Local Meadery is the Bee's Knees

For someone who says he didn’t know what he was doing when he started his business, Brad Dahlhofer, 33, really seems to know what he’s doing. Since opening in 2008 with his wife, Kerri, 33, and friend Paul Zimmerman, 31, the company has gained national and international notoriety and is growing.

“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Dahlhofer said. "And we didn’t have money to hire a lawyer that did know what (we) were doing. And we figured instead of paying a lawyer to learn, we’ll just learn ourselves.”

Mead is wine made from fermented honey, and Dahlhofer uses different Michigan honeys — such as wildflower, buckwheat, star thistle and orange blossom from Florida — to achieve distinct flavors.

Although Dahlhofer attributes his finesse for creating his concoctions to his mother, who taught him at an early age about the subtleties of cooking, his engineering background contributes also.

“Essentially, it’s engineering. You need something to be repeatable, you need to come up with what are the variables in this situation and how do I control the outcome,” he said.

Dahlhofer said he had been brewing mead at his home for years before opening the business. After reading that the term “honeymoon” came from a tradition of presenting a newly married couple with a “moon’s worth” — or month’s worth — of honey wine to celebrate the union, he decided he wanted to serve mead at his own wedding in 2005.

“I can’t say whether it’s exactly true or not, I haven’t done the research. But it’s romantic,” he said.  

After the wedding, Dahlhofer said he kept making batches of mead with his wife in the basement of their Ferndale home. The couple intended the business to be a nights-and-weekends operation until Dahlhofer was laid off from his job in computer networking and software development.

“We kind of had some real soul-searching to do,” he said. “And we thought, you know, it’s time for a change.”

Dahlhofer realized that if he was going to rely on the meadery for income, he’d have to create the biggest meadery around. He said he also realized he needed Zimmerman, his friend and home-brewing partner, to make it work.

“I said, ‘Paul, I think I’m gonna start a meadery. I can’t do it without you,’ ” Dahlhofer said. “Little did he know what he was in for.”

Zimmerman said he had an idea of what was involved because he had owned a small business in his past as a graphic designer.

“I was kind of cautious,” he said. “None of us really thought it was going to get as big as it did.”

Zimmerman said he realized the extent of their creation when around 300 people showed up at the company’s first tasting event.

“You never know what kind of reaction you’re going to get from something no one’s done before,” he said.

B. Nektar has won several awards in national and international competitions. The company has recently expanded outside of Michigan, and its products are available in eight other states.

“The really exciting part is we’re opening up to Asia,” Dahlhofer said.

The company is now running at capacity and frequently relies on volunteers to help with the bottling process.

“They’re just volunteering their time because they’re home brewers themselves and just love to do it,” he said. “We just have such a good time; it’s like hanging out with your friends, really. Friends that want to see us succeed.”

A café where people can drink B. Nektar's products by the glass is also a dream of Dahlhofer’s, though he said he is hindered by his location preference.

“Part of the problem is because I’m only limiting my scope and search of real estate to Ferndale,” he said. "It’s like, I see a place open, but as soon as I call, it’s already rented out."

The mead can be found locally at various bars and retail sites ranging from to party stores, including , where Dahlhofer said his mead sells best. Owner Frank Poota, 38, said he attributes the strong sales of 36-40 bottles per month of the mead to Dahlhofer’s marketing skills.

“Mead isn’t a well-known beverage, but Brad’s made it pretty well-known in the area,” he said.

Despite the international attention, much of Dahlhofer’s focus is on the meadery’s hometown. B. Nektar has collaborated with and already, and Dahlhofer is anticipating collaborating with , which had its grand opening Friday.

Learn more about B. Nektar and its products at www.​bnektar.​com.