Delaware SBA crowns local meadery first-ever Rural Small Business of the Year

MILTON, Del.- “It’s kind of crazy to be a small business owner. I never thought I was going to amount to much so it’s kind of cool to see to see what happens when you work hard,” Walker said.

That hard work, friendship, and a love for honey made Robert Walker and John Talkington join forces to open Brimming Horn Meadery in Milton.

Brimming Horn makes mead, which includes ingredients like honey, yeast, and water. The Meadery produces a variety of hard ciders and gingers, wines, and more. “Be our own bosses, not really have to answer to anybody, and do whatever we’d like to do to be as creative as we’d like is pretty great,” Co-Owner Robert Walker said.

“I get a lot of inspiration from reading history books, old mythology, and stuff from the medieval area. So, give me a lot of creativity in my mind to come up with new recipes,” Co-Owner and Head Mead Maker John Talkington said.

Six years later, the duo is now the first-ever winners of the Delaware Small Business Association’s Rural Small Business of the Year award. “The team and I gathered together, and we felt like why not create something to highlight the gems in our rural communities here in the state of Delaware,” Delaware SBA Director Michelle Harris said.

The Meadery was nominated by the Delaware Small Business Development Center who provides consulting services statewide free of costs for business owners. “You can really see that passion that they’re not just checking off that they helped this person with a business plan. They become invested in what that success looks like and success looks different for each small business,” Delaware SBDC Associate Director Sarah Mailloux said.

Brimming Horn has received other support from the SBA which includes the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Delaware SCORE. “One of the biggest things I heard our winners talk about today was they quickly latched on to the SBDC here in Sussex County and that representative has been with them for six years from concept, to starting, and now to expanding,” Harris said.

Business owners call the process of mead a labor of love and tells they go through upwards of 30,000 pounds of honey each year. Even with supply challenges, they say the secret to keeping things ‘sweet’ is never giving up. “As long as you have that passion, you’ll find a way to make it work,” Walker said.

Thanks to additional funding support, Brimming Horn is expanding. They’re opening a production facility and small tasting room in Seaford that’s expected to open its doors later in May.