Fireside Meadery

Fireside Meadery is Nova Scotia's only traditional, wine-style meadery — a small farm operation on the Eastern Shore of the Musquodoboit Harbour village, fermenting honey into dry and off-dry meads the way it was done for centuries. Founded in 2022, the meadery has quickly become a standing stop on the province's Good Cheer Trail of wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries, and a member of Taste of Nova Scotia.

The signature here is restraint. Fireside's meads are sulfite and sorbate free, gluten free, and made in a wine style — fermented dry or off-dry and served like a white wine rather than the sweet syrup many people expect from honey wine. For visitors touring the Eastern Shore, that makes it the region's most distinctive tasting-room stop: nothing else on this coast pours mead.

What a Traditional Meadery Is

Mead is fermented honey, arguably the oldest alcoholic drink on Earth, and a "traditional, wine-style" meadery means the honey is the whole story: no fruit additives doing the flavour work, fermentation to wine dryness, and aging that lets the honey's origin show. Nova Scotia's cool climate and wildflower honey give the style a local accent, and Fireside is the only producer in the province working exclusively in this tradition.

Tasting, Tours and Visiting the Meadery

The meadery operates seasonally, March 21 through December 20, at 11 East Petpeswick Road in Musquodoboit Harbour — a village better known for its railway museum, farmers' market and trailhead for the Rails to Trails system, and the gateway to Martinique Beach. Tastings and bottle sales run during opening hours; check firesidemeadery.com or call (782) 414-3200 for current tasting-room days, as small farm operations shift hours with the season and the honey harvest.

Pairing the Meadery with an Eastern Shore Day

Musquodoboit Harbour sits 40 minutes from Halifax on Highway 7, making Fireside an easy first stop on an Eastern Shore loop: mead tasting in the village, then the farmers' market (Sundays), the railway museum, and the run out to Martinique Beach — the province's longest sandy beach. The meadery also belongs on any culinary trail itinerary as the Eastern Shore's sole mead stop between the Halifax craft breweries and the shore's cidery scene.

The Practical Details: Location, Hours & Essentials

Address & Location
11 East Petpeswick Rd, Musquodoboit Harbour, NS — on the Eastern Shore along Highway 7, about 40 minutes east of Halifax.

Hours of Operation
Seasonal: March 21 to December 20. Tasting-room days vary — confirm at firesidemeadery.com or (782) 414-3200 before visiting.

Price Range
Tasting fees are modest and typically waived with bottle purchase; bottles retail in the range of local craft wine. Confirm current pricing when you call.

Getting There
Drive via Highway 7 (Eastern Shore) from Halifax, roughly 40 minutes. Parking on site.

Best Time to Visit
Summer through fall, when the Good Cheer Trail is in full swing and the Eastern Shore beaches and trails around Musquodoboit Harbour are at their best. September visits pair mead with the fall-colour drives inland.

A meadery is not the first thing most visitors expect to find on the Eastern Shore — which is exactly the point. Fireside pours the oldest drink in the world, made from Nova Scotia honey, in a village that still runs at harbour pace. Stop for a tasting, leave with a bottle, and the drive out Highway 7 will feel like part of the pour.