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From Homebrew To Mead... The Evolution Of A Couple Oddballs

Cheers To The Good Old Days

When you think about mead (if you think about it at all), you might be picturing a very ancient drink. The honey-fermented alcoholic beverage is as old as recorded history itself, mentioned in ancient tomes like Beowulf and the Canterbury Tales.

"Mead carries with it a lot of connotations of vikings and hobbits," says James Robinson, one of the co-founder of Oddball Fermentables. "We also think it's a pretty modern drink, even though it's got a lot of ancient echoes, so to speak."

As the guys from Oddball Fermentables bring mead into the modern world, they have to fight against other mead stereotypes. For instance, Mead is sometimes known for being cloyingly sweet. It is made from honey after all.

But Robinson prefers his mead to be drier, and that comes from his love of beer. He tried his hand at homebrewing beer years ago, but never quite got the hang of it.

"I remember back in the early '90s, my friends and I, we would make beer. We tried to make the beer that we liked. I was never able to brew anything that really knocked my socks off. Maybe I wasn't that good of a brewer, but either way"

He wanted a different challenge, and that's when he heard about cyser, a kind of mead made with apple juice.

"Mead is kind of a parent beverage," Robinson explained. "Anytime you're making any kind of wine that's predominately fermented from honey, it's called mead. And then underneath mead are a bunch of different variations. So if you use honey and grape juice it's called ‘pyment.' If you use honey and any general kind of fruit it's called a ‘melomel,' and our version of melomel is actually called ‘cyser.' So if you use honey and apple juice, it's called a cyser."

Just A Little Sweetness

Robinson was bit by the cyser bug eight years ago. He was working as a teacher when he met fellow teacher and struggling homebrewer, named Drew Schrader.

"Everybody starts out making beer," Schrader said. "So I got my bucket, had it in the closet, and tried making different things." But for Schrader, he said his beer always tasted like homebrew, and he wanted something that tasted more professional. So he joined Robinson in creating cyser.

Robinson and Schrader began experimenting with different cysers, adding ginger, berries, or dates to create new and unique flavors.

Oddball's dry cysers have a flavor that is completely unique in the world of alcoholic beverages. The primary, earthy flavor comes from the honey, which may come as a surprise to most drinkers. "Honey's not a common thing that people drink when it's fermented," Robinson explained. The drink also has a tartness, which comes from the apple juice.

What makes cyser unique is its deceptive sweetness, however. "Even if they're dry," Robinson explains, "all of that honey and juicy kind of stuff makes your brain think ‘Oh, this is sweet!' And then you're kind of waiting for that, but it never actually comes."

In the past few years, the duo has taken their hobby to the judges table, winning awards at various competitions, including the Indy International Wine Competition.

They have now decided to scale up their operation to retail, which has meant finding the right local and sustainable ingredients. For honey, that's become a particular challenge.

"Honey is just a really expensive ingredient," Schrader said. "And when you're thinking about fermentable sugars, honey is one of the more expensive ones. So as we try to make something that's really delicious, but also comes in at a price point that people feel is reasonable we have to balance that out. Ideally, we'd like to do local honey or Indiana honey. I think for us, the main thing is being able to find a honey we feel good about."

Stuck In The Middle With You

Despite the challenges, the Oddball guys feel like they have one thing working in their favor in the commercial world once they open their tasting room: cyser is unique. There's a potential gap in the market, because no one is doing what they do.

"I think it's fun to play in a playground that's not completely overrun by other kids. It's not beer, it's not wine. It's just this middle."

And the middle is where the Oddballs feel at ease.

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