The Meadery
Mead
Traditional, fruit and herb meads, from easy-drinking sessions and shorts on draft to our bottle strengths. Maine honey is the backbone of every one.
Dual Veteran-Owned · Palermo, Maine
Mead Isn't What You Think
The oldest drink you've never tried.
Ægir's Den Meadery & Distillery makes small-batch mead from 100% Maine honey, plus spirits from our own still. Come taste them in our mead hall in Palermo.
Welcome to the Den
Pull up a seat.
We're Carrie and Mark, both veterans, and we built Ægir's Den as a place to gather. We make mead the old way: Maine honey, fruit and herbs from local farms and our own land, and a lot of care. Grab a seat at our big family-style table, try a flight, and stay for a bowl of soup.
Carrie & Mark
What we stand on
Four things we don't compromise on
Local Sourcing
100% Maine honey.
Everything else comes from local farms or our own land whenever we can. We only bring in what a recipe needs and Maine can't provide.
Community
Our hall is where neighbors, travelers and friends sit down together.
Craftsmanship
Small batches, made with care. We bottle each one when the mead tells us it's ready, not on a schedule.
Heritage
Family tradition and the old Norse stories, poured into every horn.
From our guests
What people say after a visit
“This young, rustic restaurant and meadery is a delight… They are the essence of the experience. I am a beer lover and admitted up front that I didn't know much about mead. I was given a flight of meads to try along with an explanation of each. All my samples were highly interesting from simple to complex in bouquet and flavor. All the food is made from fresh, farm-to-table ingredients that were sourced locally… If you are feeling adventurous and are looking for something out of the ordinary, these folks are worthy of your business!”
“I travel over an hour just to come here, and it's worth the drive every single time… Top it all off with the mead making me feel like a true Viking.”
“I don't normally like a real dry mead but they hit the balance just right.”
“The mead is dreamy. Mark makes you feel taken care of up front, and Carrie is a magician in the back — the food says it all.”
“Some unusual meads that I haven't seen before and also some more standard ones for the mead novice.”
“We went to the Vetrnaetr Winter Nights Festival 2025… Threw axes and atlatl, fought with padded medieval weapons — totally my kind of fun. Did I mention the mead? I tried 6 different kinds, absolutely delicious.”
“You are in the medieval mead hall, with long tables, sipping meads and other fine spirits, sharing a fine dinner with locally sourced foods.”
“Very original and not fashion viking at all.”
As seen in
“A modern mead hall where ancient Nordic hospitality meets Waldo County agriculture.”
The Midcoast Villager · “Palermo's Land of Garlic and Honey,” October 23, 2025
Your first visit
Just walk in.
No reservation needed. Coming with six or more? Give us a call ahead so we can be ready for you. Kids and well-behaved dogs are welcome.
Not sure where to start? Tell us what you usually like to drink, and we'll build you a flight. Soup is always on, sourdough is baked fresh, and we have gluten-free and vegetarian options. For other dietary needs, call ahead.
- 1Taste a flight
- 2Find your favorite
- 3Take a bottle home
The Mead Hall
Gather at the table
We keep our hall menu simple and hearty. Pair a bowl with a glass or a tasting flight and find your favorite, dry to sweet.
Gluten-free and vegetarian options available. For any other dietary needs, give us a call before you come.
What we pour
Mead from the hive
New to mead?
What is mead?
Think mead is too sweet? Most of ours isn't.
Mead is honey, water and yeast, and one of the oldest drinks people have made. It isn't wine or beer. It's its own thing.
It can be dry like a crisp white wine or sweet like a dessert wine, still or sparkling like cider, plain or bright with fruit, herbs and spice. Below are the terms you'll see out in the mead world, next to the words we use in our hall.
Still curious? Here's where we geek out.
How strong is it?
Out in the worldIn our hall
Hydromel3.5–7.5% ABV
Sessions
Standard7.5–14% ABV
ShortsOur 10% series, named for the shorter ferment
Sack14–18% ABV
Bottle Strengths
How sweet is it?
- DryBJCP
- Off-DryOurs
- Semi-SweetBJCP
- Off-SweetOurs
- SweetBJCP
The BJCP mead guidelines name three levels: dry, semi-sweet and sweet. We pour in five, adding off-dry and off-sweet, so you can find exactly where you like it.
Mead styles
The mead family
Every mead starts as honey, water and yeast. What goes in next decides what it's called. These are the style names the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) uses, with the old traditional names you'll still hear in mead halls.
Traditional Mead
Honey, water and yeast, nothing else. The honey is the whole story, and it's judged by its sweetness: dry, semi-sweet or sweet.
Traditional name: show mead
Melomel
Mead made with fruit
- Cyser
Apples or other pome fruit, like pears and quince, usually as cider or juice.
- Pyment
Wine grapes or table grapes.
- Berry Mead
Berries, such as raspberry, blueberry or black currant.
Traditional name: black mead (black currant), morat (mulberry)
- Stone Fruit Mead
Fruit with a single pit, like peaches, cherries and plums.
- Other Fruit Mead
Any other fruit, or a mix of fruits.
Spiced Mead
Mead made with herbs, spices or vegetables
- Metheglin
Culinary herbs and spices, like clove, cinnamon, ginger or sage.
Traditional name: rhodomel (rose petals)
- Vegetable Mead
At least one vegetable. Pumpkin, rhubarb and chile peppers all count.
Traditional name: capsicumel (chile peppers)
- Fruit & Spice Mead
Fruit plus at least one herb, spice or vegetable.
Traditional name: hippocras (spiced grape mead)
Specialty Mead
Mead made a different way
- Braggot
Mead made with malt or beer. Half mead, half ale.
Traditional name: bracket
- Bochet
The honey is caramelized before fermenting, for toffee and toasted notes.
- Polish Mead
Old Polish styles named by how much water goes in per part honey: półtorak, dwójniak, trójniak and czwórniak.
- Wood & Barrel-Aged
Aged on wood, or in a barrel that held something else first.
- Experimental
Anything outside the lines, including other sugars like maple syrup.
Traditional name: acerglyn (maple syrup)
Around the mead world
- TejEthiopia
Honey wine flavored with gesho leaves, a bittering plant used the way hops are in beer.
- SimaFinland
A light lemon mead made for May Day, traditionally with brown sugar and raisins.
- MedovukhaRussia & Eastern Europe
An old Slavic honey drink, often spiced.
- Polish MeadPoland & Lithuania
Named by honey-to-water ratio, from rich półtorak to light czwórniak.
The Distillery
From the Still
Each of our spirits is named for what goes into the still.
SylvaMaple spirit
Distilled from fermented maple syrup. Our first Sylva: Spirit of the Maple.
There's no official name in the United States for a spirit made from maple, so we gave it one. Sylva comes from the Latin for forest, the root of "sylvan," because this spirit starts in the maple woods. It's a new kind of spirit, made here in Maine.
This release Oak-finished
SomelHoney spirit
Distilled from mead.
Somel is a new name for a spirit distilled from mead, from the Latin solum mel, "only honey." A growing circle of mead distillers has started using it, and we're proud to stand with them. We'd rather help a good name take hold than compete with it.
This release Aquavit
Ask what's ready to pour.
Events
Feasts, festivals & gatherings
Every October · Next: Saturday, October 9, 2027
Vetrnætr · Winter Nights
Our biggest day of the year. We mark the turn into winter the way the Norse did, with mead, food and vendors from noon into the evening. Tickets go on sale here when the date gets close.
Through the year
Guest Chef Dinners
We bring in chefs we admire to cook in our hall. Seats are limited. Dates are announced here and on Facebook.
Third Thursday of every month
Moss & Makers Craft Nights
Monthly craft workshops for adults, following the Wheel of the Year. Make something from nature, pour a glass of mead, and earn your badges. Crafting with Kate Meadows of Good Natured. 18 and over.
Ægir's Den gear
Wear the Den
Hoodies, tees and caps, including this year's Vetrnætr shirts.
Find the Den
Come see us
Stop by the Mead Hall for a glass, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for what's pouring this weekend.
- Address
- 110 Banton Road, Palermo, Maine 04354
- Phone
- 207.558.5971
- Hours
- Saturday & Sunday, 1:00 – 6:00 PM