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Humbiont Fermentary

Craft Meads | Hard Ciders | Honey Wines

OF VERMONT

C E L E B R A T I N G  T H E  F L A V O R S

EXPLORE OUR ARTISINAL BEVERAGES

Humbiont is a concept that represents being humble participants within a greater community of life. As honorable stewards and foragers, we strive to experiment with some of the best ingredients the living world has to offer to enhance the quality of life for our community. Our ferments are cultivated low and slow, allowing each ingredient to express its full potential in the symphony of flavors we compose. 

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CRAFT MEAD and HONEY WINES

It is believed that traditional mead was the first alcoholic beverage ever made. While making mead and wine are similar, mead uses honey instead of grapes as the starch source. Mead is a honey wine made from honey, water, and yeast. The process of fermentation is where the yeast eats the sugars in the honey, which creates alcohol and carbon dioxide and kicks off tons of complex flavors in the process. The profile of the final product depends on several factors, especially the floral signature of plant biodiversity where the honey came from. 

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Honeybees and other pollinators are at the cornerstone of symbiotic ecology, representing a key connection of humans to food and nature. Honey is one of the most unique expressions of terroir in the ecosystem, flavored by the native wildflower nectars and pollen the bees forage from. Our humble apiary is located in Waterbury, VT, where we work to cultivate sustainable beekeeping practices to nurture a perennial relationship with our busy allies. Our honey is harvested responsibly and with a deep appreciation for the inter-seasonal flora that resides in our humble community.  

 

Our craft meads and honey wines are expressions of co-fermented formulas that complement the honey, offering an experience that is more than the sum of its parts. Our co-ferments include raw wildflower honey, fresh and dried fruits, botanicals, tannins, teas, and birch sap. If you are new to meads and honey wine as a category, here are some terms that may help demystify the different varieties:

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  • Traditional Mead - Made with honey, water and yeast

  • Acerglyn – Mead made with maple syrup

  • Bochet – Mead made with caramelized honey

  • Braggot – Mead made with malted grain

  • Cyser – Mead made with apples or apple juice

  • Hydromel – Mead made with less honey and more water

  • Sack – Mead made with more honey and less water

  • Melomel – Mead made with fruit or fruit juice(s)

  • Metheglin – Mead made with spices and/or herbs

  • Rhodomel – Mead made with rose

  • Pyment – Mead made with grapes or grape juice​​

 

​HARD CIDERS

The first recorded references to hard cider date back to Roman times. In 55 BCE, Julius Caesar found the Celtic Britons fermenting cider from native crabapples. Our hard ciders are crafted with wild-fermented apples from a local orchard that is not treated with chemicals and hosts over 200 heirloom varieties, right in our backyard in Waterbury Center, VT.

 

Our still cider, Woo Way is derived from the Taoist concept of wu wei, which loosely translates to "non-doing" or "not forcing things to happen." This wild-fermented cider is a tribute to how intertwined we are with the flora, fauna, and funga of the ecosystem. By allowing nature to take over in due course, we can form a micro-symbiotic partnership with the living world. In doing so, we simultaneously forge an alliance with nature in her wonderful beauty and simplicity. Of which we are inseparable participants capable of co-creating a world worth living in.  

 

Our sparkling cider, Proception is a made-up word that represents being students of proprioception: to being attentive and aware of our ecological relationships through self and place. Though this term more commonly refers to our ability to sense and coordinate our bodily movement in space, we scale up this concept further to represent that in order to be good stewards we should remember that we are all bodies within a Larger Body.

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Jocelyn  Szczepanski and Chris Younce

MEET OUR FOUNDERS

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The Humbiont Fermentary was established in 2022 by Chris Younce and Jocelyn Szczepanski to create artisanal meads, hard ciders, and honey wines celebrating Vermont's unique flavors. Their home-based business in Waterbury encompasses an apiary, processing, fermenting, bottling, and sales.

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Chris received a bachelor’s degree in evolutionary theory from Goddard College. He is a published author, podcaster, and case manager for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is a member of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, where his work in mycology led him to champion mushrooms for bees to mitigate colony collapse disorder. Jocelyn received a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Goddard College, focusing on forensic psychology. She was schooled in Waldorf Education and has been a gardener her whole life. Her work has been supporting children with special needs. She is a social worker and supervisor for school-based services at a community mental health agency. Chris and Jocelyn love camping, hiking, and being close to Nature.

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LOCAL MARKETS

F A R M E R S  M A R K E T S

4-7 pm THURSDAYS

The Waterbury Farmers Market

 2 Rotarian Place, Waterbury Village, VT

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L O C A L  R E T A I L E R S 

The Beverage Warehouse - Winooski, VT

The Stowe Public House - Stowe, VT

Crossroads - Waterbury, VT

MoBev - Morrisville, VT

Stone's Throw Pizza & Wine - Jericho, VT

Coburns General Store - South Strafford, VT

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L O C A L  R E S T A U R A N T S

Michael's on the Hill - Waterbury Center, VT​

Stone's Throw Pizza & Wine - Jericho, VT

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