Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff
Begin with honey— rich, golden, and gathered from the work of many small wings. Stir in water, then yeast, and let nature take over. Inside each yeast cell, sugar unravels and transforms, releasing soft bubbles and gentle heat. The sweetness gives way to something deeper—warmth, sharpness, and the first notes of flavor that will become mead. It is a process older than civilization itself, humanity’s first and most enduring act of fermentation.
ALCHEMY IN A BOTTLE
Today, that same transformation is happening across the country as mead makers are rediscovering the ancient art of turning honey into something both rooted and revelatory. For the past nine years, Evan Anderson and Kelly Czarneki of Drinking Horn Meadery in Flagstaff have been riding that golden wave of resurgence since first selling their mead commercially in 2017. Drinking Horn began with the couple’s wedding, when Evan crafted 30 gallons of mead to honor a Celtic tradition in which newlyweds drink honey wine for a full lunar cycle, maximizing fertility. At the time, Evan was working 200 days a year in the field as a fish biologist. “I was spending more and more time away from home, sleeping on the sand, and I was getting tired of it,” Anderson says. Seeking a change that would bring him closer to home and family, the couple was inspired when their wedding guests raved about Anderson’s mead. Encouraged by the response, they decided to take their home brewing to the next level.
Though still a niche market, commercial mead is gaining ground. Drinking Horn credits its steady rise to a culture of curiosity and experimentation that spans the entire team, from the production crew to the taproom’s self-described “mead slingers.” This group of home brewers and scientists meets the occasional production hiccup—or the rarer but very real fermentation explosion—with sharp observation, systematic data collection, and plenty of humor. Anderson likes to say that “mead making is half art, half science, and half alchemy.” Czarneki agrees. “Mead’s versatility,” she explains, “is part of its charm. You can mix meads, make cocktails, even add it to tea.”
WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD
Honey from Central and Northern Arizona hives, sourced through Mountain Top Honey Co., gives Drinking Horn’s meads their distinct regional character. Mesquite honey brings subtle smokiness perfect for barrel aging, while their seasonal Black Cherry Mead features Arizona orange blossom honey—“one of the few honeys that tastes like its namesake,” says Anderson. Desert wildflower honey, lighter and more delicate, provides a base for blending with herbs and spices. Historically, such spiced meads were known as metheglins, a Welsh word meaning “medicinal drink.”
Photo courtesy of Drinking Horn Meadery
While Drinking Horn does not advertise its mead as a health elixir, Anderson and Czarneki have kept their process as clean and honest as their ingredients. When they made their first commercial batch, they followed convention and added sulfites—the industry standard for preservation—until one whiff changed everything. “I got a full sniff of it and smelled sulfur for two weeks,” Anderson recalls. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to drink that.’” Since then, they’ve eliminated sulfite additives and preservatives, developing their own filtration system to create a shelf-stable, chemical-free mead. “What people call industry standard isn’t always right,” Anderson says. “If we’re making something for thousands of people, it should be something we believe in.”
Drinking Horn’s commitment to simple, local ingredients also resonates with environmentally minded consumers. When the landlord required a separate water meter for their production warehouse, the team discovered that brewing mead is remarkably water-wise. Compared to the agricultural demands and long supply chains of beer, wine, or spirits, it requires very little—both in the brewhouse and the field. “Whether you’re growing barley, wheat, grapes, potatoes, or rice, it takes a tremendous amount of water,” says Nick Irvine, Drinking Horn’s marketing director. According to the Water Footprint Network, one liter of beer requires about 298 liters of water, and wine nearly 890— most of it for growing grapes. Drinking Horn estimates one liter of their mead takes only four liters of water from flower to glass.
RAISING THE HORN
You can find Drinking Horn’s mead at stores across Arizona, but a visit to their Viking-inspired taproom in downtown Flagstaff is something special. Locals and travelers gather over honey-colored glasses to share stories, play games, and learn Old World crafts—much like their ancestors once did. Anderson and Czarneki have kept the spirit of the mead hall alive as a place of connection. “It has always been a meeting place and a social gathering place, and we wanted to keep it like that,” Anderson says. For Drinking Horn, reviving mead is as much about community as craft—a reminder that even the oldest traditions can still bring people together, one pour at a time.
Drinking Horn Meadery is located at 108 E Rte 66 in Flagstaff
Visit drinkinghornmeadery.com to learn more.
