Technically, the newly opened Blom Meadworks is a winery. “Mead and cider, under federal definition, are considered wine,” explains co-owner Lauren Bloom. She and her husband, Matt Ritchey, first got the idea to brew mead when Ritchey found out he was allergic to gluten. With four types of mead and one cider on tap (plus wine from the M. Lawrence winery up north), their glass-fronted spot on Huron and S. Fourth is nothing if not celiac friendly.
Those who don’t like honey may have a harder time, but Bloom and Ritchey want people who previously may have scoffed at sickly-sweet traditional meads to give theirs a chance. “Traditional mead has a higher ratio of honey to water when it’s made, and so it comes out with a higher alcohol content, and often it’s quite sweet,” says Bloom. The couple’s “session meads” have a lower alcohol content and a dryer, carbonated taste. “It’s really more kind of a casual everyday drink instead of more ‘special occasion,'” says Bloom. She’s prepared an informational half-sheet for interested patrons.
The interior is elegant-simple: cement flooring with a mix of wooden tables, barstools, and perched half-tables with seats that come directly out of the wall. Bloom and Ritchey have embraced the honey theme with honeycomb designs in the windows, yellow design accents, and a stenciled bee logo on the available growlers, howlers, and twelve-ounce cans.
Blom Meadworks, 100 S. Fourth. 773-3921. Wed. & Thurs. 3 p.m.-8 p.m., Fri. & Sat. noon-9 p.m., Sun. noon-6 p.m. Closed Mon. & Tues. drinkblom.com
