Bløm Meadworks
Matt Ritchey was head brewer at Begyle in Chicago until he learned he could not process gluten, so he went to honey and ferments it dry enough to session.2
Why go
The method is the whole thing. Lauren Bloom and Ritchey use a lower honey to water ratio and let the yeast eat all the sugar to create a taste closer to a dry cider,
which is why nothing here drinks like syrup.1 A mead needs only honey, water and yeast, and Bloom and Ritchey buy all three in Michigan.2 The fruit comes the same way. Apples and pears from northern Michigan, rhubarb off the Leelanau peninsula, honey from beekeepers in the thumb, and a freezer run through Michigan's Farm to Freezer program to carry summer into January.1 They opened on 5 May 2018 in a 3,000 square foot former hotel lobby on the ground floor of the Courthouse Senior Apartments.3 The taproom is set up so you can watch the work while you drink.4
Order this / avoid
- Order: a session mead first, then a cider, and taste the ratio rather than the honey.1
- Avoid: asking for beer. Ritchey cannot drink it any more, so there is none.2
What locals & experts say
- Lauren Bloom, to Taste the Local Difference:
I love getting on the phone and calling farmers I know instead of a faceless company. Even as a small business we can use our buying power to help Michigan farmers and producers thrive.
1 - Matt Ritchey, on coming home:
Building a business from scratch meant putting down roots, and we wanted to do that back in our home state.
1
Good to know
- Everything here is gluten free. They ferment honey and fruit, never grain, and the flavors change with the seasons.4
- Bring your own food. The bar keeps Michigan cheese plates and snacks and bills itself BYOF.3
- Say it "bloom". The makers spell it out on their own page.2
- Check what is in the taproom. A pop-up was running Wednesday to Sunday, 4pm to 9pm, when this was read.4
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note:
New cider and mead bar.
It opened in 2018, so it has had time to settle, and when Bloom and Ritchey drink their own list they reach for the hopped and the rhubarb.1
Verdict
should-visit — Ritchey ran Begyle's brewhouse until a gluten intolerance took beer away from him, and what he built instead is mead fermented dry enough to drink by the pint. The ratio is the argument: less honey to water, the yeast run out to the end, so the honey shows up as flavor rather than syrup. Bloom buys the apples, pears, rhubarb and honey by phoning Michigan growers she knows and freezes fruit to get through winter. No critic has judged the glass yet, which is the only thing holding it back.