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"Our flagship mead. It is a session-strength, slightly carbonated or “petillant”, semi-sweet mead made from a blending of honey and fresh pressed apple cider. It is pale straw gold, crystal clear and has a refreshing sharpness from our liberal use of Granny Smith apples in our cider. Our cyser is technically similar to a hard cider but is less tart and emphasizes both honey and apple flavors."
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"Our super berry melomel. It is a session-strength, petillant and sweet mead made from a blend of wildflower honey with strawberries, blueberries, blackberrries and red raspberries. This beverage is sweet, but not too sweet, fruity and an explosion of fresh berry flavor."
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"Our ginger methyglin. It is a sessionable, dry and slightly carbonated mead reminiscent of a very dry ginger ale. Bright, crisp and spicy, this mead can clear a palette and leave it feeling refreshed and thirsty for more. Exceptionably good over ice, this mead is perfect for a hot day in Missouri."
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"Our fall seasonal offering is a pumpkin pie spiced mead. A house blend of pie spices complements the flavors of wildflower honey to give you taste of pie that will send shivers down your spine."
At Leaky Roof Meadery, in Buffalo, Mo., Jhett Collins, one of the partners, is in charge of education. With mead as his subject, he spends a lot of time on the basics and debunking myths. First, there’s the word “meadery,” which some confuse with “meatery” (and which spellcheck doesn’t recognize). Then there’s the misconception that mead is a beer-wine hybrid (it’s its own category: honey and water fermented with yeast). Finally, most consumers typecast mead as a high-alcohol, syrupy concoction that takes too long to ferment—and therefore not worth the trouble—compared to beer (false all around).
The meads produced at Leaky Roof are low alcohol (6 and ½ percent), carbonated, take only 2-3 weeks to ferment, and come in a range of styles and flavors. Todd J. Rock and Andrew “Skippy” Steiger, the company’s other partners and head mead maker and assistant mead maker, respectively, have developed about 25 meads in their portfolio so far, and the business has only been open since January 3.
Talking about the different meads with Collins introduced a whole new vocabulary that seems more fitting for a Breaking Bad episode: “cyser” (a mixture of honey and apple cider), “petillant” (slightly effervescent, between still and sparkling), “melomel” (mead plus fruits), and “methyglin” (mead plus spices). Meads include, among others, the KCC&S Cyser (honey and hard cider), the High, Dry and Dusty (honey and ginger), and the Berry Picker (honey and mixed berries). The Joplin Spooklight (honey and pumpkin pie spices) and the Mikado (honey, green tea, and mint) are just two examples of seasonal selections.
Delving into Leaky Roof’s meads is not only an education in technical terms but also in Missouri history, specifically Missouri railroad history. Collins explained that when naming the company and the meads, they sought to “invigorate a part of Missouri history that had long been forgotten.” While all three men are from Missouri and appreciate the state’s history, Rock is the academic, according to Collins. After pursuing a degree in Anthropology in Anchorage, Rock went on to attend UC-Davis’s Master Brewers program, followed by several brewery apprenticeships around the country. Rock and his family eventually found their way back to southwest Missouri, where he met Collins and Steiger. The website has an extended description of the history behind the company’s name (there was a Leaky Roof railroad, but the main railroad in the area was the KCC&S or Kansas City, Clinton & Springfield) that is a must read.
When asked why mead, Collins said that it offers “an amazing base canvas for flavor.” Honey is made of simple sugars that ferment easily, providing that base that can be mixed with a variety of fruits, beers, wines, and spices. Collins went on to explain that unlike the high-alcohol boutique meads, Leaky Roof’s meads are “intended to be drank by the pint,” like beer. Their “standpoint is from the craft beer and cider perspective,” he added, noting that the tasting room has something for everyone.
Mead also allows the entrepreneurs to “fill a niche that doesn’t exist.” Indeed, Leaky Roof Meadery is the only dedicated meadery in Missouri, and only one of three meaderies that Collins knows of that produces low-alcohol, carbonated mead. Sadly, the trio can’t use local or even American honey because of all of the pesticides used in this country. Instead, they import their honey—35,000 pounds at a time—from Brazil via Pennsylvania. The organic wildflower honey is produced by bees whose hives are situated on barges that travel up and down the rivers in the South American country, in non-agricultural (pesticide-free) areas. When asked if they worry about their business with the existing global bee crisis, Collins said, “We should all be concerned for the bees.”
Currently, you can’t find Leafy Roof’s meads in St. Louis, but that will change by the end of the year. Collins said that a selection of their meads should be on tap then at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium downtown, and since they will soon be working with a distributor, you might also be able to find their mead in cans at retail outlets (they’re one of the first companies to can mead, according to Collins).
If you can’t wait until the end of the year, drive the three hours or so to the meadery/tasting room for their “grand opening” party this Saturday (July 12), the first annual “Bond Burning Festival,” which will feature mead, bluegrass, and folk music. If you go, please, please, please bring back a growler of the Mikado for me because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I talked to Collins.
