1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,440 Welcome to the July eighteenth edition of Beer in Front. I'm your host, 2 00:00:05,679 --> 00:00:11,080 Dave's Allatorus and Beer in Front is a proud member of the Odd Pods Media 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:17,440 Network. Maybe I should call this show Mead in Front because on this episode 4 00:00:17,519 --> 00:00:22,600 I talked to Peter Schultz. He's one of the owners over at Second City 5 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:29,280 Metery. They're located on Elston Avenue in Chicago. Going into this, I 6 00:00:29,359 --> 00:00:34,840 did not know a lot about Mead. I've had it before, and if 7 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:41,960 you look on untapped, like some of the highest rated check ins that they 8 00:00:42,039 --> 00:00:48,240 have are for Mead, so I know there's a good following. People really 9 00:00:48,359 --> 00:00:52,880 love it, but I didn't know a lot about it. So I would 10 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,799 drive by and see this really cool logo on my way to work and I'm 11 00:00:57,799 --> 00:01:00,119 like, what's that? And then I saw a sign it's a meterary. 12 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:07,519 So I reached out to them and Peter happily invited me over and we discussed 13 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,239 Mead, So stay tuned for that. I also later on in the show 14 00:01:11,359 --> 00:01:18,079 had one that I picked up there and sampled that. So if you're looking 15 00:01:18,079 --> 00:01:23,400 for something a little different, I would suggest Mead because I thought that was 16 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:32,400 excellent over on YouTube I've put out a new series called Chicago Eating. I 17 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,959 don't know how often I'm going to update it, but I'm going to have 18 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:42,719 periodically some great spots in Chicago. I'll talk about the food that they have 19 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,120 there. So I put one out last week from the Hotdog Stand, but 20 00:01:48,319 --> 00:01:53,879 Daki's in Chicago and had their fabulous Korean steak bowl. So if you follow 21 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:59,640 me from the city, head over and subscribe over on YouTube and you could 22 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:02,159 catch It's all going to be under the Beer in Front banner. I'm not 23 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:08,400 making multiple channels, but it'll all be under the Beer in Front page there. 24 00:02:08,439 --> 00:02:14,759 But I'll have a Chicago Eating segment that's going to come out from time 25 00:02:14,759 --> 00:02:19,080 to time over there. I want to thank everyone that supports the show over 26 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,199 on Patreon. If you're interested in helping out, you could go to patreon 27 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:29,639 dot com slash Beer in Front for more details. I also want to thank 28 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:37,000 everyone that listens to this show every week or watches the videos over on various 29 00:02:37,039 --> 00:02:40,479 social media accounts. It means a lot, so I thank you as well. 30 00:02:40,759 --> 00:02:44,599 I also mentioned on the show maybe a month or so ago that I 31 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:51,560 was kicking around the idea of doing like a spinoff podcast from time to time, 32 00:02:52,159 --> 00:02:57,719 and I had one all set to go on the Oakland A's and their 33 00:02:58,439 --> 00:03:02,439 impending move, and I had a good portion of it written and ready to 34 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:07,840 go. But now there's like a last minute effort from the mayor to try 35 00:03:07,879 --> 00:03:13,439 to save the team. So I don't know if that's the show is going 36 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:16,400 to be coming out anytime soon. I mean, hopefully it doesn't, because 37 00:03:16,439 --> 00:03:22,000 I want the A's to stay in Oakland, but I think it's funny. 38 00:03:22,039 --> 00:03:27,000 I put out cover art and everything. I solicited feedback, like which of 39 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,240 these do you like better? I wrote a good portion of this I was 40 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:37,960 getting ready to record, and then the mayor just throws a wrench into the 41 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:43,759 whole plan. So hopefully I don't need to record this episode, and I'll 42 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:52,199 come up with another topic, all right. Welcome Back Meat is a beverage 43 00:03:52,199 --> 00:03:55,560 that has been around for thousands of years. That's right, thousands. It's 44 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:01,039 an alcoholic beverage made by Fermenting honey find many meads, topping the list of 45 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:08,000 the highest rated check ins on Untapped. Second City Metery is located at forty 46 00:04:08,039 --> 00:04:13,599 four sixty five North Elston Avenue in the Mayfair neighborhood of Chicago and it is 47 00:04:13,639 --> 00:04:16,800 the place to go to for mead in Chicago. Today, I'm talking to 48 00:04:16,879 --> 00:04:20,439 Peter Schultz from Second City. Peter, thanks for coming out, man, 49 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,399 I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. This is awesome. I 50 00:04:24,639 --> 00:04:30,959 first found you driving down Elston and seeing that phenomenal logo the signpace for itself. 51 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:36,959 Yeah, that has to be probably maybe up with Maplewood is the top 52 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,560 logos in beer and beverage in Chicago. What a great logo? Did you 53 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,000 come up with that? So I came up with the Chicago flag with bees 54 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,720 instead of stars, and then my previous graphic designer came up with the drip 55 00:04:48,759 --> 00:04:53,800 logo as we call it. Okay, she was a friend of mine from 56 00:04:53,879 --> 00:04:57,759 college, super super talented, so much so she got a promotion at her 57 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,560 day job and it doesn't help with us anymore, but she helped us get 58 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,480 off the ground, and we're really appreciative. Yeah, I saw when I 59 00:05:02,519 --> 00:05:05,120 walked in, I saw a hat out front. I'll have to be buying 60 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,480 that on my way out. As the logos killer. You'll see that on 61 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,519 an upcoming video. But or drive down Elston Avenue and stop in yourself. 62 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,920 Can you tell us about second city mead read sure, Sure, So I 63 00:05:17,959 --> 00:05:23,360 got into mead. My wife and I were dating in undergrad at UIC here 64 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,680 in Chicago. We'd go up to Haymarker for day night. She found out 65 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,879 pretty quickly she wasn't into beer, but she loved their food and they offer 66 00:05:29,959 --> 00:05:32,959 you know, wine cocktails, and eventually she tries a mead. Big red 67 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,279 lights are going off in her head like this is it, this is the 68 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:40,879 thing for me. So back in twenty twenty fourteen, there's not a lot 69 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,839 of meat around, like Wild Blossom had been in Chicago, and like Shrams 70 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,560 had just opened towards the end of twenty thirteen. So we start driving around 71 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,879 the Midwest, spending way too much money on mead for twenty three and twenty 72 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:56,000 four year olds. So then I start making it at home in order to 73 00:05:56,519 --> 00:06:00,519 you know, save money and thinking it will be easy. Both of those 74 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,040 things are not true. But I found out I really enjoyed fermentation, and 75 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:11,240 how awful the batches were really motivated me to get better at it. Back 76 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,560 in the twenty thirteen twenty fourteen, there wasn't this huge online database of information, 77 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,040 so I basically had Ken Schram's book the complete meadmaker, and I had 78 00:06:19,079 --> 00:06:24,920 trial and error, and so about eighteen months into brewing, I finally make 79 00:06:24,959 --> 00:06:29,399 a decent one and that's when things really got exciting. From So, the 80 00:06:29,399 --> 00:06:33,319 first good batch was in twenty fifteen. In twenty sixteen, we start entering 81 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,240 competitions, getting really good feedback, a couple of medals, but mostly for 82 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:41,480 the feedback. Twenty seventeen we start actually thinking could this be a business? 83 00:06:41,879 --> 00:06:45,279 Twenty eighteen we incorporate the business. Twenty nineteen we signed on our location. 84 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,360 Twenty we start brewing. Something else happens in twenty twenty, the complicated things, 85 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,560 and then Black Friday of twenty twenty one we finally opened our doors. 86 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,759 Okay, cool, Like you've mentioned you started it from home. How much 87 00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:02,519 different is it like? Then? Brewing a beer is a brown, very 88 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:08,639 very different. So we don't boil any water, all right. Brewing takes 89 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,000 a week for mead, where for beer it's more like one day. But 90 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:15,959 there's no day that's as intense as a beer brewing daylight. So you do 91 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,399 your yeast starter, give that twenty four hours brew day or what I just 92 00:07:20,439 --> 00:07:25,160 call pitch day. Yeah, you just mix your fruit, honey water. 93 00:07:25,199 --> 00:07:28,680 If you're gonna use water for that recipe and pitch your yeast and then you 94 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,600 basically just have to punch down fruit caps for the next six days. So 95 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,399 it's a little more long than of making a beer, but it's not quite 96 00:07:36,399 --> 00:07:43,079 as intense. Okay, do you like use normal brewers yacht like Omega or 97 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,399 is it like? Are there special mead yeast you'd use? So when we 98 00:07:46,439 --> 00:07:47,920 started, we use seventy one B, which is a white wine yeast. 99 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:54,600 Now we use DD ten, which is kind of a hybrid mead wine champagneys. 100 00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:58,120 So I like that one because it's really good at low pH we don't 101 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:03,639 really get stalled batches, which is really important. Yeah, is since it's 102 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,199 made with honey? Is this something for people with gluten apergies? Can they 103 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:11,879 enjoy meat without any problem? Okay? All of our recipes are gluten free, 104 00:08:11,879 --> 00:08:15,480 with the only exception of barrel aged meads. Okay, cool, so 105 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,240 yeah, anyone can enjoy it. Well, we're both looking at some mead 106 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,079 here, so why don't we try this? And can you tell us about 107 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,319 the mead we're trying? So this is somewhere in the City's pineapple, peach 108 00:08:24,399 --> 00:08:30,120 and coconut and so all of those are added post fermentation. Pineapple really messes 109 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:31,720 with your pH so I don't want to get that in while the easts are 110 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,960 doing its thing. And peaches a delicate flavor that can get blown off if 111 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:41,600 you throw it into primary. So cheapest, Yeah, you really get for 112 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,759 me, I get the peach right up front and the aroma peach on the 113 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,320 nose, juicy pineapple, smooth coconut on the end. Yeah, this is 114 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,200 the first one I had About a month ago. I went to Friday Night 115 00:08:54,279 --> 00:08:56,360 Lights and they have them around the city in the summer, and the first 116 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,879 one was outside Wrigley Field and I saw you there, so I'm like, 117 00:09:00,919 --> 00:09:03,399 okay, I'm looking at you know, the different offerings. I'm like, 118 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,720 let me try this one. And I was hooked. This one's excellent. 119 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,519 I'm really happy like it. You have a lot of stuff on tap and 120 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,799 some in bottles. What are some of the other different varieties or styles of 121 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,799 meat that you have? Sure? Sure, we really specialize in dark berry, 122 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,120 sweet fruit forward meat. Black currants are big for us. I have 123 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,000 recently, within the past twelve months, really got enamored with a fruit called 124 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:31,519 honey berries, which comes from honeysuckle plants. They're just so rich and dark 125 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,480 and complex and they're really tart, so they pay really well with honey on 126 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,159 top of that, you know your basic vanilla's, cinnamon, maple, like 127 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,840 all those are really fun to work with as well. Yeah, we've started 128 00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:46,360 incorporating more barrels, started doing gin barrels, which I have found an affinity 129 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,600 for. So yeah, check us out a phobab. Yeah, there's as 130 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,759 we're talking, there's a ton of barrels behind me. I would like jealous 131 00:09:54,799 --> 00:09:58,080 walking in like, oh, yeah, those are good. You're Do you 132 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:03,840 have a base recipe that you use for meat and then add all of the 133 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,759 flavors the fruits or does it vary between the honey you use and the fruits. 134 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,120 Sure? So, really we only have a base for our sessions. 135 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:18,519 Our sessions are all fruited post ferment. Some of our higher strength ones are 136 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,440 doing post ferment, a lot of them are done free ferment. It's interesting 137 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,480 how a raspberry ferment meat compared to a honey ferment and then raspberry after we'll 138 00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:33,200 taste so so different, And it's easier to convince a wine drinker to drink 139 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,840 a raspberry fermented meat because it's going to come off more like wine that they're 140 00:10:37,879 --> 00:10:41,240 used to, but it'll still be unique enough that if you don't like wine, 141 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,799 it won't come off as off putting. Okay, so we do almost 142 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,399 all of our dark berry fruit. Actually, now that I think about it, 143 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,720 every berry is primary fermented and it's only some tropical fruits that we do 144 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:56,480 post ferment. You mentioned before you have sessions and also barrel age, so 145 00:10:56,519 --> 00:11:01,080 it seems like you have something for every little bit out there. Absolutely. 146 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,039 How long do you age the barrel age? One I have found cutting corners 147 00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:09,960 on barrel aging does it never helps. So the shortest barrel age we've ever 148 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,320 releases ten and a half months. Just this past year, we released a 149 00:11:13,399 --> 00:11:18,399 thirteen month meade that I thought was fantastic. Within the next month, we'll 150 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,279 be releasing our first ever double barrel mead I'm very excited about. So that's 151 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,039 been in various barrels for eighteen months, so that'll be a lot of fun. 152 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:31,039 We start a Solera project this year that I plan on going for five 153 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:35,120 years or longer, so that'll be a lot of fun. We're really just 154 00:11:35,159 --> 00:11:39,200 scratching the surface as far as our own data points for barrel aging, but 155 00:11:39,279 --> 00:11:43,840 generally patients pays. Yeah, I mean yeah, there's definitely mentioned. There's 156 00:11:43,879 --> 00:11:48,240 no way you could cut corners right aging something is just impossible to do. 157 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,480 Absolutely, let's have another sit here. The honey that you use and the 158 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,759 fruits are any of that, like locally sourced or from the Midwest. Absolutely, 159 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:01,159 So we get sixty five percent of our honey from Michigan and apple farm 160 00:12:01,159 --> 00:12:05,759 called Schweiler's. Okay, we have thirty percent of our honey from Hawaii Wakli 161 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,320 honey in Hawaii, and then the other five percent is kind of from all 162 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,480 over the world. There's a guy named Brian Warner who's started the World Honey 163 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,360 Collective. So he'll go to like third world countries and set up like apiaries 164 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,360 and have local people work the apiaries and then he buys honey from them and 165 00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:24,759 then we can start using some of that honey. So we've gotten honey from 166 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:30,279 Chile, from Ethiopia, from Wahaca, Mexico. So it's been really fun 167 00:12:30,279 --> 00:12:33,759 to taste honey from around the world. Any from the guys at Park outside 168 00:12:33,759 --> 00:12:39,360 of the Chicago Park District parks yet not yet. Chicago honey is very expensive 169 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:46,399 and yes, how much how much honey like pounds wise goes into a typical 170 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,519 you know, batch of meat. Sure, for sessions it's about one and 171 00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:54,320 a half pounds per gallon, and then for the other stuff it can be 172 00:12:54,399 --> 00:12:58,559 up to five or six if we want either really highbb really sweet. We're 173 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,159 both. So it depends on what the final products. But I mean, 174 00:13:03,039 --> 00:13:05,440 there's kind of no wrong answer. I guess six would be the max. 175 00:13:05,519 --> 00:13:11,399 We've never gone over six. Okay, has there been i mean late Leason's 176 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:15,960 a pandemic, there's been supply change issues. Has that affected you at all? 177 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,320 Absolutely? Labels are more expensive, quarks are more expensive. It's been 178 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:26,960 a lot of packaging material like glass bottles have been a huge issue for us 179 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,799 to source. Yeah, So, as you can see, I'm almost like 180 00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:33,919 two full palettes back there because when we do find a decent deal, we 181 00:13:33,039 --> 00:13:35,320 have to stock up because we never know when that deal is going to come 182 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,480 around again and everything is in bottles or nothing that's can not At this moment, 183 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,240 I want to start fine tuning our sessions and then once I have some 184 00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:46,399 recipes I'm really really happy with, Well, we'll go down the canning route 185 00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:50,639 because most of the needs are the ones that I looked at on your website. 186 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:52,960 There are a lot higher in ab extent of beers. So you're not 187 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,000 going to put a fourteen percent. You could, but you're not going to 188 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,440 put a fourteen percenter and can right right? It would It would be an 189 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,159 interesting signal to customers because at the moment for mead, what sells it is 190 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:09,200 clear glass showing you the color of what you're drinking. Okay, and there's 191 00:14:09,279 --> 00:14:13,600 no with was or you don't use hops so you don't have any issues with 192 00:14:13,879 --> 00:14:20,840 skunking or anything like that in a clear glass correct talking, What was the 193 00:14:20,879 --> 00:14:24,799 first mead that you had that was like, oh wow, this is for 194 00:14:24,879 --> 00:14:30,120 me, this is what I wanted. You remember the first brand or style 195 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,440 that really like this is it? Sure? So the first meat I ever 196 00:14:33,519 --> 00:14:39,360 had was Zombie Killer from ben Nectar, and I thought it was very good, 197 00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:43,279 but it wasn't quite enough for me to be like this is my future. 198 00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:46,519 Yeah. The statement from Trams it was the one all right where I 199 00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:50,440 was like, holy cow, I didn't know something could taste like this. 200 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,240 I need to try more of these. Yeah, So that the statement was 201 00:14:54,279 --> 00:14:58,720 probably my lightbulb mead. You know, we're in your back office here recording 202 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,840 this, and I see a lot of local beers. Are you a beer 203 00:15:01,879 --> 00:15:07,600 person? Absolutely, I've been in the craft beer since twenty eleven. Okay, 204 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,519 so yes, are you have any thoughts or plans on maybe doing a 205 00:15:13,559 --> 00:15:18,039 beer down the road or like even something like you know, you talk about 206 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,120 Haymarket before they have that Harold eighty three Honey Yale, Like, maybe a 207 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,679 beer with Honey. I'm more than happy to collaborate with other brewers around the 208 00:15:24,679 --> 00:15:28,360 city. We currently are working with Tyler from Dunier Fermenta Okay to do some 209 00:15:28,519 --> 00:15:31,320 cold ferments because that's kind of already what he does. Yeah, so it's 210 00:15:31,399 --> 00:15:35,080 kind of a natural fit to do some collabs with him. As far as 211 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,159 making my own beer, Chicago has two hundred breweries. They're all amazing. 212 00:15:39,399 --> 00:15:43,600 I don't need to put my hat in that ring. Yeah there's I mean, 213 00:15:43,639 --> 00:15:46,600 even in the area you're in now, you could go down to Old 214 00:15:46,639 --> 00:15:50,200 Irving, ok you could walk to and yep, you know others Old Irving, 215 00:15:50,279 --> 00:15:54,159 JBF, Winner, Alarmist, GABF. I don't need to compete even 216 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,600 a little further down Aras is one some gcpfs too. Yeah, absolutely, 217 00:15:58,639 --> 00:16:03,679 so Yeah, this this area. We're blessed to be an alcohols rinker. 218 00:16:03,759 --> 00:16:10,960 Yes, yeah, it's a great area. There's beer geeks out there. 219 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:19,840 What's the difference between a mead enthusiast and a beer geek nerd enthusiast. There's 220 00:16:19,879 --> 00:16:22,240 a lot fewer of them, Yeah, at least at the moment. Yeah, 221 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,519 And a lot of the like mead enthusiasts right now are homebrewers. Okay, 222 00:16:27,559 --> 00:16:30,360 so that's some of my favorite customers to have because we'll just start talking 223 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,240 about yeast and about fitsourcing and like, those are fun conversations for me. 224 00:16:36,559 --> 00:16:41,120 Yeah, mead homebrewers really are pushing the envelope. And somebody bringing a super 225 00:16:41,159 --> 00:16:45,240 savory mead. He listed off like a dozen spices that were in it, 226 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,519 things I would have never thought to use. So it's always fun to try 227 00:16:49,519 --> 00:16:53,120 stuff that I would have never thought to do, and maybe that specifically wouldn't 228 00:16:53,159 --> 00:16:57,200 be commercially viable, but there's always bits you can take. Yeah, you 229 00:16:57,279 --> 00:17:00,639 mentioned like before we started recording and you had a D and D event here 230 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,960 the other night. Do you have other types of like meat people can come 231 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:10,079 in and do like bottle shares or what do you have else here? So 232 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,839 as far as bottle shares go, we kind of do, kind of don't. 233 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,240 If someone brings in something to share, I'll open something or pull something 234 00:17:17,279 --> 00:17:19,839 from a tank to share back with them, but I don't advertise bottle shares 235 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:25,480 per se. We do have a Bottle Club membership and we have two parties 236 00:17:25,519 --> 00:17:29,720 a year, one in April and one in November, and I allow people 237 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,000 to bring bottles to that if they want to share. As far as D 238 00:17:33,039 --> 00:17:34,200 and D goes, we do play every Thursday, and I was looking for 239 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,759 new people there. You go Thursday nights, head over to forty four sixty 240 00:17:38,759 --> 00:17:45,640 five North Elston. What about the membership? What you have like a yearly 241 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,039 sign up for the members so it runs calendar year, So normally around October 242 00:17:48,079 --> 00:17:53,119 November we start taking names in our tap room. Right now we have just 243 00:17:53,279 --> 00:17:57,079 short of one hundred Bottle Club members, So how many new people we add 244 00:17:57,079 --> 00:18:00,400 depends on how many people were new and they given year. Yeah, one 245 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,319 thing I do want to start doing, so that I guess I should say 246 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:08,960 that Bottle Club membership is very manual, where I email everyone, they email 247 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:11,720 me back with their order, and then we get all of that situated. 248 00:18:12,039 --> 00:18:17,440 I also want to start a side bottle club. That's more like if you 249 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,279 went to NAPA and signed up at a winery where they just ship you something 250 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:25,440 quarterly. And it's a lot less labor intensive for the consumer really because it's 251 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,000 you know, a couple of emails a month that they need to be responding 252 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,920 to and saying on top of pickups. And I do want to kind of 253 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:36,039 streamline that for some people that like mead but aren't your top you know, 254 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,359 yeah, they don't want to they might not be doing a few bottles a 255 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,359 month exactly. Yeah, now all of the bottles, I'm looking at the 256 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:48,559 bottle here, that is what three fives? Do all of the bottles come 257 00:18:48,559 --> 00:18:51,720 out in three seventy five? Yes, so right now we do all three 258 00:18:51,759 --> 00:18:55,839 seven fives. We do some magnums just for fun. I've done like six 259 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,160 of those ever Oka, but no. Three seven five, thanks to Shrams, 260 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,000 has kind of become the ustry standard, and I'm here for it. 261 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,039 I like how it looks. It's not that much like if it was a 262 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:08,680 seven fifty. That's kind of a lot like you couldn't split that between two 263 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:15,799 people. You could, But once you open a bottle of mead is there 264 00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:18,200 a time frame where you have to finish it. Do you have to finish 265 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,839 it within a day or so? So if you're just throwing the corkback in 266 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,839 it, I'd recommend fridge and don't keep it more than a week. Okay. 267 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,839 If you have these beautiful vacuum sealers, yeah, you can go up 268 00:19:26,839 --> 00:19:30,400 to three months. Okay, still recommend refrigerating it. But sucking all the 269 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,920 oxygen out really really helps the longevity of an open bottle since the alcohol percentage 270 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,480 is a lot higher when someone comes to the hive here, what's like the 271 00:19:40,519 --> 00:19:44,559 normal serving side? So we do two ounce pores and five ounce pores. 272 00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:48,680 We do flights, which are four two ounce pores. So that's I mean 273 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:53,240 ninety percent of customers get flights. Okay, do you have anything new coming 274 00:19:53,279 --> 00:19:57,880 down the road that you're excited about? Any new men? Oh? Yeah, 275 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:00,960 like a lot thing. I've got enough on this battery and chip here. 276 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,160 All right, let's hear it. I really want to start hitting more 277 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,640 banana meds. I really like banana meds. We have a strawberry banana cocoa 278 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,440 nib, like a banana split me that we did with a colab with hacks 279 00:20:12,519 --> 00:20:18,319 metery they're out of Wisconsin. Then we have a banana cinnamon maple vanilla almost 280 00:20:18,319 --> 00:20:22,240 like banana pancake cold that I'm super super excited about coming out here soon. 281 00:20:23,039 --> 00:20:26,079 Beyond that, passion fruit has been a really fun ingredient. So we've got 282 00:20:26,079 --> 00:20:30,200 a black Current raspberry passion fruity and in addition, half of that batch is 283 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,799 currently in a gin barrel and that will be entered into fabab this year. 284 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,359 Oh yeah, so that will be fun. I love gin barrel stuff. 285 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:40,000 It's so good. I know, like I think the guy I'll had some 286 00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:45,720 stuff out before, and another couple of local craft places did gin age stuff 287 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,519 that I just thought was phenomenal. So I'm looking forward to trying that. 288 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,240 But yeah, more filling, more barrels, more passion fruit, more banana. 289 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,359 Sechuan peppercorn is like a personal love of mine. There's that numbing sensation, 290 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,680 so we're gonna incorporate that in some more recipes, while at the same 291 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,680 time we'll keep doing our black currents our raspberries. We're not going to get 292 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,839 away from the things our consumers like just because we want to do these really 293 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:12,039 edgy Yeah, do you have one that's like you would consider your flagship. 294 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,880 That's the go to for a lot of people. So it's called Existence is 295 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,319 pain because Black Current in Vanilla we really see for the first time in twenty 296 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:22,599 twenty and the name just kind of made sense. And then we do in 297 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,440 April this year we did our first ever Existence Day, so we had a 298 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,160 bunch of variants of it, which was a lot of fun. But I'd 299 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,160 say that's probably our flagship. Okay, now the hive here, you don't 300 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,960 serve food. Can people bring in their own food? Absolutely? Biof and 301 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,319 we have tons of recommendations if okay, I'm sure what's in the area. 302 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,799 You ever have like food trucks to come by? Because you're only open Thursday 303 00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:47,079 through Sunday, correct, just Thursday to Saturday, Thursday through Saturday. Yeah, 304 00:21:47,279 --> 00:21:48,680 No, we haven't worked with food trucks yet. Not to say that 305 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,680 I never would. It just hasn't come up at this point. Well as 306 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,519 blocking the street and stuff might be an issue on its having a busy street. 307 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,559 Yeah, Peter, I thank you so much. This has been a 308 00:22:00,559 --> 00:22:07,039 lot of fun learning about Mead. I really appreciate it. Anything else you 309 00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:11,799 want to tell people about Second City, you know, can they find you 310 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,240 on the internet. Where can they find you online? Any socials, So 311 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,559 we've got Instagram and Facebook. We can ship to forty two different states through 312 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,240 Veno Shipper, which is you can find that through our website, so if 313 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,079 you're not in the Chicagoland area, you can get some of our products that 314 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,119 way. We're at as many festivals as I can feasibly be at, so 315 00:22:29,599 --> 00:22:33,359 keep a lookout for us the summer's festival season. Do you distribute anywhere else? 316 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,839 Can like people go to a Binny's or a promiscuous and pick you up 317 00:22:37,839 --> 00:22:41,799 there. So in the city we don't too much because a lot of people 318 00:22:41,799 --> 00:22:44,119 just come to the tap room. We're in a handful of stores in the 319 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:49,920 suburbs. Orange and Grew Flight Beer and now Beer Seller Beer on the Wall, 320 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,000 Arlington Heights. We're in a handful of stores on the burbs Excellent. 321 00:22:53,039 --> 00:22:57,039 We'll definitely check them out. If it's anything like the one that I'm having 322 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:02,640 right now, you're gonna lie I, So please head over to Second City 323 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:07,680 Metery. They're at forty four sixty five North Elston Avenue in the city. 324 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,400 The closest major busy street is Montrose, so figure if you could get to 325 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,960 Montrose and Elston. You can get here, Peter, Thank you again, 326 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:23,920 sir, thank you, hey Man, ask me Kevin Smith. Everybody knows 327 00:23:25,039 --> 00:23:29,680 at the root of any good relationship, any relationship worth anything, is the 328 00:23:29,759 --> 00:23:33,799 only thing that matters between two people. And I'm talking about television. That's 329 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,200 right. That's why you should listen to Married with Television Man, which is 330 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,599 a podcast by my friends Shannon and Jamie. I call it kettis about movies 331 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,200 and TV that they have loved for decades. Man. You listen at Married 332 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:51,480 with tv dot com or anywhere you get your podcasts. They are proud members 333 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:56,440 of the Odd Pods Media Network. Man. Married with Television. All right, 334 00:23:56,519 --> 00:24:02,000 I'm going to have another mead right now from Second City Metery. This 335 00:24:02,039 --> 00:24:07,960 one is called Dale. This is a traditional mead that's semi sweet, and 336 00:24:07,519 --> 00:24:12,480 it's a cork, so I can't give you the fancy can't open sound, 337 00:24:12,599 --> 00:24:27,920 but I'm going to try to open this cork. Here smells very nice. 338 00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:33,440 I really like the aroma. Here smells just sweet, but it smells really 339 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:41,039 really good. That's delicious. Like this has nothing else in it, Like 340 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:45,359 you're not getting some of the fruits that you know we talked about earlier. 341 00:24:45,759 --> 00:24:49,160 I just wanted to try something that was more on the traditional side. But 342 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:55,240 this is I think really good. I enjoy this one. You could pick 343 00:24:55,279 --> 00:25:00,960 it up at Second City Metery. It's excellent. The couple that I had 344 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,720 now, the one that I had when we were talking earlier. If you 345 00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,559 follow me on YouTube, I did a review of another one that I had 346 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:14,359 there and this. So this is three different meads that I've had from them. 347 00:25:14,519 --> 00:25:18,359 They're all really good. If you're looking for something different outside of beer, 348 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,680 you want to change it up a bit, I would suggest mead, 349 00:25:22,079 --> 00:25:33,759 and please head over to Second City Metery. All right, that's going to 350 00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:37,599 wrap things up for this week's edition of Beer in Front. I thank you 351 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:42,720 very much for listening. The person that won the Beer in Front T shirt, 352 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,200 you'll be getting it out this week. The person emailed me and said 353 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,559 I'd rather stay anonymous. I'm going to respect their wishes, but that T 354 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,559 shirt will be on its way to you this week. I have a couple 355 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,079 left. I have one that's in gray, which is an extra large, 356 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,200 and a black medium. So if you're interested, you need to get a 357 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,319 hold of me. Dave at beer in Front dot com. I'll get one 358 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,359 out to you. Figure twenty bucks, we'll call it even that. I'll 359 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,400 cover the cost of the shirt and the shipping. But yeah, if you're 360 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,440 an extra larger medium and you'd like a beer in front T shirt, by 361 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,319 all means, email me or get a hold of me on socials and I 362 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,680 will get one out to you. Next week going to be a good show. 363 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:30,000 I have Pops on Hops, Barry and Abigail. They're gonna come on. 364 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:36,440 We're gonna talk about their podcast. We're gonna have some great beers from 365 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,920 Chicago, beers from Florida that Barry sent out to me. And then I'm 366 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,640 gonna be on their show that's gonna come out a little bit after that, 367 00:26:45,759 --> 00:26:48,680 and we're going to talk about one of my favorite bands, the Smithereen. 368 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,160 So stay tuned for that next week. You're saying yourself, Dave, where's 369 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:59,400 the beer in? You forgot a segment? No, there really wasn't much 370 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:04,839 to report after the whole Anchor brewing news that came out last week, so 371 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,559 there was really nothing to talk about on the news front. So but I 372 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:14,519 want to think again, Second City Meterary that was really fun. You need 373 00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:18,160 to go check them out. If you want something that's different to change a 374 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:22,720 pace besides beer, I would recommend Second City Meterary. All Right, everyone, 375 00:27:22,839 --> 00:27:26,680 have a good week. I will see you next week. And remember 376 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,559 sometimes the beer in front of you is the best one yet. All Right, 377 00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:32,680 we'll talk to you next week.