By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones

Gather the folks in your hive and buzz over to St. George Brewing in Hampton for HoneyFest 2026, presented in collaboration with Newport News’ premier homebrew supply shop Brew & Bottle. This special homage to bees, honey, mead (honey wine), and honey-inspired beers will be held on Saturday, August 29 from 3 until 8 pm. The bees have been working hard to provide honey for you to taste. Brewers from twenty regional breweries have brewed honey-inspired beers. And, four meaderies have created delicious meads for you to sample and in some cases purchase for home enjoyment.

This event is open to everyone of all ages, and there is no charge to come and enjoy a family friendly day. You can sample many different honeys, gawk at the observation hive as busy bees prepare their sweet elixir, and check out the on-premises apiary (bee yard).  You can listen to the original lyric-driven musical stylings of the Blue Ribbon band, browse vendors at the Busy Bee Market, and dine on food truck comestibles. You can also learn more about the amazing world of bees, honey, mead, and mead-making. The Colonial Beekeeper’s Association, Virginia’s State Apiarist Keith Tignor, and President of the Virginia State Beekeeper’s Association Christine Smith will be there to answer your questions about all things bee-related, and there will be educational exhibits on honeybee conservation, plus workshops on beekeeping and mead-making. It will be a day of community for all ages.

So, if you have read this far, perhaps you are interested in tasting the meads and/or the honey-inspired beers from the twenty or so breweries that will “bee” there? In that case, you should act quickly to purchase a tasting ticket, which gives you a special glass and the opportunity to taste the creations of over 20 regional breweries and meaderies for $45.  This event sells out every year! For all ages and non-drinkers, you can purchase a $5 goody bag with water and sweet treats.

Fun facts: Did you know that the world’s oldest fermented beverage is made from honey? Mead, basically fermented honey “wine,” has been linked to archeological evidence from over eight thousand years ago. Some early humans, or possibly pre-humans, collected nutritious honey from bee habitats, let it sit around, maybe some rainwater invaded, and wild yeast dove in to enjoy this sweet treat. Next thing you know, fermented honey! The first mead was born! Meads can range from sweet to dry, can be carbonated or still, and often include fruit, herbs, spices, or grains to create a wide range of flavors. And, honey never spoils. If you found some of that eight thousand-year old honey you could consume it today.

Did you know that the term ‘honeymoon’ is rumored to have originated because newly wedded Medieval-era couples often celebrated with mead, and it was believed that drinking mead in the wedding month would help ensure fertility? Or that mead was considered the nectar of the Gods and that the Norse Vikings believed heroic, martyred warriors drank endless mead in Valhalla? 

Did you know that bees do a ‘waggle dance’ that gives their bee buddies basically google map directions to where the best sugary nectar can be found, so they can bring the nectar back to nourish their hive mates? The bees also carry pollen on their little legs in ‘pollen baskets’. The pollen they distribute is critical to the global food supply, pollinating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and livestock feed crops. They work hard for the honey. To make one pound of honey, the hive’s bees must visit two million flowers. An individual bee makes about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire life.

Honey can be a tasty ingredient when brewing beer. If you add enough honey to contribute significantly to beer’s fermentable sugars you get a beer-mead hybrid called ‘braggot’. The world needs more braggot! They are hard to find commercially. 

Fortunately, Windchaser Meadery from Williamsburg will be bringing a braggot made with local wildflower honey, candied ginger, grains of paradise, and galangal. They will also bring their Honey Wheat Blueberry mead, and a Summer Breeze mead made with pineapple and coconut and aged in a rum barrel. Funktastic Meads, based in Midlothian, Silver Hand Meadery in Williamsburg, and Breezy Hill Meadworks from Isle of Wight will be there as well. To have four meaderies present their meads for tasting at one event is very special. Funktastic and Breezy Hill will have meads also available for purchase for off-premises consumption.

Many regional breweries will have beers brewed with honey or honey malt for you to try as well! St George will have their Honey Lager, 1700 Brewing will have an Orange Blossom Honey Graf (beer-cider hybrid), and Big Ugly will bring Imperial Leaf Peepers DIPA. Dragon’s Run will create a buzz with their Day Tripper Honey Ginger Lemon Shandy. Caiseal will fortify you with their Orange Blossom Honey Lager and Honey Walnut Brown Ale. The new Rogue Wave Brewing in Hampton will bring their Honey Lager Don’t Give a Sh*t, in honor of the wily badass honey badger who drinks what he wants. This is just a small sampling of the honey inspired beers that will be at HoneyFest, all included with your tasting ticket.

So do yourself and your honey a favor and purchase your tickets at stg.com/events. Scroll to ‘Beer Festival Tickets-HoneyFest’ to secure your sweet spot at this signature event. And, remember that meads can range in alcohol but some have a higher ABV than you might expect. If you might catch a buzz, be sure to arrange a designated driver or call an Uber/Lyft. The address for St. George is 204 Challenger Way, Hampton, VA.