Colony Meadery

The Colony Meadery is a Meadery founded in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2013 before moving to Easton in late 2022. Colony Meadery produces two forms of mead, bottled and canned, each with dozens of different flavors and brands.[1]

Colony Meadery
LocationEaston, PA
Opened2013
Owned byMike Manning
Greg Heller-LaBelle
Websitewww.colonymeadery.com

History

Colony Meadery was founded by Mike Manning and Greg Heller-LaBelle.[2] Manning began brewing craft beer in his basement in 2002 before switching to home-brewed mead in 2008. He met Heller-LaBelle, a craft beer blogger, in 2012 at a beer tasting where he brought his mead. Heller-LaBelle enjoyed the mead so much he convinced Manning to start full time commercial production with him in 2013. When the company was founded it was just one of four Meaderies in the state of Pennsylvania. Colony Meadery brews all their mead in-house with their orange pollinated honey coming from apiaries in South Jersey.[3][1]

Early growth

Colony Meadery operated out of a Business incubator at 905 Harrison St. in Allentown from 2013 to 2022.[4][5]

Colony Meadery won the first ever "Commercial Mead Maker of the Year" award at the inaugural "Mead Free Or Die" competition in New Hampshire in 2014.[6][3]

In 2015 Colony Meadery expanded to include mead slushies.[7]

Colony Meadery has run a series of event promoting Mead throughout the Lehigh Valley in an effort to not just increase their own sales, but also the sales of other meaderies throughout the state.[8][9][10][1] This includes co-sponsoring and attending several local brewery competitions and fairs with out Lehigh valley based brewers.[11][12][13] This includes Bethlehem's annual ChiliFest and Lehigh Valley Pride events.[14][15][16][17] Additionally, Colony Meadery regularly participates in events in South Jersey.[18]

The brand is known for producing Philadelphia Sports themed meads. Most famously is the Joel Em-Mead made in 2018 whose can included images of Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid and themed after the shirley temple, Embiid's self proclaimed favorite drink. After launching, the limited run of cans was sold out after just five minutes, and became a permanent menu item due to its popularity.[19]

Colony Meadery opened a second location, a tasting room in South Bethlehem during Musikfest in 2019.[4][20][21] The Southside location was made to replace their earlier Bethlehem location in the Moravian Book Shop which operated from 2015 to 2018 before the location was purchased by Moravian College and Colony Meadery was forced to move.[22][23] [24] The tasting room also sells local craft beers from the Lehigh Valley.[25]

In 2020 Colony Meadery opened a partnership with local animal shelters, including pictures of dogs up for adoption on their cans in an effort to increase pet adoption.[26][27]

The Meadery hoped to expand into a larger purpose built brewery in 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more specifically, Governor Tom Wolf's mandate that all businesses serving alcohol that did not serve food shut down, ended their expansion plans.[28]

Weyerbacher Brewing partnership
Main article: Weyerbacher Brewing

In an attempt to expand their business, and move out of the what was supposed to be temporary business incubator in Allentown, Colony Meadery announced a partnership with Weyerbacher Brewing where they will produce their Mead in their brewery and open a new tasting room on the ground floor.[4] The move to partner with Weyerbacher came after the brewers second bankruptcy in its 25 years of existence and a total shift in the company's direction.[29]

References
  1. Lauer-Williams, Kathy. "A honey of a brew: Pair opens Allentown's first meadery". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  2. "The History of Colony Meadery". colonymeadery.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. Tierney, John. "Making Mead in a Space-Age World". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  4. Kneller, Ryan. "Weyerbacher Brewing, under new ownership, to share space with The Colony Meadery in Easton". WFMZ-TV. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  5. Vider, Elise. "Here's to 30 years of nurturing companies in Allentown". keystoneedge.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  6. Wescoe, Stacy. "Startup Allentown mead maker earns national honors". lvb.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  7. Huth, Kelly. "Mead slushies are closer than you think". The Express-Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  8. Moser, John J. "Allentown's Blues, Brews and Barbecue: Free bash turns 10 on Saturday". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  9. Popichak, Josh. "Saucon Valley Farmers' Market Kicks Off New Season Sunday, May 1". sauconsource.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  10. Kneller, Ryan. "Sample, learn about mead at Vault 634 in Allentown". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  11. Sheehan, Jennifer. "Side Dish: Seven Sirens brews up new festival that's also set up to support veterans". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  12. Larimer, Craig. "Local brewers meet at Funk in Emmaus to make official ale for Lehigh Valley Beer Week". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  13. Kneller, Ryan. "Two restaurant week servings: Nearly 40 Bethlehem and Hellertown area eateries, including new Drip, Randy's and Flying V, to offer deals". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  14. Sheehan, Jennifer. "ChiliFest returns: What you need to know about Bethlehem's spicy fall tradition". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  15. Sheehan, Jennifer. "Lehigh Valley Pride: Everything you need to know about the 29th annual event". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  16. Sheehan, Jennifer. "Lehigh Valley Pride: What you need to know about the 28th annual event". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  17. Kneller, Ryan. "'Prepare your taste buds': South Bethlehem's 25th Chili Fest to feature 20 participants, including new F&A Grog House & Nest Bar & Grille". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  18. Paolino, Tammy. "Handcrafted fun - and beer - in Collingswood". Courier-Post. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  19. Rolen, Emily. "Allentown meadery sells out of 'Joel Em-Mead' Shirley Temple cans online in 44 minutes". PhillyVoice. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  20. Kneller, Ryan. "Retail Watch: Cool off at new Konkrete Creamery in Northampton". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  21. Kneller, Ryan. "Retail Watch: Stock up on fall decor at new Applejacks Country Store in Whitehall". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  22. "Under new ownership, Moravian Book Shop now has the college spirit — Moravian College's that is". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  23. Warner, Frank. "Barnes & Noble will manage Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  24. Satullo, Sara K. "What the sale of Moravian Book Shop means". The Express-Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  25. Kneller, Ryan. "'Get buzzed' at The Colony Meadery's new tasting room in Bethlehem". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  26. "Pennsylvania brewery puts adoptable dogs on cans to help animal shelters". WTTG. Fox. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  27. Walton, Timothy. "Colony Meadery puts animals on their beer cans to spur pet adoptions". WPVI-TV. ABC. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  28. Lagore, Connor. "Pa. doubles down on head-scratching bar requirements, leaving alcohol manufacturers fending for themselves". The Express-Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  29. Sheehan, Jennifer. "For Easton's Weyerbacher Brewing, a new direction … and a new partner". The Morning Call. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
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