THE MEADERY
I guess it all began with me. Experience in clandestine making of
wine and other forms of spirits in a country where liquor is
prohibited laid the foundation of Dielle’s Meadery. After being
forced to retire at age 48 because of a burning accident while
operating a distilling machine, I decided not to sulk off the
misfortune but to make myself busy and useful. In that, I would say,
I was successful.
It was in the year 2002, when I noticed the honey being harvested
from bee colonies at our backyard. Processed nectars gathered by
bees from flowers, organic. Wow! Why not honey wine? So with 2
gallons of honey, I started my first batch. At that time, I did not
even know that honey wine or mead was already being done a long time
ago in Europe and in the USA as I learned in the web much, much
later. Fermentation time was just as long as in grape wine making,
about 45 days. Several months later after the stuff cleared, with
great anxiety, I tasted my first honey wine. Good, in fact very
good. Relatives, neighbours and friends like it also. That started
the next and more batches as many as the production of honey can
offer.
Then people start coming for mead and we start selling it to
compensate for the cost of honey being used. Some people who kept on
coming back said that it cured their cold or coughs, some said it
made them more energetic and active.
Our product has been out in very limited market as it is included in
‘tiangges’ in some hotels. The feed back is terrific – people want
more of it. Thus, we decided to produce and offer it commercially at
the start of 2007 after registering it at the Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI), the local government of Muntinlupa and the BIR.
Chemical and mirobiological tests done by the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST) proved successful.
- Benjamin (Lolo Ben) Villanueva Sr |
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