Wicked Local Article – July 21, 2022

Local craft drinks kombucha, mead and sake are in Massachusetts, here's where to get themJennie Oemigwickedlocal.com, July 21, 2022 Beer, cider, wine and spirits aren’t the only liquids being crafted locally. There are a number of other beverages, alcoholic and not, that are being brewed, canned and bottled right in eastern Massachusetts.One of those beverages is mead, which is made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes adding other ingredients like fruits, spices, grains or hops.Another beverage gaining popularity is kombucha, a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink, which often has juice, spices, fruit or other flavorings added. A scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is a main ingredient used in the fermentation and production of kombucha.  And then there’s sake, which is fermented from four ingredients – water, rice, the microbe koji and yeast. Farthest Star SakeMassachusetts is home to the only sake brewery in New England. It’s located in Medfield.Todd Bellomy, owner and brewer at Farthest Star Sake, said once upon a time, there were two sake breweries in the region, though both have since closed.“I knew the region could support a sake brewery,” he said.  So Bellomy found a large industrial space in Medfield that he would eventually transform into a sake brewery, complete with a 1,500 square-foot taproom.“One of the challenges is no one knows what sake is or how it’s made,” he said. “One of our missions is to demystify that. … We want to teach people about it and have them try sake on draft.”Bellomy said the rice he uses to make sake is a special variety grown in Arkansas at Isbell Farms. And he orders 10,000 pounds at a time.“It’s already polished and all the starches are concentrated in the center of the grain of rice,” he explained. “We mill it to remove the outer layers, which gives you more pure starch, in turn giving you a smoother sake.”  From there, the starches are converted to sugar, which are then fermented into alcohol with the help of a microorganism called koji.“It takes about six to eight weeks to get from grain to glass,” Bellomy said.For those who visit the taproom and have never had sake, Bellomy said he encourages them to try a flight so they can sample some different styles and flavors.“Everyone’s palate is completely different and they taste different things,” he said. “And I am happy to answer any questions to help them wrap their minds around what sake…

 By Jennie Oemig, July 21, 2022Local craft drinks kombucha, mead and sake are in Massachusetts, here's where to get them   By Paige Impink, October 15, 2022 Passionate about mead By Casey Stevenson, December 18, 2021 Blisspoint: How TMHS alum Jeff Venuti turned his curiosity into a business Local businessman trying to find his bliss By Betsy Levinson, December 8, 2021 At Bedford’s Blisspoint Meadery, Jeff Venuti Produces an Artisanal Brew for Modern Tastes By Mike Rosenberg, November 22, 2021 Bedford Tavern Podcast, Episode 2, Jeff Venuti: Mead Maker By Dan Brosgol & Dave Geller, November 22, 2021

Blisspoint Meadery - Facts Where: Bedford, MAWhen: November 9, 2021, open for online salesHow: blisspointmeadery.com, orders for local curbside pickup and shipping to 38 states.No retail storefront at the moment, but we plan to get there.  Tastings are available by appointment for groups of 2 or more.We have 14 different products available right now, with another 19 planned for release over the coming months.Our products span a wide range from dry to sweet, carbonated to still, low abv to high abv, traditional honey meads to fruited and honey combinations.  There's something for everybody.  Jeff Venuti - Bio Jeff grew up in Tewksbury MA (TMHS class of 1992), and graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.  Jeff has spent his career designing semiconductor chips for various wireless communications systems and lives in Bedford MA with his wife Tara and their two children who attend the Bedford Public Schools (Lane & JGMS).  In addition to that, Jeff has been fermenting beverages for 20 years, making friends, family, and occasional strangers happy with small batches of beer, wine, and mead. He has been honing his mead making craft for 15 years, in constant pursuit of the perfect glass, searching for that blisspoint, the perfect combination of flavors in the perfect proportions, to put the mouth and mind in a state where it cannot imagine anything better in that moment. He wants to help you find your blisspoint too. Blisspoint Meadery - Origin Story 25 years ago, living in Tewksbury MA, I had just finished a hike in the White Mountains with my first boss after college, Bob, now a life long friend.  He shared with me some homebrewed beer that he had made.  I was struck by how good it was relative to the junk that was readily available at the time.  I had never really had a beer that I liked.  This homebrew was flavorful and interesting and I never knew that beer could be like that.  Even more intriguing to me was that Bob has made it himself.  I told Bob all of these things.  He gave me another one and disappeared after saying he'd be right back.  He returned a few minutes later with a big bin full of his homebrew equipment and said "Here, you'll probably use it more than I will, it's yours now."  I've been fermenting ever since, starting with beer, and eventually branching…