Embrace your inner warrior and enjoy exceptional Delaware local craft mead, cider, and fruit wines at the Brimming Horn Meadery!
Located just north of Rehoboth Beach in Milton, DE, The Brimming Horn Meadery is an unexpected gem. This Scandanavian-style mead hall offers an impressive array of craft beverages, each more delicious than the last. Infused with inspirations from Nordic mythology, ancient history, and even the heavy metal music industry, every glass of mead, cider, and fruit wine is layered with an impressive balance of flavors.
With over twenty years of combined experience in the craft beverage industry, Jon Talkington and Robert (JR) Walker, Jr. bring their passion for brewing to everything at The Brimming Horn. From the art on the walls and the labels, to the wooden tasting trays shaped like Viking long boats, to the hand-made bar, benches and tables that fill the space, everything in the tasting room has a story.
Just recently, I had the chance to partake in a sampling of their line of products, and my friends and I were blown away by the quality of what we found.
Made with Pride & Honor
In my time working on this blog, its safe to say I’ve had my fair share of unique tastings. I can honestly say The Brimming Horn offers a particularly fun experience. The flight trays are handmade from red wine barrel staves to look like miniature viking long boats, and each glass is labeled with a tiny round shield. Served on a bar shaped like the hull and bow of a lifesize long boat, it was definitely something to remember!
A variety of flights are offered at different price points, the most common being 4 or 6 glass tastings. I partook in what they call the Jarl’s Flight, which features all 10 of the standard libations on tap. On our visit, these included session (low ABV) meads, traditional meads, and fruit wines. I loved them all, but have to share a few that stood out:
A Sampling of Favorites:
- Lime Spruce (Session Mead, ABV 8%): Lightly carbonated with flavors of honey, lime, spruce tips and ginger, its a perfect outdoors sipper.
- Grape of the Bees (Muscat Wine, ABV 12%): Made from Californian Muscat grapes for a delicious sweet wine.
- Wight Pyment (Traditional Mead, ABV 14%): Oak aged and made from wildflower and clover honeys along with Muscat grapes. One of my favorites.
- Sticky Toffee Pudding (Traditional Mead, ABV 11-14%): Dessert in a glass! Honey, dates, vanilla, brown sugar, and toffee flavors. Another of my favs.
The Brimming Horn also collaborates with heavy metal bands to create one-of-a-kind recipes only available for a limited time (and usually never to be made again). There are two of these Mead & Metal Collabs available now, so I urge you to check them out ASAP:
- Aspiring Death (collab with Chrome Waves): Inspired by the hot toddy cocktail, this delicious mead is full of honey, lemons, black tea, and cinnamon and aged in bourbon barrels. (A bottle of this absolutely came home with me!)
- Unto These Hills (collab with Osi and the Jupiter): A deliciously thick mix of honey, elderberries, and blackberries aged in bourbon barrels.
Visiting the Meadery
While not very large, the indoor space is warm and inviting. It’s a cozy atmosphere, with handmade wooden tables lined up next to a bar shaped like the hull of a long boat. The walls are covered in art, both modern and traditional in style, and every piece you find has a story to go along with it. It’s so much fun to just look around and find all the interesting artifacts! Outside seating is also available, weather permitting, and there is a really awesome firepit out front that looks like the perfect place to sip mead on a fall night.
In addition to their standard operating hours Thursday through Sunday afternoons and evenings, The Brimming Horn is open for bottle sales and growler pours seven days a week. For those out of state, they also ship nationwide – check out their website to see if they ship to your area!
One last note: we learned during out visit a bit of exceptional news for any craft beverage location – they just recieved a state grant that they are putting towards a Food Truck! Hammer and Horns will be serving brats, burgers, and – best of all – gooey raclette cheese on site sometime in the near future. Let me just say, I cannot wait.
At A Glance
Name: The Brimming Horn Meadery
Location: 28615 Lewes-Georgetown Hwy, Milton, DE 19968
Hours of Operation: Thursdays (3-7pm), Friday & Saturday (12-9pm), Sunday (12-5pm) for tastings and full pours.
Atmosphere: Old World Scandinavian mead hall; warm woods; friendly – and there is always a chance of seeing someone in Viking regalia
Must Try: Any special edition meads available, especially the limited Mead & Metal collab options!Insider Info: Keep an eye out for announcements related to their future food truck!
