What Moonlight Meadery does

Moonlight Meadery is a craft mead producer founded by Michael Fairbrother in 2010 and headquartered at Over The Moon Farmstead in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. The company produces ultra-premium meads using True Source Certified or Certified Organic honey (sourced from remote regions including the Brazilian Amazon and Zambian forests) fermented with the Lalvin 71B white wine yeast strain that Fairbrother has used for over 21 years, capable of producing meads up to approximately 17% ABV without pasteurization. Its portfolio spans roughly 25+ SKUs organized around varietal honey bases (orange blossom, raspberry, tupelo, wildflower), enhanced with fruits, spices, and barrel aging in bourbon and Samuel Adams Utopias casks; flagship products include Desire, Kurt's Apple Pie, and Utopian.

The business operates a vertically integrated, direct-to-consumer model. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time mead sales via the Vinoshipper online store shipping to 41 U.S. states, supplemented by on-premise consumption at the Over The Moon Farmstead farm-to-table restaurant and 16-tap bar, gift card sales processed through Square, and a nano brewery sub-brand (Hidden Moon Brewing). The company serves three primary consumer segments: craft beverage enthusiasts seeking unique flavors, dedicated mead connoisseurs pursuing rare and barrel-aged varieties, and culinary enthusiasts using mead for cooking and food pairing. Marketing relies heavily on earned media coverage (Men's Journal, Bloomberg, Draft Magazine, Modern Farmer, Fodors, Maxim) and a recipe-driven content platform.

Moonlight is a founder-owned private LLC domiciled in New Hampshire, with no external funding rounds disclosed. The company has sold over 1 million bottles since founding and has accumulated 60+ international awards across the Mazer Cup International, San Diego International Beer Competition, and the National Honey Board Mead Crafters Competition.

Name

Moonlight Meadery

Legal name

Moonlight Meadery, LLC

Website

https://moonlightmeadery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Moonlight Meadery is a founder-owned New Hampshire craft meadery producing ultra-premium, award-winning meads from True Source Certified and Certified Organic honey, selling direct-to-consumer via Vinoshipper to 41 U.S. states and through its Over The Moon Farmstead restaurant, bar, and nano brewery in Pittsfield, NH.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Mead Production

NAICS

Breweries (31212)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Mead Producers & Brands (CRADAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mead Production (AFAFAAAF), Cideries & Meadery Tasting Rooms (THAFALAI)

Keywords

• Craft mead production
• Honey wine beverages
• Barrel aged meads
• Cyser and braggot
• Farm brewery operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Londonderry

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Mead Product Sales: Direct sales of internationally award-winning meads to consumers through their Vinoshipper online store with shipping to 41 states. Products include flagship meads like Desire, Kurt's Apple Pie, Utopian, and limited release offerings.
2. Restaurant and Bar Operations: Farm-to-table restaurant and bar operation at Over The Moon Farmstead featuring 16 taps of fresh craft beer and meads, panoramic mountain views, and nano brewery.
3. Gift Card Sales: Sale of gift cards through Square for the restaurant and meadery locations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Moonlight Meadery produces a portfolio of ultra-premium, internationally awarded meads and cysers crafted from True Source Certified honey and Certified Organic honey. Products span traditional, fruit-forward, spiced, and barrel-aged expressions aged in Samuel Adams Utopias casks and bourbon barrels, distributed directly to consumers in 41 states via the Vinoshipper online store and on-premise at Over The Moon Farmstead in Pittsfield, NH. A companion nano brewery (Hidden Moon Brewing) operates under the same roof.

Product overview

Moonlight Meadery is an ultra-premium mead producer founded by Michael Fairbrother in 2010, with over 60+ international awards across its portfolio. The company's core offering is a diverse portfolio of mead products spanning traditional meads, fruit meads, spiced meads, barrel-aged meads, and limited-release experimental varieties. The portfolio includes flagship products like Desire (black currant/black cherry/blueberry), Kurt's Apple Pie (best-selling apple mead with cinnamon and vanilla), and Utopian (premium barrel-aged mead aged in Samuel Adams Utopias casks). The mead lineup is organized around varietal honey bases (orange blossom, raspberry, tupelo, heather, etc.) enhanced with fruits (cherry, cranberry, fig, currant), spices (ginger, chipotle, star anise), vanilla, and barrel-aging techniques using bourbon and Utopian casks. The company operates Over the Moon Farmstead in Pittsfield, NH as a farm-to-table restaurant venue, and maintains an online Vinoshipper platform for direct-to-consumer shipping to 41 states. A companion sub-brand, Hidden Moon Brewing, operates as a nano brewery at the same location. No AI capabilities, public API, or formal product integrations were identified in the available source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hidden Moon Brewing: A nano brewery associated with Moonlight Meadery, featuring fresh craft beer with 16 taps alongside mead offerings.

Products and services

• Utopian Traditional mead aged in Samuel Adams Utopias oak casks, 16% ABV, sweet; nuanced and complex flavor that matures with age in the cask.
• Desire Black currant, black cherry, and blueberry mead, 14% ABV semi-sweet; rich, port-like flagship mead.
• Kurt's Apple Pie Apple mead with Vietnamese cinnamon and Madagascar bourbon vanilla; the company's overall best-selling mead, made with fresh pressed local apple cider and wildflower honey.
• No Need To Argue Tart cranberry mead, 14% ABV; juicy cranberry flavor and aroma with well-hidden alcohol; released in 2018 as a fast-selling top seller.
• Smolder Raspberry mead with chipotles added, 14% ABV sweet; juicy raspberries with a smoky, spicy chipotle finish.
• Embrace Tart black currant mead, 14% ABV dry; elegant and refined fruit-forward character with rounded honey mouthfeel.
• Blossom Apple mead (cyser) made from crisp apple acidity and sweet floral honey; one of the company's oldest recipes representing the founder's introduction to mead.
• Caress Raspberry mead bursting with fresh raspberry flavor and aroma accentuated by soft floral honey undertones.
• Fling Strawberry rhubarb mead from True Source Certified orange blossom honey, semi-sweet, tart, and complex.
• Smog City Buzzworthy Collaboration Bourbon barrel aged imperial honey stout (braggot) brewed annually in collaboration with Smog City Brewing; 12.5% ABV.
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Kurt's Apple Pie Apple mead aged in freshly emptied Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for 6 months; bourbon softness with crisp apple, cinnamon, and vanilla notes.
• Last Apple Bourbon barrel aged apple mead (cyser) from late harvest apples with higher sugar content, finished in freshly emptied bourbon barrels; 16% ABV dessert style.
• Wicked Orange blossom mead with Jamaican ginger and Madagascar bourbon vanilla; soft and silky with slight spiciness from ginger.
• Sensual Traditional mead made from Certified Organic Brazilian wildflower honey, water, and yeast; honey sourced from remote Amazon regions with a 10-mile wilderness radius.
• Entice Tart cherry mead balanced between tartness and sweetness with fruity, smooth character.
• Orange Blossom Au Natural Traditional orange blossom honey mead made with True Source Certified orange blossom honey, water, and yeast; light and delicate floral honey showcase.
• Madagascar Orange blossom mead with Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, built on True Source Certified orange blossom honey.
• Tempt Cherry mead with chipotle peppers; spicy variation of the Entice mead with smooth texture and controlled heat.
• Monkey Bread Mead from Certified Organic Brazilian wildflower honey with banana, Vietnamese cinnamon, and maple syrup; sweet and decadent, tasting like banana bread; very limited release.
• Monkey Business Mead from Certified Organic Brazilian wildflower honey with banana, chocolate, orange, and Madagascar bourbon vanilla; bold flavor combination; very limited release.
• Twinkle Orange blossom mead with star anise; floral and vibrant blend with delicate orange blossom honey and vibrant star anise notes.
• Red Dress Red currant mead; crowd-pleasing and fruit-forward with lightly tart red currant character and soft tartness.
• Virtue Apple mead (cyser) aged in Utopias casks for over 6 months; buttery smooth finish with oak nuances and cognac-like complexities.
• Indulge Orange blossom honey mead with Vietnamese cinnamon and Madagascar bourbon vanilla; rich, smooth, and refined, described as a cinnamon bun in a glass.
• Fury Orange blossom honey mead with ghost chilli peppers, Trinidadian Morugan scorpion peppers, and habaneros; balanced sweet and heat.
• Raspberry Blossom Au Natural Traditional mead from True Source Certified raspberry blossom honey created by bees exclusively pollinating raspberry bushes.
• Je T'aime Traditional mead from True Source Certified Tupelo blossom honey sourced from Mississippi Bayou where beehives are placed on boats to reach tupelo blossoms; 15% ABV sweet.
• Hidden Moon Brewing (Nano Brewery) A separate nano brewery operation associated with Moonlight Meadery, featuring 16 taps of fresh craft beer alongside mead offerings at Over the Moon Farmstead in Pittsfield, NH.
• Over The Moon Farmstead Restaurant & Bar Farm-to-table restaurant and bar at Over The Moon Farmstead in Pittsfield, NH, featuring 16 taps of Moonlight meads and Hidden Moon Brewing craft beers and panoramic mountain views.
• Gift Cards (Square) Gift cards sold through Square for the Over The Moon Farmstead restaurant and Moonlight Meadery locations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 million bottles sold since founding in 2010
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Smog City BrewingnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual collaboration partnership producing the Smog City Buzzworthy Collaboration - Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Honey Stout (Braggot). Brewed together each year with big, bold malt characteristics and smooth mouth feel from floral honey added during fermentation. The collaboration has won multiple awards including Gold at National Honey Board Mead Crafters Competition in 2021 for both the braggot and label design.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Tired Hands Brewing Company: Pennsylvania craft brewery with a fermentation-forward program and integrated taproom/restaurant model, occasionally producing mead-adjacent fermented products.

Direct peers

• Schramm's Mead: Michigan-based ultra-premium mead producer with a similar award-heavy, single-founder profile and barrel-aged product focus. Closest direct comparable by production philosophy and price tier.
• Redstone Meadery: Colorado meadery producing traditional and fruit-forward meads with on-premise tasting room. Comparable in DTC hospitality model and varietal product breadth.
• B. Nektar Meadery: Michigan meadery known for honey-source-forward branding (similar to Moonlight's True Source story) and aggressive national distribution. Comparable in brand-driven growth strategy.
• Superstition Meadery: Arizona-based mead producer with a large taproom and national distribution. Comparable by combining high-volume production with a destination hospitality venue.
• Groennfell Meadery: Vermont meadery with similar New England roots, focused on small-batch traditional and fruit meads. Direct regional peer.
• Charm City Meadworks: Baltimore-based mead producer combining production with on-premise taproom. Comparable integrated hospitality-and-DTC model.
• Honeygirl Meadery: North Carolina meadery with a strong varietal/honey-source story similar to Moonlight's True Source messaging, plus an active tasting room.
• Smog City Brewing: California craft brewery with an annual co-developed braggot collaboration with Moonlight (Buzzworthy). Comparable by category-adjacent production and direct co-development partnership.

Broad incumbents

• Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams): Large craft beverage incumbent whose Samuel Adams Utopias barrels are used to age Moonlight's Utopian mead. Comparable as the craft alcoholic beverage category leader and a strategic partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MoonlightMead
• Facebookfacebook.com/MoonlightMeadery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Moonlight Meadery