Bull and Bee Meadery and Tasting Room: Making Old Things New

By Pat Ellis

Thoughts of mead may have you visualizing a medieval English dinner or a Viking celebrating victory with a horn full of the beverage. While partially correct, mead has farther-reaching origins: it is thought to be the oldest fermented alcoholic beverage, dating back as far as 7000 BC in China.

This oldest new drink was introduced to the Albany area when Bull and the Bee Meadery opened its doors in 2021. The idea for Bull and Bee came from William Yeager, a local businessman with a passion for neighborhood. William had a family connection to mead, as previous generations on his mother’s line were mead makers. He teamed with Dan Dineen and Bull and Bee Meadery and Tasting Room was born, establishing residency in downtown Albany.

Mead is sometimes referred to as a honey wine. This is technically incorrect, as it is not made with grapes. Mead is literally in an alcoholic class of its own. The beverage  is produced by fermenting honey and yeast and water. Listening to Bull and Bear Mead maker, Ray Mazzola, you will learn that mead comes in a variety of flavor profiles, dry, or sweet and sparkling, or still.  “Enjoy chilled as a clean, white wine-style beverage. Room temperature or warmed for more full, complex layered flavors. Or used as a base for low ABV cocktails such as Martinis and Manhattans,” Ray suggests, “It's only limit is your imagination.”

Bull and Bees’s first offering was a dry mead called Genesis. Genesis has received favorable reviews from such critics as New York Sommelier Jonathan Stewart, who characterized it as “ a complex and versatile example of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage.” Genesis has been joined by three other meads, including Midas, a sweet mead; Joy, a mulled spliced flavor; and Hades, a pepper mead. Each has an alcoholic content of around 13%, just under the amount that would produce a “boozy bite,” but definitely to be respected as requiring responsible consumption.

Bull and Bee meads can be found at several local bars/restaurants and retailers including Honest Weight Food Coop, where it will be showcased at the Cider Pressing Party on September 30th, from 4:30 until 6 pm. If you are curious about Mead and want to understand its growing popularity stop in and try a sample.

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