FAQs
1. What is mead?
Mead is the fermented beverage made from honey. It’s one of five categories of fermented beverages:
- Beer is fermented from grains
- Wine is fermented from small fruits, often grapes
- Sake is fermented from rice
- Cider is fermented from apples
- Mead is fermented from honey!
In order to be classified as mead, the beverage must contain honey as 51% or more of the fermentable sugars.
2. How do you make this mead?
We combine honey from our own hives and from a New Brunswick distributor or independent beekeepers when we run out of our own honey with fresh pressed apples from several nearby NB apple orchards. Then, we add yeast and control the temperature of the fermenter to control the ferment from start to finish. Once it’s done fermenting, we transfer it to a secondary container for aging. All expressions are made with our own mixers at the tap.
3. How are Pollen Angels expressions produced?
All of our Pollen Angels meads come from Queen’s Nectar. It is kegged at 7.5% ABV, as our system is based on a 20L keg. Our expressions are developed in-house and tested extensively, then distributed as mixers to restaurants.
Restaurants use our proprietary glasses and pour mixer into the glass, usually filling it up to the one-third mark with mixer before topping off with Queen’s Nectar to create a 5% drink. Certain expressions such as Plaid, which uses pure maple syrup, are a higher ABV because there is less nonalcoholic mixer in the glass.
4. Do you sell through liquor stores?
We are now in about 30 liquor stores! For a listing of them check here… ANBL Locations
We primarily distribute to licensed establishments, and you can find our tap locations on our On Tap page. We have to be careful not to overdistribute and find ourselves unable to supply demand, so we’re growing organically and slowly right now. We are members of the newly-formed New Brunswick Craft Alcohol Producers Association, which is working to create better distribution networks for craft alcohol in the province.
When we have excess capacity after supplying licensees, we do direct delivery sales. Those who have signed up to our newsletter get the first chance to purchase bottles, and we deliver directly to your door in our electric car (as long as you’re 19+, of course). The next day, we release any remaining bottles to our Facebook fans and Twitter followers.
5. Are you available at any Farm Markets?
We’ve previously been at the Fredericton Night Market, and the Boyce Farmer’s Market. We’re working out our schedule for this summer, so we have yet to determine whether we’ll be returning to one or both of those sites. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know!
6. Where can I refill my bottle?
Refills of Queen’s Nectar are currently available through our friends at Maybee Brew Co. Unit 4, 559 Wilsey Road, Fredericton New Brunswick.