Brimming Horn and band Junius collaborate on bourbon-barrel mead
After a successful foray into the music collaboration world with death-metal juggernauts Incantation, Brimming Horn is back collaborating with one of America's biggest post-metal bands, Junius.
The discussions began to take shape roughly six months ago when Brimming Horn contacted vocalist Joseph Martinez in hopes of collaborating on a special one-of-a-kind mead with the band. "We were approached by Brimming Horn after our East Coast tour to put out a Junius mead, and after sampling and finishing (quickly) a few of their meads, we honed in on a bourbon barrel-aged version. We are beyond stoked to put this out," said vocalist Joseph E. Martinez.
The mead is called Eternal Rituals (11-14 percent ABV), and the name is based on their critically acclaimed album "Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light." Eternal Rituals is made from North Dakota clover honey, a light floral honey with a hint of spice. After fermentation, the mead was placed in bourbon barrels for over three months. The bourbon barrels come from a high-end distillery based out of New York, and they impart hints of vanilla, caramel and spice.
Mead maker Jon Talkington said, "Junius' music is extremely complex, just like our meads, and we wanted to craft something that would appeal to the refined mead drinker as well as the sophisticated bourbon aficionado." This is Brimming Horn's second mead and metal collaboration, and as of now it is the only meadery in the country that works with these high-level bands.
"Junius is one of my all-time favorite bands, and it's a dream come true to work with such talented musicians and bring to life the mead they were interested in crafting. Jon did an amazing job with this one," said co-owner JR Walker.
Junius was formed in 2003 out of Boston, and "Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light" marks its third full-length album; it was released in March on Prosthetic Records.
Eternal Rituals is available in the Brimming Horn tasting room in Milton as well as online. There will only be 180 bottles available. For more information or to order, go to www.brimminghornmeadery.com and www.vinoshipper.com.
