Brimming Horn Meadery to celebrate fifth anniversary July 2

To celebrate five years in business, Brimming Horn will host a party Saturday, July 2, at the meadery near Milton. Bands, vendors and food from Hammer and Horns will all be onsite.

Mead-maker Jon Talkington had a dream of turning his love of fermentation and history into a thriving Delaware business. For 30 years, he honed and perfected his craft with stints at Dogfish Head and 3rd Wave Brewing, but always returned to his love of making mead.

Medal after medal and award after award drove Talkington’s mission to open Brimming Horn Meadery near Milton.

A chance meeting in a liquor store 10 years ago with Robert Walker Jr., now a business partner, began to stoke the fires. Their shared love of Norse and Germanic mythology started the conversation about opening Talkington’s dream meadery and being able to honor the gods and goddesses of old. In 2017, Brimming Horn Meadery was born.

Brimming Horn explored and took advantage of all of Delaware’s small business opportunities in the quest to open. Using Delaware’s S.C.O.R.E. program and its Small Business Development Center for getting the loans needed for equipment, and  contacting Rep. Stephen Smyk, R-Milton, and Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, to help with licensing issues, the men of Brimming Horn pushed through and brought the world’s oldest known alcohol to the state. Staying true to its path, Brimming Horn has survived two years of a national pandemic with outside-the-box thinking and incredible support from their local and online customers.

Talkington said, “It's been a wonderful five years, and a lot of fun has been had even through tough times. I'm very grateful to have such wonderful people help keep the business running and moving into the future. It's been a lot of hard work but well worth it in the end, and I look forward to many more years of the Brimming Horn building our community, brand and future!”

For the occasion, Talkington and his assistant mead-maker Jenna Mikat have created a fantastic traditional mead called Anthropomorphic Personification. It’s a blend of Zambian forest honey, avocado blossom honey, and Tanzanian miombo honey fermented with sherry yeast. Rich and complex in flavor, the mead contains notes of caramel, molasses, tobacco, black tea and smoke. A portion of this mead was aged for five years.

Brimming Horn Meadery is at 28615 Lewes Georgetown Highway, Milton. For details, go to brimminghornmeadery.com.