A Magazine Celebrating the Region’s Wine and Craft Beverages
WINE | SPIRITS | BEER | CIDER | MEAD
Helderberg Meadworks
Established 2012
518.795.8964
Visit the website
$5 for 7 tastes;
Helderberg Meadworks is a unique “winery” located at the edge of the Helderberg Mountains where fresh water and local raw honey are used to craft the finest mead. They are one of the few meaderies in the state who primarily produce mead. Owner and meadmaker Peter Voelker has been making mead for many years. In 2010, he decided to open Helderberg Meadworks to share what he considers to be the best mead in the country.
In 2015 he was able to purchase more land to expand their small orchard and add a vineyard. While working hard to clear the land and plant rows of fruit, he was able to truly appreciate the beauty of the location and the view overlooking the mountains. It was clear this would be the location of their tasting room, a perfect setting to relax and enjoy his mead and cider.
Savor This
Helderberg Meadworks can now host your wedding—plus, its owner, Peter, is newly ordained! That means you can legally exchange vows right on-site, making planning your special day even easier.
Inspired by their Apple Mead, in 2016 Helderberg Meadworks began producing hard cider. The philosophy of using all-natural ingredients extends to their ciders, allowing them to bring out crisp, fresh apple flavor. Thanks to positive customer feedback at festivals, hard cider became a permanent addition to their tasting room offerings.
In addition to mead and cider, Helderberg makes a rare product called a “braggot,” a beer/mead hybrid made with grains and hops. They have collaborated with such Capital District breweries as Brown’s Brewing, Serious Brewing and Rare Form Brewing Company to produce a wide variety of braggots. Who is next? Follow Helderberg Meadworks on social media to be the first to know!
2022 marked the opening of a second meadhall in Troy, NY. While the Esperance tasting room will remain the primary location with large events, the Troy meadhall provides the Capital Region with a location that is closer to home and follows the downtown Troy vibe. Come and enjoy the same award-winning product line and atmosphere in a new location. Check the website for open hours.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
National Mead Weekend!
National Mead Day is the first Saturday in August. Helderberg has turned it into an entire weekend with live music and a variety of vendors, including contestants from the TV show Forged in Fire. It’s their biggest event of the year and you won’t want to miss it!
Custom Meads
Following in the path of Pillage and Blood of the Wasted, Helderberg’s latest custom mead was a resounding success! This time the mead was created for the Indigenous black metal project “Blackbraid.”
“Blackbraid founder has been a fan of our mead for a long time, so when he released his debut album we had to reach out and ask him if he wanted a custom mead,” says owner Peter Voelker. “And our Blackbraid mead was born.” Made with locally harvested sumac and NY blueberries, this mead is in a league of its own.
DIRECTIONS
Hours
YEAR-ROUND
Thurs–Sun:
See website for hours at each location
CLOSED
New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day
STAFF PICKS
MEAD
- Blackbraid
- Heritage Mead
- Odin’s Tears Mead
- Sweet Feral Mead
- Black Currant Mead
- Drakkar
- Brimstone & Fire
CIDER
- Seasonal Cider
- Black Current Cider
- Cherry Cider
MEET THE MEAD MAKER
Peter Voelker
Peter Voelker is an engineer by degree. His love for creating something personal and unique combined with a passion for history drove him to experiment with and study mead. He was born in NYC and lived his life in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region. He got his start making homebrew as soon as he graduated college, then branched out into other beverages. He began making mead over 20 years ago and has been perfecting it ever since.
Having discovered through genealogy that he is a descendant of the first King of Norway, Harald Fairhair, Peter developed a mead that he would feel honored to raise in a toast with his ancestor. In honor of that link, the label for Heritage was designed to include the “Swords in Mountain” monument of three bronze swords standing 30 feet tall. That monument was erected in Norway to commemorate King Harald’s historic final battle of Hafrsfjord.