A unique drinking destination just debuted in Roswell. Roswell just a unique drinking destination: 5/4 Meadery.
5/4 Meadery, which opened Nov. 27 at 35B Oak Street, is a venture by Sean Walcek and his wife, Lisa, who have worked on the project for more than a year.
The meadery is the realization of a dream born several years ago when Sean Walcek got a gallon of orange blossom honey and decided to try making his own mead. He was already adept at brewing his own beer, but found that he preferred the mead-making process and switched gears.
5/4 Meadery’s name pays homage to Walcek’s late father, who shared his son’s passion for mead. When Walcek’s father tasted his son’s mead for the first time, he likened the experience to the syncopation he heard in jazz musician Dave Brubek’s “Take Five.”
“The time signature is unusual, but mead is a bit unusual, too” Walcek said.
Walcek found an ideal location for the meadery in the back of the building that is home to the Whiskey Project restaurant.
5/4 will feature both production facilities and a public-facing storefront for tastings and direct-to-consumer sales.
Licensed as a farm winery “give us some freedom as to how we operate,” Walcek said.
The Walceks will offer meads both still and sparkling, traditional and experimental. Look for the dry, traditional full-strength Bassline; the more experimental, effervescent Honeymoon Hoppage, which gets its slightly bitter flavor from hops and “is similar to an IPA in the beer world,” Walcek said; and the sparkling Continuo.
5/4′s meads will be available for on-site consumption as well as carryout in 500- and 750-milliliter bottles. The meadery’s 2,000 square-foot space features a bar and a small outdoor area.
Though meaderies aren’t as ubiquitous in metro Atlanta as breweries (Viking Alchemist opened a few years ago in Marietta and Athens-based Monks Meadery is opening a location in Virginia-Highland next year), Walcek envisions that changing soon.
“It’s a niche market, but it’s a very growing niche market,” he said. “People are starting to get introduced to it.”
5/4 Meadery’s opening hours are 4-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, noon-10 p.m Saturdays and noon-6 p.m. Sundays.
Scroll down to see the opening mead list for 5/4 Meadery:
35B Oak St., Roswell. 770-559-9949, 54meadery.com
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