Loading…
Loading…
Brewer, Actor, Dream Chasers
Connor's background is in fermentation science, built on a biotechnology degree and years of watching how time and the right conditions turn simple ingredients into something worth sharing. He came to Nova Scotia carrying that knowledge and looking for somewhere to put it. What he was not expecting was how much of the work would turn out to be about people rather than process.
Maria is still a working actor, model, and performer. She did not leave that life to start the meadery. She carries both. Born and raised in Musquodoboit Harbour, she brought the community she already knew into everything Fireside does: the farmers markets, the familiar faces, the door that stays open.
What Connor cares about that others sometimes skip is the absence of intervention. No sulphites. No sorbates. No shortcuts taken to extend shelf life at the cost of what the mead actually tastes like. The fermentation runs longer and the aging runs deeper because that is what the product requires. He does it anyway, every batch.
What they are still figuring out is the balance. Running a business together as a couple is its own ongoing project, one with no clear finish line and no manual. Some weeks they get it right. Others, the work bleeds into everything else and they have to make a conscious decision to put it down. They are honest about that, which is part of why the product feels honest too.
Built from memory, brewed with patience, shared around a fire
The one that turns cider lovers into mead believers
Sunset Cyser is a cyser, a category of mead made with apple juice and honey rather than water and honey alone. Fireside's version uses crisp Nova Scotia apples and blueberries, with honey threaded through the finish in a way that warms without sweetening. It is drier than most people expect from a mead, which is exactly what makes it work for people who thought mead was not for them. Sulphite-free, sorbate-free, naturally gluten free, and unfiltered.
The name came from the nature landscape. Nova Scotia sunsets over the harbour, golden and red-streaked, are what Connor and Maria see from their property. The Sunset Cyser was built to carry that feeling into a glass: something rooted in this specific place, made for the end of a long day.
It is the product that most often converts first-time mead drinkers. Customers pick it up expecting something heavy or sweet and find something that drinks clean and finishes with warmth. It is now available through the NSLC, which means the people who first found it at the farmers market can find it closer to home.
Traditional mead and cider, each made without sulphites & sorbates
Ember Metheglin
Sandbank Cyser
Monarch Melomel
A Heartfelt Note
Every bottle we make starts with a decision not to take the easy way. Sulphites and sorbates would give us a longer shelf life and a more predictable product. We leave them out because we want what is in the bottle to be exactly what we made, nothing added to cover for what the craft cannot do on its own. Most people will never notice. That is fine. We will know.
There was an evening at the farmers market when someone came back to our table. She had tried the Sunset Cyser the week before and wanted to bring a bottle to a dinner with friends. She said it was the first mead she had ever liked. She bought two more. That return, not the first sale but the second, is what we make things for.
When you buy from us, you are buying something made by two people in Musquodoboit Harbour who took a real chance on something they believed in. No investors. No production line we do not touch ourselves. Every bottle has passed through our hands at every stage. That is not a marketing line. It is just the truth of how small this still is, and how much we care about what comes out of it.
Come find us at the market, or make the drive out to 11 East Petpeswick Road. We will be there. And if something we made has stayed with you, we would love to hear about it.
With warmth, Connor and Maria Jeffreys
