nog season

‘Tis the season for egg nog. This is one of the great holiday food divides: you either love it (me! me!) or hate it. If you love it, or at least are willing to raise a glass or two this holiday season, there are number of delicious Massachusetts dairies that make it this time of year. No shade on those who love the classic Hood Golden variety, but really, there are MUCH better locally-produced options out there. (I know they are technically local, too, but they are a multi-billion dollar dairy giant, and not the focus of this site–plus, I actively dislike their nog. Sorry not sorry.)

Listed below are the ones I know and love that I can find in stores near me, in the middle-ish part of the state; but with all the dairy farms in Massachusetts, I’m sure there are more. I just ordered a nog t-shirt from Mapleline to help fully celebrate this short season. Their milk is my absolute favorite, and I can’t wait to try their nog this year.

To find them near you, check out their websites: Mapleline Farm & High Lawn Farm each have a page listing out (by town) where you can find them (also linked in the More Info column, below).

Shaw Farm doesn’t have this info on their site, so you’ll need to contact them directly to find out where they are sold (other than in their farm store)–or, if you happen to be in their delivery area, you can sign up for home milk (or nog) delivery! While you are ordering, add some of their egg nog ice cream to your cart.

[UPDATE: Now that I am on the lookout for egg nog, I keep coming across even more small dairies that make it this time of year. Most sell at a farm store on or near their property, but also do sell to smaller farm stands/stores in the nearby area; you can contact them to find out where they are available, if you aren’t near to their farm. I’ll keep adding places as I find them through the end of the 2023 nog season (the end of the year).]

Town	Dairy Farm Name/Location	More Info
Dracut	Shaw Farm 204 New Boston Rd., Dracut MA 01826
Dunstable	Tully Farms Dairy 446 Pleasant St., Dunstable MA 01827
Hadley	Mapleline Farm 73 Comins Rd., Hadley MA 01035
Lee	High Lawn Farm 535 Summer St., Lee MA 01238
Leicester	Cooper’s Hilltop Farm 515 Henshaw St., Rochdale, MA 01542
Lunenburg	Stillman Dairy Farm 991 Lancaster Ave., Lunenburg MA 01462
Millbury	Elmhurst Dairy Farm 342 West Main St., Millbury MA 01527

Of course, you could always make your own egg nog–Edible Boston/Worcester ran a couple of egg nog recipes last winter.

I’d love to hear about any local egg nog I’ve missed (so I can add them to the list), or any other nog-related info–let me know in the comments.