Two Seasons Meadery: Not just for Vikings

Two Seasons Meadery has a number of flavors for new and experienced mead-drinkers alike, from their Meadarita, made with semi-sweet lime-agave melomel, to their Rock the Razzbah, a mead comprised of raspberries (Photo by Sam Davenport).

In recent years, Alaska has seen several meaderies come and go. In 2013, Homer’s Ring of Fire Meadery closed after nearly a decade in business; in 2016, Celestial Meads was sold to Denali Brewing in 2016.

“That left a vacuum of meaderies, of meads,” Vincent Cook, one of four active owners of Two Seasons Meadery, said. “You can still get stuff in the stores, mostly specialties like La Bodega and Gold Rush… but for myself, it wasn’t what I wanted.”

That’s when Cook — along with Christopher Peterson, Kevin Riley Prestegard and Kevin Sobolesky — started discussing the idea of their own venture, but it wasn’t until June of 2018 when they began renting their current facility, located at 801 E 82nd Avenue, Unit D-3.

Two Seasons’ grand opening was Labor Day Weekend; since then, they’ve been serving mead four days a week to the Anchorage area.

“That first night after the soft open, when we closed up and went and got dinner with our earnings… it felt like a dream,” Cook said. “I was exhausted, but it felt like a fairy tale.”

Cook, along with the other owners, wants to expand the public’s perception of mead. While they have the “what people think of when they think of mead”-type of flavors, they have a range of other options that are more accessible, like their Meadarita, made with semi-sweet lime-agave melomel, or their Rock the Razzbah, a mead comprised of raspberries. 

“We wanted to be able to offer the kinds of meads that we like to drink and that we want to share with people — and also to buck this idea that mead has to be this very rarified, very sacred-sweet heavy drink that’s only drunk by Vikings,” Cook said.

Cook has seen the resurgence cider has had in Anchorage — like Double Shovel Cider Company, the first micro cidery in the state, as well as breweries following suit and getting the appropriate licenses. He hopes mead has a similar trajectory.

“I think mead also deserves that kind of recognition,” Cook said.

According to 2017 data from the American Mead Makers Association, one meadery opens in the United States every three days.

Currently, Two Seasons Meadery is available on-site at their Anchorage location, but people can bring their growlers to go. Once they get their feet under them, they’ll start looking at distributing to bars, restaurants and retail. 

Two Seasons Meadery is open Thursdays and Friday from 4-8 p.m., Saturday from Noon-8 p.m. and Sunday from 2-6 p.m.