12 US Meaderies You Need To Keep On Your Radar
Some American states, like Tennessee, are known for their whiskey. Other states, like New Hampshire, are known for their craft beer. California is renowned for its wine. But then there's mead; the new kid in town. It's not a recent invention — it's been around for about 20,000 years and is often associated with the medieval era — but the drink is having a resurgence in popularity.
Traditionally, mead has a sweet taste. This is due to the fact that it's made from honey, which is why it's sometimes referred to as honey wine. These days, you'll also find dry and semi-sweet meads. In modern society, the mead trend is increasing production. Across the United States, meaderies are popping up everywhere.
If you're keen to try mead for yourself, where do you start? We've rounded up 12 meaderies you need to keep on your radar — there's sure to be one near you, or one offering shipping.
1. Honeytree Meadery — Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee is all about whiskey, right? Wrong. Ross Welbon, a beer brewer and beekeeper, and Dru Sousan, a bartender with a long history in Nashville's local restaurant scene, are making the state one of the best places in the U.S. to get your mead on.
Honeytree Meadery stands out from the crowd by having its own apiary, home to over 30 bee colonies. It's also Nashville's first meadery, opened in 2019, and the sunny backyard patio is the perfect place to sample a glass — or two — of the stuff. There's even an on-site taco truck, as you're going to need some hearty grub to soak up all that booze. The meadery's tasting room is open most evenings during the week, as well as starting at noon on weekends. You can even book a tour if you want to see mead-making in action.
Every glass of mead produced by Honeytree packs hints of the specific honey used to produce it, from orange blossom to wildflower honey. Some of the meadery's beverages are even made with custom aromatic infusions, ranging from fresh ginger to pineapple. We'd recommend starting out with the Basic Batch Mead, a semi-sweet mead made simply from dark wildflower honey, yeast, and water.
2. Heidrun Meadery — Point Reyes Station, California
Heidrun Meadery — located in Point Reyes Station, California – is one of the older meaderies in America, having opened in 1995. In 2012, the meadery expanded and now has its own commercial beekeeping operation. Heidrun is the brainchild of geologist-turned-brewer Gordon Hull, who started playing around with meads in his spare time, before deciding to turn his hobby into a business.
Unlike traditional sweet mead, the mead brewed at Heidrun Meadery is champagne-style mead made from wildflower and monofloral honey. Each mead comes in a beautifully labeled bottle with its own detailed story. You can try the Dakota Chokecherry Blossom, named after Dakota's state fruit, with its mild flavors of sour cherry, or pop open a bottle of California Sage Blossom if you prefer your mead on the sweet side. It's made with black sage honey and contains notes of melon, as well as an aroma of jasmine.
Want to visit Heidrun? The meadery is open seven days a week, so you can pop in to sample some mead on the patio or book a guided tasting.
3. Four Fires Meadery — Maumee, Ohio
Just like craft breweries, some of the best meaderies started small, like Four Fires Meadery in Maumee, Ohio. It began with four friends making mead out of a garage. These days, the meadery is a larger operation.
Four Fires Meadery shies away from traditional sweet mead, with some imaginative flavor combinations you won't find anywhere else, and equally inventive names. Don't live in Ohio? The meadery offers nationwide shipping, so you can enjoy a glass or two of Four Fires mead wherever you are in the country. If you're lucky enough to live locally, pop along to one of the meadery's street food pop-ups and sample some delicious mead for yourself.
Try the 2022 Flower of Carnage, a mead made with Black Arkansas apples, Black Mission figs, and local black walnuts. You could also sample the 2021 Semi-Charred Kind of Life, a redcurrant mead aged in bourbon barrels.
4. Meridian Hive — Austin, Texas
Meridian Hive in Austin, Texas, was founded in 2013. It partnered with an apiary in Mexico in 2019, ensuring that all the orange blossom honey used in its mead is high-quality, ethical, and sustainable. Botanicals, spices, and fruit are added to create the meadery's wide range of meads, which are free from artificial ingredients and processed sugars.
Meridian Hive's meads are also available in cans, making it a portable choice for picnics and festivals. Popular flavors include Honey, Blackberry, Lemon, and Peach. Can't choose a favorite flavor or want to sample them all? The meadery's website sells a mixed pack of 12, 24, or 48 cans in four flavors: Blackberry, Honey, Peach, and Lemon. If you're looking for something lighter, Meridian Hive also creates Skinny Bee, with natural ingredients, 2 grams of sugar, and 100 calories per can. Skinny Bee comes in Blueberry, Cranberry, Grapefruit, and Acai Berry varieties.
You could also treat yourself to one of the brand's specialty meads. These tend to have a higher ABV. It comes in flavors such as Bastani Delight (made with lychee, rose, and pistachio) or the South Paw (made with paw-paw fruit and aged with American Oak).
5. Superstition Meadery — Prescott, Arizona
Superstition Meadery in Prescott, Arizona, is the perfect antidote to beverage boredom. This imaginative meadery makes mead from anything and everything, with some truly creative flavor combinations. The meadery has created over 300 unique meads since 2012, as well as a range of hard ciders.
Don't live near Prescott? You can join the Mead Club to get mead shipped to your doorstep every month. This is a great way to dive into the meadery's seasonal flavors. If you live near the meadery, you can pop in for a tour and tasting. Head to Superstition Downtown, in Phoenix, or Superstition Tasting Room, in Prescott, where you can sample the meadery's range of beverages, alongside some food.
Packaged in bottles with arty, colorful labels, Superstition's mead is anything but dull. Try the 2022 Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Desert Monsoon with prickly pears and Arizona honey, or give the 2023 Ginger Voodoo a go. Packed with honey and spicy ginger, it's the perfect complement to lamb or jerk chicken.
6. Schramm's Mead — Ferndale, Michigan
Schramm's Mead is located in Ferndale, Michigan. The mead here is more traditional than some you'll find at other popular meaderies, but that doesn't stop the flavors from being imaginative.
These meads come in flavors of berry, nutmeg, ginger, and more. The Ginger mead has a subtle spice that's the perfect complement to Thai or Indian food, or sushi. The Statement is a Balaton cherry mead is another must-try beverage. It would pair great with blue cheese, chocolate, or grilled pork.
One reviewer on Google praised Schramm's Mead highly, saying, "The mead? IMO, the best in the world. Outstanding experience — will be back as soon as the stash I bought runs out." Another reviewer was equally as enthused with the meadery's beverages, commenting, "This is definitely the best mead I've ever had, and I would go as far as to say the best alcoholic beverage I've ever had."
7. Pips Meadery — Gurnee, Illinois
Pips Meadery is a family-owned meadery in Gurnee, Illinois, that offers up thoughtfully-crafted meads. Not afraid to experiment with flavor combinations, Pips Meadery has plenty of interesting choices to suit all tastes, whether you're new to mead, or a seasoned lover of honey wine.
The meadery aims to push boundaries with big, rich, intensely flavored meads like Black Currant Pancake, a blackcurrant mead with maple, cinnamon, and vanilla that's aged in bourbon barrels. Another delightful-sounding mead is Levitation, a deeply fruity blueberry mead with a hint of mint. Sadly, Pips Meadery doesn't currently ship its mead, so you'll need to visit the meadery itself to try some of its delicious beverages.
The Parlor, the meadery's taproom, is open Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 2 p.m. through to 10 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Though there isn't any food served, you can bring your own, order delivery, or take advantage of the nearby food trucks — when they are available.
8. B. Nektar — Ferndale, Michigan
If you're new to mead, you may not have heard of B. Nektar. But it's been around for years, as it was founded in 2008. B. Nektar aims to bring a modern twist to mead. It was even ranked in the Top 100 Best Breweries in the World by Ratebeer.com.
The mead created here is anything but traditional, both in flavor combinations and names. Imaginatively-titled libations include The Mutant Killer Zombie Manhattan Project Thingy, an apple mead spiked with cherry and aged in rye whiskey barrels. There are also meads like Dragons Are Real, a spicy cherry chipotle mead with cacao nibs, aged in New Holland Brewing Dragon's Milk barrels.
B. Nektar's taproom has an outdoor, pet-friendly patio and serves up light snacks to accompany your meads of choice. You'll also find visiting food trucks from time to time if you fancy something heartier. You can also bring your own food, or order delivery to the taproom! If there are enough staff on shift, you can even ask for a tour of the meadery.
9. Zen Bee Meadery — Worthington, Ohio
Family-owned and run Zen Bee Meadery is located in Columbus, Ohio. The company began brewing back in 2016. It specializes in making lower-ABV Session Meads and Honey Ciders. The meadery has won many awards, including a 2020 National Honey Board Winner Best of Show award. Additionally, the meadery's Mara Ume won Best in Show at the second annual Mead Crafters Competition in 2020.
Zen Bee uses high-quality varietal honey — locally sourced wherever possible — as well as spices and fresh fruits to create all its meads. There are four year-round flavors: Everyberry, Pear of Peaches, Pink Zilla, and Jacked Cherry. The meadery also releases a new seasonal flavor every month. Past flavors include Banana Royale with banana, strawberry, and vanilla.
To try Zen Bee's mead for yourself, visit the Tasting Room. It's open for flight tastings and bottle sales Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. If you live in the Columbus area, you can also order online for delivery, or check the meadery's website for local stockists.
10. Garagiste Meadery — Tampa, Florida
Tampa's Garagiste Meadery is the largest publicly funded meadery in history, opened in 2016 following a successful crowdsourcing campaign. According to the company, the name Garagiste means "A small-scale entrepreneurial wine-maker who does not adhere to the traditions of winemaking." Garagiste certainly shirks the norms, brewing innovative, creative meads offering something a little different from the rest.
The Tampa Heights taproom is open Thursdays from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m., and Sundays from noon until 7 p.m., pouring an ever-evolving selection of Garagiste's finest meads. You can see what's currently pouring on the meadery's website, or order online for taproom pick up or delivery.
Try inventive meads like the Barrel Aged Rocket Fuel 2022, a fortified mead with red currants, cherries, apricots, and boysenberries. It's aged for 17 months in a Heaven Hill Barrel and has an 18.5% ABV. You could also dive into the 2023 Vanilla Tutti Frutti, with a Komoros and Madagascar vanilla base, as well as loads of red fruits, like cherries, raspberries, and strawberries.
11. Second City Meadery — Chicago, Illinois
Second City Meadery in Chicago was founded after its owners visited Detroit and discovered the city's outstanding meaderies. Today, the meadery specializes in producing some of the more unusually flavored meads out there. Its Existence is Pain mead won the bronze medal in 2020 at the second annual Mead Crafters Competition conducted by the National Honey Board.
Visit the taproom to try Second City's offerings for yourself. It's open Thursdays and Fridays from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. until 11 p.m.The meadery's website is regularly updated, so you can see what's pouring before making the trip.
At the time of writing, recently poured meads include delights like the State Lines Banana Split, a collab with Hex Meadery that's flavored with bananas, cocoa nibs, and strawberries. The meadery also made something called the Barrel Aged Wake Up, which is made with cold brew coffee.
12. Brothers Drake Meadery — Columbus, Ohio
Brothers Drake Meadery opened in 2007 in Worthington, named after Eric and Woody Drake, brothers who have been creating mead for years. The meadery uses local Ohio honey and isn't afraid to experiment with flavor combinations. Brothers Drake now has two locations. Head for the Grandview Heights location for a tour and tasting with Mead Master Julian Menaged. Tours run Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. You can book one of these ahead of time.
The original Short North location is now a tasting room, with the back room used for barrel aging meads. The tasting room is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m., and Sundays from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday is Jazz Night, kicking off at 8 p.m.If you're not local to the area, you can buy Drake Brother's mead online for delivery, depending on your state, or join the Mead Club, which delivers mead on a quarterly basis to let you try out new and seasonal flavors alongside classics.
Currently, available meads include the 2023 Bourbon Barrel Battle Axe, a 15% ABV mead made with juniper berry, cranberry, and vanilla. Or try the 2023 Blueberry Chai, a 13% ABV mead made with blueberries plus cinnamon, honey, and cardamom.