One of the better bits of beer-adjacent news to come out of 2020 so far is the revival of Nectar Creak Mead by 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis. You might recall that the Philomath-based meadery closed its doors in October of last year, illustrative of the struggles of making an expensive niche product in a competitive marketplace. Honey is expensive.

[Phil] Lorenz, who owns the business with his 29-year-old brother, Nick, said the decision came down to the bottom line.

“It was a business decision — really that’s where it starts and stops at,” Lorenz said. “At the end of the day, this was a business that wasn’t penciling out and so we had to make that decision.”

“When we started this business seven years ago, there were about 2,000 breweries in the U.S. operating and now there’s over 7,000,” Lorenz said. “That’s just on the beer side, but were competing in that space and now there’s cider and there’s hard seltzer. … I believe in our niche and I believe there’s a lot of opportunity in our niche, but to be successful in there, you have to have a lot of financial muscle.”

In July of this year, 2 Towns announced the acquisition of Nectar Creek and the revival of several brand favorites. The meads are produced at 2 Towns’ facility, and they are packaged in 500ml bottles as well getting a boost in alcohol from about 6% to 8% by volume. The full press release is at the bottom of this post.

2 Towns had sent me samples of the first two meads to roll off the bottling line, Nectarade (Lemon Lime) and Top Bar (Coffee). I’d tasted each of these at some point in the past, though never had enough to properly review, until now. So let’s see how these new meads taste!

Nectarade Lemon Lime Mead

It’s a pretty straightforward concept: mead with lemon and lime. The description reads, “Freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice blended with unfiltered honey to make a mead that is tart and electrifying.”

Appearance: Clear and brilliant golden yellow color. Fine bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass, but no head.

Smell: Sweet honey with subtle citrus notes more akin to lime juice than lemon to my nose. Slightly earthy and herbal, which probably points to the type of honey used (I don’t know what varieties are sourced).

Taste: Easy lemonade/limeade flavor over sweet honey along with beeswax and raw honey (by raw, as opposed to sweet, honey I mean raw tends to have a less sweet, earthier, “rougher” flavor profile). Earthy honey/wax character is a signature to what I remember of Nectar Creek in the past, and the citrus takes it in a floral direction, with a bit of lemon blossom.

Mouthfeel: Lighter-bodied yet with an almost syrupy character. Floral/citrus sweet aftertaste.

Overall: Crisp, with honey and citrus flavors for a decently floral “ade.” Good for summer drinking (though it’s also year-round).

Top Bar Coffee Mead

A coffee-infused mead is a higher-concept than lemon-lime, in my opinion, and it’s a fun one to taste—in fact, we liked Top Bar best of the two. The description says, “Locally roasted coffee blended with unfiltered honey makes for a mead that is rich, complex, and sessionable all at the same time.”

Appearance: Clear, dark golden color, with a fleeting fizzy head, though there is carbonation evident from the tiny bubbles.

Smell: Lightly sweet honey with subtle medium-roast coffee beans. Hints of vanilla and perhaps sweet cream.

Taste: Sweet honey with a bold cold brew coffee kick that lacks bitterness and goes into a lightly cloying “coffee syrup” direction. “Coffee honey” with a wildflower brightness and a gentle kick of alcohol. Some vanilla, sweet tea, beeswax.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied with a lingering coating of cold brew coffee and syrup.

Overall: Nicely crafted but a bit sweet for my taste—I’d love to get more coffee roast character to balance it out.

They are both tasty meads and anyone who loves the beverage should seek these out.

And finally, here is the press release from 2 Towns announcing the return of Nectar Creek:

2 Towns Ciderhouse and Nectar Creek Meadery join together to start a bee-utiful new era

2 Towns Ciderhouse announced today that they are excited to welcome the newly acquired Nectar Creek Meadery to the Forbidden Fruit LLC. craft alcohol family. Nectar Creek, who shut their doors in October 2019, is known for its award-winning and innovative session meads.

As part of the partnership, 2 Towns will be producing Nectar Creek’s mead in its facility in Corvallis, Oregon. Additionally, Nectar Creek’s Co-Founder, Phil Lorenz, has joined the team as brand manager.

“Phil and I have known each other since we were in preschool,” said Lee Larsen, 2 Towns’ Co-Founder & CEO. “We grew up in the Willamette Valley, and together learned not only how to appreciate good craft beverages, but how to make them as well. Both companies have had close relationships from the beginning, sharing production materials and packaging lines as we were just starting out. The opportunity to work together is a dream. We are extremely excited to make sure Nectar Creek keeps making awesome mead.”

The two craft beverage startups’ histories have been closely tied since their founding, with Nectar Creek initially occupying 2 Towns’ original production facility, which had been a former taxi garage outfitted with modest brewing equipment. With similar equipment needs and industry learning curves, the two companies often leaned on one another to thrive in the extremely competitive craft market. That spirit of collaboration is what eventually led to the recent acquisition.

“As competition within the alcohol industry increased, our business struggled as a result of many factors,” said Phil Lorenz. “Despite having a beloved product with a loyal fanbase, we just couldn’t make it work at our scale, and unfortunately had to close our doors at the end of 2019. Our communication with the 2 Towns’ team continued through that challenging time, as they tried to help us find a way to make it work. Ultimately we found a way to leverage the skills and equipment that 2 Towns has to revive the Nectar Creek brand and make mead again.”

The much-loved meadery will be doing a soft re-launch in July 2020, with two classic offerings: Top Bar (Coffee) and Nectarade (Lemon Lime). Both will come in 500 mL bottles with an MSRP of $6.99 and will be made available exclusively through 2 Towns’ Corvallis tap room and their local delivery program throughout the Willamette Valley. A full-scale launch in 6-pack cans will take place starting in September 2020 through 2 Towns’ distribution network.

In August, the offerings will expand to 3 mead varieties: Top Bar, Nectarade, and Cluster (Strawberry-Hibiscus). Each mead will be sold in 6-packs of 375 mL cans for an MSRP of $13.99.

The recipes and flavor profiles will remain very familiar to die-hard fans but the ABV has increased to 8% for all the meads and the packaging design is getting a refresh.

“I am humbled to join 2 Towns as a team member,” said Phil Lorenz, “and I look forward to working with the great folks here to continue making mead. Nectar Creek was built by the hard work of many dedicated people and I cannot wait to keep the legacy going in a new environment.”

At this time the Nectar Creek tap room in Philomath will not be reopening, but the team is looking at possibilities for future endeavors.

Utilizing 2 Towns’ distribution network, Nectar Creek will be available in 375 mL 6-packs, 1⁄2 barrels, and 1⁄6 barrels.

For more information on Nectar Creek, please visit www.nectarcreek.com.

Teamwork makes the dream work.