Door County Gets its First Meadery

Mixed Meadia is now open! Produced at and sharing a tasting room with Hatch Distilling Co. in Egg Harbor, they focus on local ingredients and artful blending of our Mead, Ciders, and Wines. Mead is wine made from honey.

Thought to be the world’s first fermented beverage, mead has long been a favorite in smaller circles but has been growing steadily in recognition and popularity in recent years. Mixed Meadia is proud to become Door County’s first Meadery. Their meads are locally sourced, fermented and bottled, and we make them in an approachably fresh and aromatic style. By July, they will have three meads on our shelves; a dry or Brut sparkling mead, a slightly sweeter or sparkling mead, and a mead made from honey and apples (which is called a cyser) blended with Door County’s famous tart cherries.

Opening a Meadery within a distillery might seem like an odd move, but it is surprisingly symbiotic. There are times during the distillation process where tanks used for fermentation are left idle, so why not put them to good use? Also, Hatch Distilling Co. is unique in their use of honey to make vodka, gin, and other spirits. They often get asked if that means they make mead too, and now they can say yes! This space-sharing and sustainable mindset of production is visible in their sourcing, too.

One of their inspirations to use honey in the fermentations is its low environmental impact. While the bees are busy helping to pollinate the vineyards, orchards and gardens, they produce enough honey per acre for about 1,400 bottles of mead. They also share Hatch’s ethos of sourcing locally and sustainably, and are grape growers and beekeepers themselves!

Outside of what they produce themselves, Mixed Meadia sources as much as they can from Door County itself, and nothing from outside of Wisconsin, in order to provide visitors with real expression of place. They are focused on producing fresh, aromatic, well-balanced meads, and soon will soon have ciders and wines as well. They are especially excited to begin our traditional method sparkling wine program after grape harvest this September. (i.e. look for Door County “Champagne” in the near future, yum!) They are also working to get their meads and ciders into cans by the end of summer to make them easier to be enjoyed while exploring all Door County has to offer. Imagine sipping a bubbly cherry mead on your beach picnic with a bowl of pick-your-own cherries from a local orchard, or quenching your thirst with a crisp cider while leaf-peeping in one of our beautiful parks. Quintessential Door County. (*chef’s kiss) If you don’t have a trip up here planned this summer bottles will be hitting stores soon!

The name Mixed Meadia stems from our belief in the art of the blend. They like to think of their winemaker like you would a chef; someone who carefully selects each ingredient and mindfully blends them in a way that creates a finished product that is more than the sum of its parts. A good blend allows them to take each individual ferment, highlight their favorite aspects of it, layer them together to complement each other, and achieve a great balance of flavors and textures to produce a really delicious and nuanced experience. While they are excited for their traditional meads to showcase honey as a fermented beverage, mead also makes a great backbone for blending. It offers a more neutral base that the winemaker can influence the structure and flavors of by blending apples, grapes, hops and herbs in endless combinations. Their next releases will include a cherry mead, a hopped mead, a rose styled grape/honey blend (called a pyment), a cider, and the first wine vintage! As well as taking advantage of their used spirits barrels (bourbon barrel aged mead).

About Mixed Meadia

Founded in 2022, Mixed Meadia is a subsidiary of Hatch Distilling Co. Both Hatch and Mixed Meadia are proponents for local agriculture, and in addition to being beekeepers and grape growers themselves, work with local growers to sustainably produce and source the best ingredients they can for their spirits, meads, ciders, and wines. Mixed Meadia strives to help spread interest in and enjoyment of quality meads and locally grown wines and ciders. They believe in providing their customers with a fun and accessible way to learn about the region and products while sharing the passion for the craft with them.

 

For More Information:
https://www.hatchdistilling.com/