great start to introduce you into the world of mead / honey wine making, this tasting experience was a excellent way to see the whole range of flavors that are available... food offerings were limited... food truck on site had already left for the day when we arrived at 3:30 ... read more

What a unique place to stop & enjoy some properly made adult beverages as well as locally sourced honey Definitely not a commercial operation which you will be grateful for as you travel the island. The setting is very inviting and the facilities are spotlessly clean. Learn about the history of brewing mead just as the Vikings did on their travels. The service was excellent as she shared stories about their operations as well as the meadaery connections around world. Enjoy!! read more

Who would have thought of visiting a meadery in the Big Island opened in 2023... Honey, Water & Yeast Devon & Vanessa are lovely people. We went in on a Saturday. They have a nice tasting area and outside area. You can get a customized flight of your choice. We liked all of their tastings. All ingredients are sourced from their own property. There are restrooms and plenty of parking on site. Directions---Do not follow the Apple Maps/Google Maps directions because it''ll take you down a private road. It can get a little bumpy. Hawaii Belt Rd will lead you down the bumpy road. Instead take KEA'AU Pahoa Bypass Rd and Railroad Ave. You'll see signs at that corner. I would definitely return. read more

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Best food, service AND ambience in Keaau! Staff is welcoming, great place to catch a buzzzzzz

I have been wanting to check this place out for a long time but it never worked when I was in Hilo. Thankfully on this trip, we made it one of our first stops and were glad we did! Big Island Meadery is equal parts apiary, honey shop, and mead bar. It's very modern and clean inside, with a wooden bar and large store of jarred honey, bee related products, and full selection of draft mead. You can get small sample sizes or full pours (think wine-sized) of their meads. I really enjoyed trying the few that are served hot like a mulled cider. The owners were also our bartenders and talked about their business, bees, and all the items they make. I was fascinated with the burnt honey and flavors it imparts on the meads. Prices are reasonable for the quality of their products. It's a popular place for group happy hours and kind of appeals to both beer & wine drinkers as meads fall in between. If you're in the Hilo area and have an affinity for honey or mead, this is well worth the stop! read more

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Coming from Oahu, I miss good mead. This place was phenomenal. The location is tucked away but once you get there, it's a gorgeous location. So many meads to choose from, you're sure to find something you like. My favorite was the chipotle and my boyfriend's was the Not Toddy. We tried every single one and even the honey used to make it. I especially love that they source everything local! The gentleman behind the bar was so helpful and friendly. He made the experience go from good, to great! Don't skip this place on your next outing :) read more

Big Island Meadery - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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Went on a Saturday about 30 minutes before they closed. The staff were super attentive and friendly. I tried a flight and then two additional lil tastes. They all were super tantalizing to the tongue. I needed up purchasing 1 bottle to take home and a beeswax lip balm. I'll definitely return in the future and update my review on flavor profiles. read more

Big Island Meadery - Dry Traditional. Not Toddy, Li Hing Pineapple, Chipotle Bochet - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

Wow what a great place!!! Excellent service and interesting background story, quality business worth a visit...

Lovely couple owns this place. They get their honey from their own hives. It's a great place to hold an event. We did a flight of 4 flavors of mead. Big list of 14 mead flavors. Took a bottle of the Not Toddy home. Also some seasonal honey. Would definitely come back again. read more

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Very interesting pub! I lost my virginity to taste mead. My eyes grew big and love every sip from flight tray. I say snifter are beautiful Y'all should visit this place! I definitely will be back for more! I might get a growler, y'all! read more

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This place was awesome!! The owners/bartender/server were so friendly and fun! Everything was so ono!! We tried the charcuterie board and the honey sampler, along with some mead samples. My favorite was the li hing pineapple!! I wanted to take home a bottle but they were sold out, shucks!! I will definitely be back, there was a nice open seating area, along with a bar area if you prefer the indoors. I also heard they have food trucks in the parking lot sometimes. The hours are kind of minimal (I think they close at 630 on the week days) but it's great for stopping by and having a nice pau hana before heading home. It would also be an excellent place for an event, like an office gathering or birthday. I love how most of the things served were all made and/or grown right in the area and everything was so affordable! Go check this place out & show them some love! read more

Big Island Meadery - Sampler, Li Hing Pineapple was my FAVE - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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I love bees and i love beer! Amazing experience and great beer flights! Check them out

So cute! This new local business is the bees kneees! Got to chat with the owners who are very knowledgeable. Got a mead flight and personal charcuterie board to share. There was also a food vendor in the parking lot with huli chicken plates. My favorite was the Lilikoi Ginger Mead and they had a slushie version available as well! Highly recommend checking them out in Kea'au. read more

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My partner was curious about what a Meadery is, so took the detour off the highway as we were driving into Hilo to run some errands. What a delightful and pleasant surprise to find this charming place that specializes in Wine made out of Honey and more. It is not only a tasting room, but a comfortable place to have Mead (Honey Alcohol) and accompanying bites. The people there are so knowledgeable and friendly. I tried a flight of 3 of their Meads and my partner purchased a bottle of the Lilikoi Ginger. I am a fan of Mead now. We will definitely be back and I highly recommend stopping by this wonderful place! read more

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Oh what fun! Visited Big Island Meadery this weekend for the first time. Who knew this hidden gem just outside of Hilo has been around for just over 1 year! They have a bunch of different meads & honeys available for tasting in their beautiful tasting room. We went for a couple different types of mead - each 1.5 oz flight is super affordable (between $1.50-$3!!) & all were soo tasty. My favorite one was probably the "not toddy" - a meady take on a hot toddy. warm & not too sweet. Big Island Meadery is a small business owned by Vanessa & Devin. They do everything by themselves - from beekeeping, mead making & managing the taproom. They served us & are super knowledgeable about every part of the process. It was so nice to get to know & talk with them. Thank you Big Island Meadery for a fun new experience in Hilo~ can't wait to visit again soon! read more

I've never had mead before and the team there was so helpful! We ended up ordering flights and by boyfriend literally tried every mead they offered! Will definitely be back! read more

Big Island Meadery - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

Fabulous service and exceptional variety of meads! The staff were able to describe the process for making mead and answered all my questions. Large variety to sample. Cute bar area tucked away in an unassuming building. Well worth driving to it. Enjoy! read more

Such great mead! Owners are so sweet and knowledgeable A must if you're in the area! read more

Big Island Meadery - Flight - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

Funny enough, despite being an absolutely huge fan of mead, especially craft mead made with local honey, this was *not* on my original planned-out list of places we had to visit while we were visiting the big island last month. That is, of course, because I planned out that trip months ago, and they're newer than that plan was. Thankfully, while en route from Volcano to our airbnb in Hilo, Google Maps just *happened* to show a handful of random businesses we were driving past, and I was like, wait, what, a meadery?! We would've turned around right then and there, but it was 5:50, and we didn't want to be "those people", so we just rearranged our plans slightly for the following morning - you might wonder why a business serving nothing but alcohol would open at 10 AM, but that would be for tourists like us. We had a busy day, and there's a big difference between "drinking" and "tasting"! :D Anyway, as of a few weeks ago, they had 8 different meads, and in 8 very different styles, too (it always bugs me going somewhere, getting a flight, and discovering I'm basically drinking the same thing with subtle variations and different names). I also loved that their pricing was set up such that you could get any number of individual tasters - and very reasonably priced - though with mead, there are no styles I *don't* like when done well, so we just ordered (as a couple) their entire taster list. (Their full glass pours, notably, are also quite reasonably priced, mostly $5-6 - if I could teleport there, I'd be drinking there *all* the time.) Funny, though - I felt like their "semi-sweet" tasted sweeter than their "sweet", probably because the underlying flavor of the local honey shone through more (we loved the semi-sweet enough to bring a bottle home, even though we absolutely already have too many bottles at home.) As of when we were there, they also had a great dry mead (reminded me of a Riesling a bit), a great ginger mead, a great lillikoi mead (this one literally just tasted like lillikoi juice), one served warm that just tasted like a hot toddy, one exceptional (if you like spice) chipotle "bochet" mead that also introduced me to the word "bochet" (mead made with honey that has first been caramelized - wish they'd had a few more bochets! I brought a bottle of that home as well), and of the 8, only one I didn't love (the cocoa-vanilla didn't taste quite as balanced as the other 7, though it still was by no means bad). And this from a place that only opened fairly recently - would love to be able to come back in a couple years and see how they've grown! I'm not sure whether they're ever particularly busy, but obviously, having gotten there before lunch, plus being more than a bit off the main drag, they were pretty much empty when we were there, which was fun, as it also gave us the ability to nerd out with one of the actual makers of the mead, about how great mead is - you can tell they also put a lot of heart into it, on top of being clearly knowledgeable about what they're doing. Anyway, thanks Google Maps for informing me this place existed - I would've been quite sad if I'd only discovered it after we got home from that trip! read more

Big Island Meadery - menu as of a week ago - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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A serious MUST DO on the island!!!!! So many incredible flavors to try and awesome build-your-own flights! Everything is local and masterfully made!!! Can't recommend this one enough!!! Service was wonderful with extremely knowledgeable staff! Had an incredible time and will be coming back over and over!!! read more

Fabulous little place!!! Certainly worth a stop, especially if you like a good place to cruise after pau Hana. So, being a non drinker, I didn't actually tried the mead but I did try everything else & ate like 3 of every cheese, honey plate they brought out & also tried the non alcohol juice they make; was it a POG? VERY much a family friendly place & the owners were just fabulous. Definitely recommending to all my friends! Mahalo Big Island Meadery for loving those bees in a fun, economic way read more

This place really surprised us. The quality is superb and the taste delightful! Our spontaneous trip turned into a second visit. We will definitely become regulars! read more

Big Island Meadery - Flight with 2 seasonal meads. - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

This place is a gem! The taproom itself is so cute. The theme of honeycomb runs throughout. It's very thoughtfully put together. It's an intimate place with knowledgeable staff they are in fact the bee keepers and owners which take game to table to a whole other level in my eyes! We went in for gifts and came out with some mead for ourself as well. We tried a couple so far. The seasonal not toddy is beautiful! Tastes like Christmas in a glass. The lilikoi ginger had beautifully blended flavors for a nice uplifting sip. This is the first time I've have mead and I am in love! I'm very glad Big Island Meadery is here! read more

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Just perfect. Absolutely beautiful ambiance. A pretty nice variety of meads from a semi-sweet to sweet to a chipotle variety that will spice up your life. Limited food selection to make it the perfect place to hang with 3 or 4 friends for a couple hours and learn all about mead and honey and maybe even the story behind the absolutely gorgeous bar top. Service was excellent as well. Look for the signs after you pull off the Keaau-Pahoa bypass road. read more

Big Island Meadery - Food options. But you can BYOF. - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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So fun! Delicious meads and honey. Highly recommend if you're in the area. Staff were so friendly and knowledgable. Thoroughly enjoyed our experience here, can tell there is a lot of love and work put into this business! read more

Big Island Meadery - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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Incredible experience! Very knowledgeable about their product and passionate. Venessa and Rachel are THE best highly recommend. Make sure to get the flight and a bottle of your favorite mead! read more

Big Island Meadery - Chipotle mead - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

Great personal service. The meads and honeys were phenomenal. Best stop on the island for our vacation.

Great mead! Highly recommend! Super friendly and love the atmosphere. Love all the different mead flavors. Can't go wrong with anything you choose! read more

We're big wine drinkers, but have never had mead before and this was a great way to try it. My group of 4 got all 14 menu items in 1.5oz flight glasses and split them all to find our favorites. We ended up loving the Lilikoi Ginger and Not Toddy. Excellent service, nice little gift shop, too. So glad we stopped here! read more

My favorite was Lilikoi ginger, The smell and the taste was so good, I got to taste 2 other one only cause I'm the driver so I have to be responsible drive. My hubby got to taste 6 wines. He's seem to love them all, he revisited dry traditional & Roselle. Their service is excellent. The ambience is down to earth. Vanessa & Devan we're awesome to us. read more

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Devin gave us an introduction to the expansive collection of mead flavors with a tasting today. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience from the comfortable tasting area to the food truck offering (every Saturday) and finally to the stars of the show, the fine tasting mead! There were about 20 mead selections to choose from and every sample was delicious! Mahalo! A hui hao! read more

Absolutely delicious wines & honeys, the greatest gift shop for all, a BEAUTIFUL shop with gorgeous architecture, slabs of glazed wood, everything. And the owners, the kindest most generous this island has to offer! Try their Lilikoi Ginger Mead. It does not disappoint! read more

Big Island Meadery - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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This was a fun find on our trip to the Big Island. We tasted all the flavors by way of very affordable flights. Then we enjoyed some of our favorites in full pours. They also sell by the bottle and even growlers of the regular flavors. We enjoyed chatting with the folks who run the place and learning more about the whole process of making mead. They have a fantastic selection of local honey that we sampled and took home our favorite with us. We also tried the personal charcuterie plate. They have a schedule of events and food trucks that is worth checking out on their socials. It may be tricky to find, but so worthwhile to stay for a bit! read more

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I honestly don't know anything about Mead. Not even sure I am spelling it correctly. However, it is good! Sweet like a dessert wine. Without the sulfite after taste that some wines leave. We only ordered a flight of four glasses. They were all good! My fave was the lilikoi & ginger. The cocoa-vanilla was a close 2nd! Like drinking chocolate! The owners were super nice! I would've asked to get educated on mead, but we didn't have much time. Hopefully next time... The decor is nice with a honey theme. They also had the Duck Fat food truck outside, so you could order food and it looked like they would bring your order to you when ready. I'm thinking the food truck might change or not always be there? It really is a nice set-up and looking forward to going there again, spend a little more time enjoying the mead and the food. read more

Big Island Meadery - Their tables are fact filled! Love it! - Meaderies Near Me - Keaau, Hawaii

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This is a hidden gem!! Stopped by to check it out. A variety of different types of meads.The owner was on hand and spent a lot of time with us telling us about the different mead and the history of the tasting room. They have been open just under 2 years. They also make honey and we tried several different types. They have premade charcuterie boards, bread/cheese and honey boards as well as chips and dips available for purchase. On Saturdays food trucks are on site from 12-5. They have a club you can join for a very reasonable price that allows you to purchase any of the meads on tap to take home. Joined the club so we will be going back regularly read more

Stopped in on the way back to Hilo from Volcanoes National Park. The tasting room is very modern and has many (custom built?) subtle bee-themed accents including honeycomb light fixtures. You get to taste a lot of mead styles side by side, which offers something for people who have never had mead and folks that have tried it before, but not been exposed to the full range of flavors. One standout was the bochet meads. I had never tried this style--one of them reminded me of a barrel-aged beer. Delicious and surprising. They have some light snacks available as well. We shared the charcuterie plate which paired well with the meads. We bought a few bottles. Very high quality and reasonable prices! They vacuumed sealed the bottles for us to help protect the bottles and our luggage in case something happens on the way home. We talked to the owner for a large portion of our visit. Really interesting personal story and very knowledgeable. We learned a lot about local hive management and what makes his mead distinct. Highly recommend stopping if you are on the east side of the island. read more

A must visit. So Ono. Lilikoi ginger mead is da best. They have mead slushies on Friday and Saturday! Can't take them to go tho, sad face.

We had a great time tasting meads in the cute and well air-conditioned taproom. All the meads were good. The dry was my favorite, but definitely make sure to try the lollikoi as well. Their tasting flights are great, and helped us choose a bottle to take home. The co-owner is a really nice guy with lots of cool info to share. Highly recommend visiting, especially if you've never had mead before! This is a great place for a first intro to it. read more

My favorite mead is the lilikoi ginger. Service was awesome. Owners Vanessa and Devin very friendly and makes you feel right at home. Although it seems out of the way, I think it's very accessible and such a hidden gem for our Puna community. Check them out! I like the decor, everything was well thought. They even have an overflow space for a large group if needed. read more

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Great drinks, great atmosphere, great people! What more could you want? Devin and Vanessa took great care of us and it was so interesting to hear their story of how they got into the mead business. The mead itself is amazing and they have a great variety of flavor profiles so there is something to love no matter what you usually drink. Don't miss this spot! read more