Moonjoy Meadery: A Taste of Old Magic in Downtown Lenoir

Editor’s Note: The Paper Route, The Paper’s monthly travel page, highlights interesting day or weekend excursions for Burke County residents. This month, Staff Writer Nathanael Eure profiles a unique gathering place in Lenoir where visitors can enjoy an equally unique craft beverage.

Nestled in downtown Lenoir is a place that immediately catches the eye with its Viking-style architecture, rustic wood paneling, and bearskin-adorned walls. Cozy and welcoming, Moonjoy Meadery is more than just a craft beverage stop, it’s a five-sense experience.

Co-owner Rebecca Philips wants guests to feel immersed from the moment they walk in. “It’s not just about tasting the mead,” she said. “It’s about the atmosphere. The textures, the smell of honey and wood, the music, the feel of the space, it should be sensory.”

The tasting room is warm and intimate, filled with books, board games, and comfortable seating. On Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m., it hosts a silent book club, one of Rebecca’s favorite recurring events.

“You come, hang out and read on your own,” she said, “and then in the last 20 minutes, we chat.” A bookshelf in the back serves as a kind of “public library,” of some of Rebecca’s (an avid reader and introvert) favorite books.

Board game nights are another staple, featuring over 40 options ranging from classics like Clue and Battleship to party games like Cards Against Humanity and the game of intrigue, Werewolf. These nights are held in partnership with the Caldwell County Library, typically on the first Friday of each month.

But Moonjoy is more than a meadery or community hangout. It’s a hub for creative collaboration and small business support. Rebecca, who also serves as president of the Lenoir Small Business Collective, helps organize city-wide events that bring attention to downtown shops and restaurants. “A lot of people want to visit these places but aren’t familiar with what they offer,” she explained. “These events are a way to introduce them.”

One standout is their Hobbit Party, scheduled this year for October 18. Last year’s event drew more than 500 attendees as participants followed riddles to various businesses, ultimately leading to a “ring.” Other events have included Star Wars-themed nights and nods to The Crow, all part of Moonjoy’s ethos to uplift the local economy and build a joyful, nerdy community.

Moonjoy Meadery opened in 2020, born from a dream shared by Rebecca and her husband, Daniel Philips, an Army veteran. The business was inspired by Rebecca’s mother, Margaret Moose, who was both gluten-free and health-conscious.

Wanting a festive, allergy-friendly drink for family holidays, she began experimenting with mead. Already hobbyist beekeepers, the family began fermenting their own honey into small batches of mead. “My mom was always a kitchen witch,” Rebecca said with a laugh. “She’d place the fermenters under the moonlight, and that’s where Moonjoy’s name and logo came from.”

What began as a passion project in their Newton, NC home eventually outgrew the space. “There were bottles of mead all over the house,” Rebecca joked. Her husband Daniel, who shadowed and learned much of what he knows from Rebecca’s mother Margaret, and filled in the rest through self-teaching, practice, and research, gradually began scaling up his own brewing.

When it became clear that there was demand for their mead, the family decided to go commercial. They secured permits, working with architects, and ultimately landed at their current location at 902 West Ave NW in Lenoir.

Today, Moonjoy offers more than 30 seasonal varieties throughout the year, including fan favorites like Muscadine, Blackberry, and Apple meads, all made with ingredients sourced from North Carolina farms. Their honey comes exclusively from local apiaries.

“We maybe don’t make our meads the way you’d be taught in a fermentation science program,” Rebecca admitted. “We use more traditional, almost medicinal approaches. No sulfates, no preservatives, and they’re unfiltered.”

Popular pours at Moonjoy include:

Darkhorse Mead – a spiced date and prune mead perfect for fall and winter.

Bjornbær – a 100% North Carolina-sourced blackberry mead.

Blackberry Lavender – Rebecca’s personal favorite, available this September.

Unlike some modern meaderies that opt for carbonated or wine-like meads, Moonjoy leans into old-world methods that yield smooth, cider-like textures with no bite. That approach has helped them become the highest-rated meadery in North Carolina, drawing visitors from across the East Coast.

North Carolina’s long growing seasons and bee-friendly climate make it a natural home for the industry. As cider continues its rise in popularity, mead, with its unique blend of history, flavor, and health-conscious appeal, is quietly filling its own niche.

Though the quality of their product could warrant a national brand, Rebecca and Daniel aren’t looking to commercialize. Their modest goals are to support the local economy, honor family traditions, and create a welcoming space.

“This is how we support our parents’ retirement, our 15-year-old son,” Rebecca said. “My customers may not go to breweries or clubs. So a question that I am always thinking about is how do we cross-polinate our customers with other businesses?

Moonjoy also encourages customers to bring in takeout, and local businesses have taken note. On any given day in Lenoir, as Rebecca described it, you might get a couples’ massage at Wolf Moon Salt Cave, grab coffee and play with cats at Mews and Brews, pick up a new read at the Tybrisa Books pre-game at Moonjoy with board games and mead, order pizza from across the street at Piccolo’s Italian Restaurant, and end the night with live music at Liquid Roots Brewing.

“We want Moonjoy to feel clean, safe, inclusive — a place where you can show up alone or with friends and always feel welcome,” Rebecca said. “Every visit should be consistent, and still surprise you with something new.”

Moonjoy Meadery is located at 902 West Ave NW, Lenoir. They can be reached at (828) 929-2130.