DUNDEE, Ore. — The Willamette Valley is known for its wineries, breweries, and distilleries, offering a wide variety of drinks for locals and visitors alike.
Now, there’s a new option on the menu: mead.
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Danielle and Warren Burke opened Odin’s Beard Meadery in late July. The couple previously owned Dusty Bottle Meadery in La Center, Washington. Danielle, who has Norwegian and Swedish heritage, began making mead 20 years ago. As their operation grew, they decided to relocate, in part because Warren’s work often brought him to Oregon.
“There’s no one out here doing it,” Warren said. “It’s the heart of the Willamette Valley. If you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere.”
Mead, sometimes called honey wine, is made from honey, water, and yeast. The flavor of the honey depends on the flowers local bees visit — from blackberries to wildflowers to carrot blossom and more.
Alcohol content can range from 3.5% to 25% by volume, though it is typically fermented to between 7.5% and 14%. Its texture can vary from dry to lightly syrupy, depending on the mead maker’s preference.
Fruits, grains, or spices may be added for variety. For example, Odin’s Beard offers Blackberry Melomel, made with blackberries added during fermentation for a distinct flavor and color. Some meads are also barrel-aged for months or years for additional character.
Considered one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, mead has been made for thousands of years. It can be ready in four to five months, though some varieties ferment and age longer, depending on ingredients, yeast and brewing process.
“The mead will tell you when it’s ready,” Warren said.
The Burkes bought their Dundee property in 2017. Warren, who works in construction, built the facilities with Danielle, working weekends and holidays with help from family and friends.
“It’s been a labor of love,” Warren said.
That craftsmanship is evident in the meadery’s main tasting area, where honey-colored wood walls and dark open rafters evoke the feel of a Viking mead hall. The bar is topped with a polished 25-foot slab of maple, which took three days to cut and mount. A suit of Viking armor, complete with sword, stands in the corner. It’s not unusual to see members of area viking clubs drop in dressed in full viking and nordic garb.
Odin’s Beard currently serves its Just Mead 1st Vintage in both dry and semi-sweet varieties made with late-harvest amber and wildflower honey, Just Mead 2nd Vintage made with blackberry honey, and Blackberry Melomel, which incorporates fruit during fermentation.
Future offerings will include tart cherry vanilla mead, apple cyser made with apple juice instead of water, carrot blossom mead and a spiced variety similar to mulled wine. The food menu currently features a fruit-heavy charcuterie board, with plans to add an outdoor pizza oven.
If you’ve never tried mead, the Burkes invite you to sample theirs.
“You don’t know until you try it,” Warren said. “Everyone has a different flavor.”
Odin’s Beard Meadery, at 18601 Riverwood Road in Dundee, is open Thursday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (971) 900-2882.
