As they prepare to celebrate their eighth anniversary, Lancaster’s Lilly Belle Meads has announced a new partnership with Rusty Nickel Brewing, as well as plans to close their taproom in December. The meadery, which also features a craft beer arm, Til Brewing, first opened in September 2017.
Lilly Belle will close their taproom on December 20 and will move all mead production to West Seneca at Rusty Nickel. Lilly Belle owner Joe Marshall says that while they might not produce as many different meads as they once did, moving forward, he hopes to make Lilly Belle meads available in more locations.
While timing is fluid, both sides hope to begin in 2026. There is no official start date or timeline right now.
“Mead involves a lot of education, and it takes a lot of time to explain to people to get people interested in it,” Marshall said. “The amount of time we spend running our taproom is inordinate when compared to the amount of time we spend getting our product out there and in talking about it, the idea came up of doing all of our packaging at Rusty Nickel, who have always been champions of our mead. There’s an old expression that goes ‘many hands make for lighter work,’ so we decided to work together with us doing all of the same things.”
Rusty Nickel President Jason Havens says that the partnership was a no-brainer, one that both sides had long theorized. He also says that the customer demand for more Lilly Belle products from Rusty Nickel customers is high. In short, he says bringing Lilly Belle and their products on board at Rusty Nickel was a decision that just made sense for all parties involved.
“The industry is changing. People’s interests are changing and mead is becoming more of an expectation and an interest to consumers,” Havens said. “A lot of our consumers are familiar with and respect the Lilly Belle brand and enjoy the product we offer from them. We are constantly asked for other products they might have. With them now doing their packaging at our facility, we are already talking about how we can provide more opportunities to showcase Lilly Belle products and how we can make it available in more places. They have a great following who all respect their products and we want those types of products in our portfolio and now we can do it with a great group of people that we have grown to appreciate in the industry that do it right. For us, that’s a huge win.”
“It might not be at the same level Lilly was offering at their facility, but we are going to do everything we can to get as much product into the hands of our customers as possible, as well as give them bigger access to distribution channels and taproom space, without them having to operate a taproom.”
Looking back on eight years of Lilly Belle and all that they have built, Marshall says that it is almost too enormous to look back at properly.
“We’re very proud of everything we have done,” Marshall said. “We went into the Village of Lancaster where, when we first opened in 2016, there was really nothing. If you look at it now, all of the places that are there now, like Skoobs, Papi Grande’s and Fattey Beer, went there when we first opened. There just wasn’t anything. We’re proud to have taken the chance and started, at least we like to think so, the revitalization of Lancaster, and became a staple in that area. We really look back at it with pride. While I would have done a few things differently, I would certainly do it all over again. It’s been a great adventure.”
“We’re sad about it, but this has been in the works for a long time. In the end, we are completely OK with it. We’re just ready to do something different. We’re happy to join forces with Rusty Nickel and have a bigger team around us. It can only be good. There’s no way it can be a bad thing.”
As for the future of Til Brewing, Marshall says that they are still discussing what comes next. He did confirm that a previously announced standalone Til taproom in Lancaster is no longer in the works. He said that the idea was very much on the table, but plans ultimately didn’t work out.
“I don’t really have a good answer for that,” he said. “Everything is still very much up in the air.”
And to everyone who might be thinking this is the end for Lilly Belle, Marshall says that this is just the start of the next chapter for Lilly Belle.
“We’re not going to be just be up and gone,” Marshall said. “We’ve worked hard to build our brand, we are not going away. Don’t be sorry, you can just come see us now at Rusty Nickel where we can enjoy the product together. This is definitely not goodbye. I get it, it’s sad because our taproom space is going away and all of the memories we have made there, but I am really looking forward to the next chapter and what comes next.”
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/LillyBelleMeads.
Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).
