A Taste of History
Where Can You Get Mead Near Seattle?
The answer: A hidden meadery just 10 minutes from Sea-Tac Airport.
While mead might conjure images of Vikings sipping out of drinking horns, it's had a resurgence in recent years, and one of the best places to enjoy it is in Seattle Southside. Oppegaard Meadery is a celebrated local brand that brews its own handcrafted mead. It makes for a fun microadventure and can even be squeezed into a long layover. Here's what you need to know about this ancient beverage and where to enjoy it.
What is Mead?
Mead, often called “honey wine,” is made by fermenting honey and water, sometimes with fruit, grains, herbs, or spices. One of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, it was enjoyed by ancient cultures including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Vikings, and often featured in ceremonies, feasts, and legends.
Despite its sweet reputation, mead can range from rich and dessert-like to dry, tart or sour. Today’s craft meaderies are reviving the ancient beverage with creative flavors and styles.
Where Can You Get the Best Mead Near Seattle?
Oppegaard Meadery in Tukwila is the premier place to sample handcrafted mead. Owner Jon Oppegaard turned his hobby into a thriving business when he opened the meadery in 2016. Since then, his focus has been on Pacific Northwest ingredients and rich, historical flavors. His effort has paid off: the brand is famous in the growing craft mead industry. In addition to using locally produced honey, many of Oppegaard's meads are melomels that feature local Pacific Northwest fruits, like local berries and apples, so that you can get a real taste for our region.
Oppegaard pays homage to his Norwegian heritage with the art and design of the tasting room, which evokes a mead hall from a fantasy novel. The ceramic tasting goblets will make you feel like you've traveled back in time while you sip mead with whimsical names like Dragon's Blood. The meadery is a locally loved gem, and the fact that Oppegaard is one of the friendliest business owners you'll meet certainly doesn't hurt.
Common Types of Mead
These names may sound like they came from an alchemist’s lab:
Traditional mead: Made with honey, water, and yeast.
Braggot: Brewed with grains and hops, combining elements of beer and mead.
Melomel: Made with fruit in addition to honey.
Cyser: A type of melomel made with apple juice or cider.
Pyment: A type of melomel made with grapes.
Metheglin: Brewed with herbs or spices. Its name shares linguistic roots with “medicine,” reflecting the drink’s historical association with medicinal properties.
Session mead: A lighter, lower-alcohol mead, generally no more than 6.5% alcohol by volume.
More Local Mead
BeeHaven Beverages is a mead company that is brewed in Everett, Washington. While they do not have a tasting room open to the public, you can find their mead available for sale at local chain grocery co-op PCC Markets, which has a location in Burien. These session meads are light and carbonated, making them an excellent mixer for cocktails or perfectly refreshing to enjoy on their own.
A Celebration of Local Honey
A microadventure to the meadery is just one of several ways to appreciate local honey in Seattle Southside, especially National Honey Month (September). You can visit a resort with its own on-site apiary, sample special menu items made with locally made honey, and try your hand at mixing up some honey cocktails at home to get inspired for your next trip.
Read our blog to learn more, then book your trip to Seattle Southside to see for yourself!
Frequently Asked Questions about Mead
How do you make mead honey wine?
Dissolve honey in water, add wine yeast and yeast nutrient, seal the vessel with an airlock, and let it ferment for one to three weeks. Then rack it off the sediment, let it clear, and bottle it. Use roughly 2 to 3 pounds of honey per gallon for a standard-strength mead. Adding nutrient in staggered doses over the first few days is what separates a clean batch from a harsh one.
Where can you buy mead near Seattle?
Oppegaard Meadery in Tukwila sells bottles, cans, and growlers to go from its tasting room at 600 Industry Drive, and ships through its online store. Its Viking Elite Mead Club delivers two bottles quarterly to members, with a waiting list.
What is mead made from?
Honey, water, and yeast. Many meads also include fruit, spices, herbs, hops, or malted grain — which is what produces the different styles.
What is mead?
Mead is wine made by fermenting honey with water rather than pressing grapes. It is also called honey wine. It ranges from about 3.5% to 18% ABV and from bone dry to dessert sweet.
What does mead taste like?
Honey aroma is the constant; everything else varies. A dry traditional mead tastes floral and crisp, closer to a white wine than to sweetened honey. A sweet sack mead tastes rich and warming, in Madeira territory. Fruit meads taste of their fruit, and spiced meads of their spices. A tasting flight is the fastest way to find your range.
Is mead the same as honey wine?
Yes. The terms are interchangeable.
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