more!

This Friday, December 23rd, is the last of week of Gifts of the Meadmaker, and we are going out big.

For one night only, Ricky the Meadmaker is pulling out all of the stops to make his family's multi-course, extravagant Hanukkah dinner, but there's a twist: He's using only Viking-era ingredients and techniques.

How is he doing that? Well, he has three days to figure it out. It's the time of the year for miracles, right?

Here's what's on the menu:
Roast Beef Braised with Spiced Wine
Old-World Latkes
Pink Pickled Herring
​Found Greens
Purple Cabbage with Pillaged Spices
Wine-Soaked Nuts and Raisins (alcoholic)
​
Space is limited, so please call 802-497-2345 to make a reservation.
​More information is available on our Facebook Event.

Mead is an amazing beverage.

Ice cold in a glass during the summer, warmed on the stove in the winter; it's versatile, complex, and fun to drink.

You know what else fits this description? Whiskey.
And Rum.
​And good Tequila.

While it's possible to make cocktails with beer - you can't fault bartenders for a lack of effort - it's not a natural fit like mead is. Cider is pretty good, too, but we don't make cider. We make mead.

The principles of making mead cocktails are pretty simple.

• Straight meads like Valkyrie's Choice and Mannaz can be used in place of seltzer.
• Anywhere that you'd use cranberry juice and seltzer? You got it: Nordic Farmhouse.
• Want to give your cocktail a ginger kick? Try some Root of All Evil!
• Want to jazz up a Bloody Mary? Fire-Drake is a natural fit.

It only gets more fun and complex from there. You can make a classic Manhattan and replace the vermouth with Old Wayfarer. You can make an Old Fashioned with Golden Apple of Discord and a slice of winesap on your flag. The possibilities are endless!

Then again, cookbooks still sell. Not everyone wants to experiment in the kitchen or behind the bar.

We hear you, and we've got your back.

Starting this Friday we're going to be releasing a cocktail recipe every single week! It will have all the ingredients, garnish ideas, and a picture of what the final beverage should look like.

So, stay tuned, meadiacs, exciting things are on the way.