Take a peek inside the meadery at Bløm Meadworks in Ann Arbor
Bløm’s meadery is a cozy spot designed to open people’s eyes to what mead is and how it’s made.
With a Scandinavian aesthetic, a welcoming bar runs the length of the room, with tables and chairs arranged toward the rear of the space, letting folks settle in to watch one of the movies that Lauren and Matt often project on the back wall.
Lauren and Matt find themselves answering lots of questions about what mead is and how their mead is different — mead, very simply, is honey that’s mixed with water and allowed to ferment. Traditional styles of mead tend to be somewhat thick and high in alcohol, sometimes sweet and sometimes fermented to dryness. The mead that Bløm produces, however, is a session-style mead, with a lower alcohol level that’s closer to beer and light carbonation.
The earliest history of mead dates back to 7000 BC in China where honey was fermented with fruit and rice. From the ancient Greeks to Medieval monks, this nectar has been enjoyed wherever honey bees thrive.
Today, mead is made in a range of styles, from sweet to dry, and at Bløm, it’s enhanced with locally sourced fruit, hops and spices. Flavors change with the season and Lauren and Matt have created a cocktail program to make the beverage even more accessible.
When you visit, look for flavors like Season Three Fall Gin w/A2DC, a mead made with Ann Arbor Distilling's spent Fall Gin botanicals; hopped mead with Michigan-grown Cascade and Crystal hops; stone fruit-coriander mead aged on Michigan plums and apricots with dried coriander seeds; and a sour pawpaw mead, a spontaneously fermented Brett- and Lacto-style sour made with hand-picked local pawpaws.
Take a tour of the meadery in our slideshow below:
Bløm Meadworks
100 South 4th Avenue, Suite 110, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734.548.9729