Meaderies of Canada
Mead, often referred to as honey wine, is an alcoholic drink made by the fermentation of honey.
Mead is, in all likelihood, the oldest alcoholic beverage known to mankind. Before agricultural techniques were developed, humans were traditionally hunters and gatherers. After gathering honey from the hive, the natural yeast and high moisture content would
cause the honey to ferment, producing mead. It is no wonder
mead is often referred to as ‘the nectar of the gods', as its appearance seemed miraculous.
The term "honeymoon" has been associated with drinking mead during the month long celebration following a wedding in pagan times. In addition to the health giving properties of honey; mead was thought by the Romans to lengthen life and posses unique healing qualities. The ancient Nordic people considered the drinking of mead as a most important aspect of daily life. Legends of great mead halls, feasts and celebrations abound in the cultural histories of present day countries of this area.
Mead (Honey Wine) is the oldest art of fermentation. Consumed by all, from kings to peasants, mead has gained a reputation as a giver of life, wisdom, courage and strength down through the ages. The traditional drinking vessel for mead is called a mazer and was generally bowl-shaped, made of wood and often inlaid with silver.
- Melomel: Mead made with fruit added
- Braggot (or Bracket) Mead made with malted grain (usually barley)
- Hydromel: This is the term for a weak or watered down mead
- Pyment: This is mead made with grape or grape juice added. This is also the term for a grape wine that has honey added to it.
- Cyser - A mead made with apples or apple juice
- Metheglin: A mead made with added spices - often considered to have medicinal traits. Some common spices are cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves
- Rhodomel : An ancient Roman term for a mead made with rose petals
- Sack Mead: A mead with a very high honey content. It has a high density and is often sweeter than typical meads. This can be thought of as a dessert wine of meads.
- Show Mead: This is a term that has come to define a plain mead with no spices or fruits added.
- Short Mead : (Also referred to as a quick mead) this is a mead that is made in a fashion so it matures quickly. Short meads are often very similar to ales.
- Great Mead: Kind of like the opposite of a Short Mead. This mead is designed to be bottled and aged for several years.
- Sparkling Mead: A carbonated mead much like a sparkling wine. This is usually achieved by adding a small amount of honey or sugar just before bottling. This causes a small secondary ferment while in the bottle that will elevate the pressure and sweetness.
- Morat: A Melomel made from Mulberries
- Hippocras: A pyment to which spices have been added
- Omphacomel: mead made with verjuice which is the juice of unripened grapes. This is often considered to be a type of pyment.
- Oxymel - Made with wine vinegar
- Acerglyn - Mead made with maple syrup
- Bochet - refers to a mead that was made with the honey caramelized or burned before it is added to the water. Creates several different flavors including toffee, chocolate or marshamallow.
- Capsicumel - Flavored with chili pepper
- Black Mead - Made with Black Currants
- Mulled Mead - This refers to a mead that is heated before drinking. Typically it has spices for flavoring.
- Chouchen - which is a French Brittany mead... which sometimes contains apple juice:
Meads around the world:
- Tej - Ethiopian mead
- Acan - Native Mexican Mead
- Acerglyn - Made with Maple syrup
- Gverc - Croatian variety of mead
- Dwojniak - Polish mead using equal amounts of honey and water
- Poltorak - Polish mead made with two parts water and one part honey
- Czworniak - Polish mead made with three parts water and one part honey
- Sima - A finnish mead seasoned with lemon
- Pitarilla - Mayan mead made with the bark of the balche tree
- Medica - Slovenian and Croation mead
- Dandaghare - Nepalese mead made with Himilayan herbs and spices.
- Medovina - Eastern European mead , Czech republic, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Bosnia
- Medovukha - Eastern Slavic mead
- iQhilika - South African
‘A drink I took of the magic mead..
Then began I to know and to be wise,
To grow and to weave poems.'
-Odin, from the Norse Saga Runahal 1200AD
2595 Lefeuvre Road
Abbotsford, BC V4X 1L5
Mike and Judy Campbell have been active in bee keeping since 1997, and are members in good standing of the B.C. Honey Producers Association,
the Surrey Bee Keepers Association, and the South Fraser Valley Bee Keepers Association.
Golden Age Meadery
22091 Fraserwood Way,
Richmond, BC V6W 0A8,
The meadery adds herbs to its mead making process.
The owners main interests are history and ethnography. After earning a master's degree in architecture and working for several years, I went on a journey through the countries of Eurasia. On this journey was a historian who, every night, told ancient legends and lore. One of these stories was about mead, the honey based beverage that was venerated by every nation of antiquity. They believed it to be a gift from the Gods
19736 98th Avenue
Langley, BC V1M 2X5
A new meadery(2012) located in the Por Kells / Langley area owned by Steve Mason. The plan to open a large space where people can come and enjoy the medieval atmosphere, while drinking a flavourable glass of Mead. Our end goal is to open a Tavern.
Signature meads are Apple Cinnamon, and Traditional
winemaker: Steve Mason
Philosophy: Our philosophy is to educate people on one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in existence.
Meadow Vista Honey Wines
3975 June Springs Rd.
Kelowna , British Columbia
The meadery is located in Kelowna and is owned by Judie
Barta.The tasting room is open year-round and there is an on-site Bee-stro open during the summer months..
Meadow Vista produces seven different honey wines, two sparkling and four still, all made from BC honey and local fruits. The wine shop also contains a variety of bee-inspired products including beeswax candles, honey and a wellness line.
The first honey wine producer to win Best Winery of The Year at Wine Fest Edmonton and Wine Fest Calgary and again in 2014 as Ostara was the first honey wine to win a Gold Medal at the BC Wine Awards.
Middle Mountain Mead
3505 Euston Road
BC V0R 1Z0
In 1992 Cambell Graham and his wife Helen Grond moved from the
city life of Vancouver to the country life on Hornby Island.
Settling on 13 acres near the south end of the island. Their
original plan did not call for them to produce mead but after
studying the romantic history of mead they fell in love with
Already ardent gardners the property had over 3000 plants and
in particular lavender all they needed was bees and a winery.
They converted a cabin into a production facility producing traditional
meads plus meads flavoured with herbs or fruits.
The Meadery at Planet Bee
5011 Bella Vista Road
Vernon, British Columbia
Planet Bee Honey farm added meads to their product list in 2011. The meadery is owned by
Ed and Taosha Nowek. Ed has been a bee keeper since 1969 , starting the farm in 1997. He joined with winemaker Martin Dournovo to produce their first Mead in 1998. The farm has 250 hives.
Numerous honey and beewax products are sold in the gift shop
Signature meads: HoneyMoon Mead Okanagan Delight
Winemaker: Martin Dournovo
Philosophy: We take pride in every bottle of mead we offer and will do our utmost to maximize your enjoyment of our Honeymoon Mead
Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery
8750 West Coast Rd.
Sooke, BC V0S1N0
Located in the small community of Sooke on the south west side of Vancouver Island.
Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery was licensed as British Columbia's first Meadery in 2003. Owned and operated by
Bob Liptrot and Dana LeComte. The combination of Bob Liptrot's 43 years of beekeeping experience and over 25 years of
mead making experience bring a unique and educational culinary experience to their meadery.. Their award winning Meads (honey wines)
reflect harmony and balance by blending varietal honeys and berries from our local region.
The winery was named after the Tugwell Family which originally
settled this land. There is a nearby creek named Tugwell Creek
as well. The site was selected due to its beautiful location
near the Ocean.
They were the first Meadery in Western Canada.
Tugwell Creek will becone the third Economusee in BC this summer. That is like becoming the Museum of Beekeeping and Meadmaking. Very Exciting! Here is a link to check out what Economusee is all about. http://www.economusee.com/en
Melomel, Metheglin, Vintage Mead, and Sack Mead are their signature
wines. Sack Mead is like a late harvest wine on the sweetness
scale. Also produced an Apple Quince Cyser called Original Sin , and an Acerglyn. As well as mead the farm offers a wide range of honey
and bee related products
Winemaker: Robert Liptrot
Philosophy: To reintroduce the ancient beverage mead
Honey Pie Hives and Herbels
|705 County Rd. 24
| Prince Edward County
| K0K 2P0
Located in the beautiful Prince Edward county of Ontario. Bay Woodyard and Gavin North founded honey Pie Hives & Herbals in 2000, combining their creative talents and interest in natural healing with a desire to reconnect with our community and our greater natural environment. They make traditional mead as well as metheglins (mead infused with herbs) and pyments (mead infused with fruit).
They build their straw bale farmhouse from 2004-2006 with the help of family and friends. The Cidery is owned by Bay Woodyard and Gavin North.
Winemaker: Gavin North
Philosophy: : As beekeepers we use traditional methods to create small batch mead using local honey and herbs.
Munro Honey & Meadery
3115 River Street
Alvinston, ON N0N 1A0
Alvinston is a small town located between Lake Huron and Lake
Erie. The company Munro Honey was started in 1914 by a man
named Warren Munro. In 1958 Howard Bryans purchased the business
the name remained Munro Honey. In 1999 Howard obtained
a license to manufacture mead and added Munro's Meadery to
the name. Today the the company is owned by Davis Bryansand John Bryans.
Winemaker: John Bryans
Philosophy: To make top quality meads, made from 100% pure Canadian
Rosewood Estate Winery and Meadery
4325 Mountainview Road
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B2
Toll free: 1-866-633-3248
The winery and meadery is owned by Renata and Eugene Roman
The Roman family have been beekeepers for 70 years,
Eugene is a second generation Ontario beekeeper. His father gave
him his first hive at the age of 6. Originally the family kept
bees in King Township, Ontario. In the year 2000, the apiary
operations were moved to Beamsville. The 3 apiaries are located
throughout the Beamsville Bench. The honey gathered here is fruity
and pleasant tasting.
The idea of producing honey wines or meads has intrigued Eugene
since high school. Eugene and winemaker Natalie Spytkowskyhave combined their skills of honey production and
winemaking to develop innovative handcrafted honey wines
Winemaker: Eugene Roman, Natalie Spytkowsky
Philosophy: At Rosewood we also celebrate this unique gift of
honey creating meads with structure, complexity and balance -
a true artistic challenge.
Trafalgar Ales and Meads
1156 Speers Road
The company traces its history back to 1994 when it was founded by Mike and Nancy Arnold and George Hengstman. They operated soley as a brewery untill the introduction of meads around 2000. Trafalgar Ales and Meads makes Black Currant, Blueberry and Raspberry Melomel. They are dry and slightly carbonated, with the natural fruit flavors very apparent. And with an alcohol content around 9% alc/vol.
The winery is located on the site of the family heritage farm, which includes a historic barn and apple trees which were planted by the original settlers. There are a small number of beehives on site,along with old-growth apple trees, They also grow their own red currents, all of which we use in the artisanal, small batch meads.
Tallgrass Mead is named for the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. It once dominated the Southwestern Ontario landscape, but is now one of the rarest ecosystems on earth. As a field biologist, botanic illustrator and former environmental policy analyst, Tallgrass Mead founder Elaine Ferrier was frustrated to watch the remaining woodlands, wetlands and prairie of Southwestern Ontario disappear. She imagined a different future where conservation was allowed to coexist with economic growth. Tallgrass Mead embodies this idea. By sourcing fermentable sugars through the natural process of bee pollination, we produce wines from the existing landscape. This means that we eliminate the need to convert more land to agriculture, and produce wines without the need to apply pesticides and fertilizers. Our meads are made with 100% Ontario honey from local beekeepers and we are keen to partner with other local producers
Elaine Ferrier, founder of Tallgrass Mead is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in environmental studies
Mead Riesling: a dry and delightfully tart pyment (grape mead). A blend of Ontario riseling grapes and Ontario honey.
Mead Rosé: using crushed Cabernet Franc grapes, soaked the juice on the skins for several days, then pressed off the skins and mixed the juice with honey and water to start fermentation as a pyment (grape mead)! Early flavours emerging in fermentation include cassis and ripe berries.
Honey Apple Cider: This sparkling honey apple cider is made with fruit from our own heritage varietal apple trees!
Whiskey Barrel-Aged Mead: Sweet mead aged in a charred oak barrel which is soaked with whiskey
Also produced are Honey Pops a sparkling honey wine cocktail. Prepared with mead, sparkling water and a touch of honey to sweeten
Tallgrass is a member of the Stratford Tourism Association and the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, committed to supporting local producers and local businesses.
Winemaker: Elaine Ferrier
Philosophy: Use locally-sourced ingredients to create innovative and delicious small-batch honey wines.
Chinook Honey Co
Chinook Arch Meadery
Okotoks , Alberta, T0L 1K0
Over looking the beautiful foothills close to Calgary you find Albera's first honey winery owned by Art and Cherie Andrew. The name “Chinook Arch Meadery” was chosen to reflect the unique weather phenomena that occurs in the lee of the Rocky Mountains where our honey is harvested and where the mead is created.
Chinook Honey Company started as a beekeeping hobby in 1995 The original 2 hives soon expanded to 6, then 12 and now have blossomed to approximately 280. Art's passion for his bees was contagious, and it didn't take long before his wife Cherie started joined in. In 2004 they opened their store The Honey House
Mead was a natural progression and Art started experimenting with various recipes in 1998. After heading the Alberta Beekeepers presentation to Alberta Gaming & Liquor, mead was included in the Alberta Cottage Winery Licensing. Chinook Arch Meadery was Alberta's first licensed commercial Meadery and started production in 2007. Since then their production has grown steadily and offering a variety of mead styles including traditional, metheglins and melomels
In 2011 they released the first Iced Mead ‘Raspberry Ice' and in 2012 followed it with ‘Frosted Blisssss'. This technique is a distillation which creates a lovely dessert wine with an alc./vol. of approximately 20%.
signature meads are ‘Melissa's Gold', ‘Bodacious Black Currant' and ‘Fire ‘n Spice'.
Meadmaker: Art Andrew
Philosophy: Mead is a unique beverage and not very well known in Alberta, thus we endeavor to educate everyone about its many qualities, varieties and uses
Fallen Timber Meadery
Water Valley, Alberta
Fallentimber Meadery is located on the Ryan family farm, Northwest of Water Valley, Alberta near the west end of Big Prairie Road (Township Road 302). About a 50 minute drive from the Calgary city limits.
Back in 1969, Blake Ryan started the family business when he purchased the family farm and established his first hives. Today, Blake's son Kevin is the owner and operator of Ryan's Honey which is sold at select stores in our region.
Winemaker: Kevin Ryan
Philosophy: Our honey is collected from hives placed along a narrow band at the eastern edge of the foothills. This gives our bees access to a wide variety of wildflowers and clover that cover the hills, but limits their exposure to the expansive croplands to the east. In addition to careful hive placement, our honey is meticulously handled, and never pasteurized. All of our meads are produced with Ryan's Honey and that unique flavour comes through in every glass
Prairie Bee Meadery
Located in beautiful Saskatchewan county side 19km west of Moose Jaw SK and 10km south of Caron SK. The meadery is owned by two couples Dennis and Vickie Derksen,Crystal and Gerard Milburn.
They make small batches of mead, many of which include locally grown fruits such as cherry, melon, strawberry, raspberry and haskap.
Their history began with Grandpa's Garden Ltd is a u-pick operation that happened entirely by accident. "It began with a small sour-cherry orchard, as a retirement project for Dennis and Vickie Derksen. Within a year, ambitions had expanded to include a one acre high tunnel growing strawberries. When we found that we couldn't pick them all, we opened up to the public, allowing others to come and pick our berries. Vickie's daughter Crystal, and her husband Gerard, came on as partners, and the u-pick grew to include over 5 acres of raspberries, more strawberries, a small haskap orchard, and several vegetable gardens. Honey bees were introduced to the operation to ensure successful fruiting of the various food plants, and soon we were also selling honey, and making mead at home. Our fruit honey product was developed with the assistance of the Food Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, and as a (possibly) final step, we expanded in the latter half of 2015 to begin making mead commercially. Prairie Bee Meadery at Grandpa's Garden officially opened on June 18th, 2016."
Choosing a name for our Meadery took a lot of time, consideration and argument! We wanted our name to pay homage in some way to the region in which we are located. At length, we chose Prairie Bee because it also let us credit the miraculous and hard-working honey bee, without whom we would have no berries, no honey, and no mead.
Cider Master: Dominic Rivard
Philosophy: We believe that the best ingredients make the best product. We use light, locally produced honey, mostly from clover, alfalfa and wild flowers, in combination with locally produced fruit, much of it grown on our own land at Grandpa's Garden
The meadery has been producing organic honey and mead since 2002. The farm resides next to the churning Georges River which is dwarfed by the natural beauty and peace of the Barrachois Hills to the North. The owners Micheal Magnini and Jenn Holtom roots are Celtic and Roman in origin and they love to explore the myths, legends and history of our glorious past and it reflects in their labeling and branding.
The adventure began with the introduction of Italian honey bees to their small farm. Today they have beehives in multiple apiaries across Cape Breton.
Signature meads are Valhalla and Mjolnir and a sweet mead called: Freya
Winemaker: Micheal Magnini
Philosophy: Traditional mead as a modern art
Prince Edward Island
6718 Rte. 19
Canoe Cove, PE
A bee farm producing meads owned by Daniel and Beatrice Ficza. Daniel is a very experience Beekeeper having worked in California, Alberta and British Columbia before settling in New Brunswick
The meadery is between Charlottetown and the Confederation Bridge on the south shore. Most of the hives are located within half hour drive from the apiary. They have 400 hives
Their mead is sold under the label The Golden Drop.
Mead Maker: Daniel Ficza
Philosophy: To strive for high quality, reasonably priced.
280, chemin Craig road
Charlo, NB, E8E 2J7
A new entry into mead production the owner a retired teacher has made a successful business producing honey. The owner has 29 years of experience as a beekeeper, he is a member of the board of directors (New Brunswick Beekeeper Association) he is also the inspector into agricultural for the north of the province.
Beekeeper Jacques Levesqu
Sunset Heights Meadery
4 Sunset Blvd
McLeod Hill, NB
Sunset Heights Meadery and Apiary is a cottage meadery located in McLeod Hill, owned by husband-wife duo: John Way and Deb Wilson. They produce small-batch, artisanal, limited-edition meads
In the meadery they combine NB honey and other local agricultural products to create two lines of mead, Sunset Heights still meads and Pollen Angels carbonated session meads. John takes care of mead making, while Deb handles the beekeeping.
Their first release was in 2014 and they have already won several awards
Beekeeper Deb Wilson
Winemaker: John Way
Hydromellerie du Vieux Moulin
141, route de la mer
Sainte-Flavie, g0j 2l0
The Meadery has been producing organic honey and mead with great success. Translate the name is Old Mill Meadery.
They won a Double Gold for their Mead at The Finger Lakes Wine Competion.
The owner is Normand Tremblay
Le Vieux Moulin offers a wide range of honey under the trademark house head flowers
Winemaker: Guillaume Tremblay
Philosophy: If you do something, do it wel
LE CLOS DES BRUMES
824 rang 5
Québec, JOH 1BO
Beekeeper and hydromellier
395, chemin du canal
Melocheville J0S 1J0
Courriel : firstname.lastname@example.org
Ferme Apicole Desrochers D .
113, Rang 2
Gravel Ferme-Neuve, Quebec J0W 1C0
10291, De La Fresniére Rd.
Mirabel, Saint-Benoît, Quebec J0N 1K0
Le Rucher Bernard Bee Bec & Assoc
des hyrdomeliers du Quebec
152, rue Principale
Beebe Plain, Quebec JOB 1E0
Les Entreprises Prince- Leclerc
239, chemin Haut de la Paroisse
St-Agapit, Quebec G0S 1Z0
Les Vins Mustier Gerzer
3299, Route 209
St-Antoine Abbe, Quebec J0S 1E0
Muse'e de l'Abeille & Les
Ruchers Pomiel, Inc
8862, Blvd Ste-Anne
Chateau-Richer, Quebec G0A N0
Rucher Les Saules
27, chemin Saxby
Nord Saxby Corner
Granby, Quebec J2G 8C7
Photo from Tugwell Creek Honey Farm
Songs About Mead
Drinking mead in the halls of Whiterun
The maidens and the men!
We swig our brew
Until we spew
Then we fill our mugs again!
You can keep your filthy Skooma
It makes our bellies bleed
Cause when we raise our flagon
To another dead dragon
There is just one drink we need...
When I come back from a mighty quest
I have no need for sleep or rest
I head to a tavern for a drink
And get so drunk I cannot think
A wench by my side and a jug of mead
These are the things that I most need
So I sit back and sing this song
And drink and party all night long
I WILL adore the Ruler, chief of every place,
Him, that supports the heaven: Lord of everything.
Him, that made the water for every one good,
Him, that made every gift, and prospers it.
May Maelgwn of Mona be affected with mead, and affect us,
From the foaming mead-horns, with the choicest pure liquor,
Which the bees collect, and do not enjoy.
Mead distilled sparkling, its praise is everywhere.
The multitude of creatures which the earth nourishes,
God made for man to enrich him.
Some fierce, some mute, he enjoys them.
Some wild, some tame, the Lord makes them.
Their coverings become clothing.
For food, for drink, till doom they will continue.
I will implore the Ruler, sovereign of the country of peace,
To liberate Elphin from banishment.
The man who gave me wine and ale and mead.
And the great princely steeds, beautiful their appearance,
May he yet give me bounty to the end.
By the will of God, he will give in honour,
Five five-hundred festivals in the way of peace.
Elphinian knight of mead, late be thy time of rest.
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