Florida: Pye Road Meadworks wants to turn Odessa into a new craft drink destination

From cltampa.com

“Our focus will be on both the big, fruited sweet meads and lighter, carbonated, lower ABV meads suited for a hot summer day in Florida." 

You don’t have to wait for the Renaissance Festival to get mead drunk, Odessa’s Pye Road Meadworks is set for a March opening at 8533 Gunn Hwy.—about a mile north of Sickles High School.

Owned by husband and wife Matt and Debbie McDonough, the mead brewery will operate—for now—at a little over half-capacity inside (outdoor seating is available, too). Located in the Hillsborough County sector of Odessa, Pye Road also offers craft beer for those not interested in drinking mead.

“Our focus will be on both the big, fruited sweet meads and lighter, carbonated, lower ABV meads suited for a hot summer day in Florida,” Matt McDonough told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

Some of you may ask, what is mead?

“Mead is a wine that uses honey as its primary fermentable ingredient, instead of grapes,” McDonough said, “We use local honey whenever possible, and combine it with seasonal fruits, juices, spices, and other ingredients to create small-batch, boutique meads.”

 

                            pyeroadmeadworks/Facebook

The McDonoughs started as successful mead homebrewers, but couldn’t legally sell product so, besides sharing their brew with friends, they got creative in getting known in the craft beer circuit.

“We… shared our mead in the beer release lines that we all used to go to before the pandemic hit, the ones that would draw lines around the block,” McDonough said, adding that he and Debbie knew what beer fanatics wanted. “Small batch, limited access, high quality ingredients.”

From there they started pouring at festivals that allowed homebrewers and got so busy they had to make a decision: scale back or go commercial. 

After about 100 people showed up at an event at Odessa’s Bru Florida Growler bar during 2019’s Florida Beer Week, they decided commercial was the answer.

Of course 2020 happened, so things got delayed. And not just because of COVID-19. 

“We had about a [four or five] month delay with Hillsborough County while the Land Development Code was being updated to clarify the ability to brew on premises in commercial zoning,” McDonough said.

The codes only focused on beer, neglecting wine and therefore mead. The McDonoughs worked with the country to create more inclusive to different kinds or brewing licenses, which was approved in early 2020. 

Pye Road already sold-out of memberships, which is a good sign for the McDonoughs’ hope of turning Odessa into a must-stop city for craft drink lovers. 

“Our hope is that, between us and Bru, this becomes a mini destination for the craft enthusiast outside of the Seminole Heights and Tampa Heights area,” McDonough said.

https://www.cltampa.com/food-drink/openings-closings/article/21149357/pye-road-meadworks-wants-to-turn-odessa-into-a-new-craft-drink-destination