In 2004 when Ian Bennet was a senior in college he decided to try mulled mead (also called honey wine) at a bar in upstate New York. It was not what he was expecting and eventually led to what is now proudly known as the North Shores own honey wine, Isaaks of Salem. Five years after his first taste of mead, Ian decided to start making his own mead in a small garage in an industrial park in Beverly, Ma with the hopes of one day selling it commercially.
Let’s go back a couple of years to when Ian was surfing the web and came across a recipe to make mead at home. After experimenting in his basement for a few months, Ian set out to start his own commercial winery, making the best honey wine he possibly could. After finally getting through all the bureaucratic red tape and financing, he set upon finding the best local honey, knowing that local ingredients are the key to any great product. But where could he find a large amount of local honey? After many many hours of research and endless phone calls Ian was able to locate his honey in Billerica with the help of the Merrimack Valley Apiaries. Ian was the proud owner of 1800 pounds of local wildflower honey which tasted of wild clover and honeysuckle which was smooth but with a sharp edge and perfect for what he was making. With the help of a friend that owned a truck, they picked up the honey to bring it back to Beverly to be transformed into honey wine. Storage was already at a premium at Isaaks of Salem headquarters, considering Ian had a 750 gallon stainless steel tank and countless 5 gallon containers of bottled water. But he made it work and started his first batch in his cramped garage space.
The first batch of mead, over 950 bottles of Dry Honey Wine, was bottled in autumn of 2010 and began to hit the marketplace shortly after that. That first batch was just what Ian had imagined it to be, a simple wine dominated by honey overtones. The second batch of honey wine to be made was Sweet Tooth Honey Wine. This started out as dry honey wine but has more honey added to it after the first two fermentations. If you like your wine on the sweeter side, you will love this honey wine.
The third honey wine in Isaaks of Salem lineup is Popp Road Raspberry. Like the honey, Ian knew the raspberries needed to be local because they were going to be the star of this honey wine. For the large amount of raspberries that he needed, Ian drove all the way to Dresden, Maine to Popp Farm, hence the name of the honey wine. This honey wine too starts out as dry honey wine but has pureed raspberries added to it after the first fermentation. This honey wine starts off with a wonderful wild fruity bouquet, lingers on your pallet for a bit and then finishes dry, making you want more! This is not the cloyingly sweet fruit wines of years past. This is a wine to relax with and savor as an aperitif.
By day Ian is a Lead SAP analyst for a medical device company, by night a mead maker. Needless to say he can’t do it all himself so he relies on the help of family and friends. Even the local pastor helped bottle the first batch of honey wine. Recently Ian was able to hire his first employee who helps him by going out and conducting tastings while Ian is busy making the mead and helping his wife raise their two daughters.
Ian truly believes that it is the quality of the local honey and raspberries which really make his mead special. The true flavors of New England really come out and shine through with every sip. The list of stores and restaurants carrying Isaaks of Salem Honey Wines grows every day due to
the diligence and perseverance of their head salesperson, Ian. Visit the Isaaks of Salem website at www.isaaksofsalem.com for a complete list of where you can find Ian’s honey wine and to be one of the first to know of the new flavors Ian is working on.
This post was written by Brian Knowles who writes The Gringo Chapin, a blog about his adventures into the world of Guatemalan food and cooking.