The new year ushered in a new meadery and bottle shop at 1104 Broad Street. Moon Dog Meadery transformed a former fencing studio located in the basement of Joe Van Gogh coffee shop into a shop and lounge offering locally-brewed NC craft beer, wine, cider, mead, and more.
Owners Derrick Forrest and Kenneth Thrower met through rock climbing and became fast friends. Forrest had been working in the restaurant industry and making mead and fruit wines for over 10 years. His friends couldn’t get enough, and had been encouraging him to go professional as a mead maker for years.
Thrower had been working at a prison prior to quitting and living in Japan for a while. When he moved back to the States, he eagerly learned all about the mead process from Forrest and they started brewing batch after batch. When Covid hit, they agreed to become business partners and give the dream of Moon Dog Meadery a shot.
The business will open in phases, with the bottle shop and limited mead production capabilities currently available. Full production equipment will expand brewing capacity tenfold and will be installed in late spring 2022.
The pair is working on getting three main meads ready for release (these three will be available year round): a traditional mead, mixed berry mead, and a coffee vanilla mead. The mixed berry will have strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry. The coffee mead will hopefully include coffee beans sourced from upstairs neighbor Joe Van Gogh as they want to support local businesses as much as possible.
These main meads should be ready in March or April. Until then, they cannot sell their own mead because, by law, it has to be brewed on the premises the license is attached to. However, they do have free tastings of their mead from previous batches that use the same recipes if you are eager to give it a try.
Once they’re going at full-tilt, they’ll have several other yearly and seasonal mead flavors, such as a sour green apple and a sweet butterscotch mead, along with fruit/artisan honey wines in the future. “I’m looking forward to doing a raspberry wine and cantaloupe wine the most,” Thrower shares.
Since Moon Dog is also a bottle shop, you can stop by to purchase NC craft beer, wines, meads, ciders, lemonades and teas. They mostly strive to carry NC brands, but are open to carrying other brands if there is a demand. They are also working to carry a selection of NC craft soda and lemonade for designated drivers.
While there is no food in-house, people are welcome to bring in food of their own. The owners are looking into getting food trucks for events or partnering with a local bakery or business to provide a small selection of food items.
The name brand shows off the owner’s affinity for their own four-legged friends and the location on Broad Street was enticing because it was able to house everything they envisioned. “It perfectly fits the bottle shop, brewery, and lounge, with space still for the mead bar and staging area, which are being worked on. That way we can have our mead on tap as well as have live music and comedy events,” shares Thrower.
The interior vibe is cozy and relaxing. The walls feature murals on done by local artists. Music plays from speakers overhead and board games are available for rent. The brewing area is viewable from a standing bar and they are working on getting the outdoor patio ready by spring.
“We’re excited about our new space because its cozy and laid-back environment reflects that spirit of creativity and invites our customers to sit back and leisurely enjoy our products as well as those of other local artisans,” says Thrower.
The reuse vibe is another reason to love it: The space was previously used as a fencing studio with its own custom-built wood floor. When they moved into the space, they disassembled that floor and repurposed all of the wood to build the counter space, shelving and brewing area. “It’s almost as if the fencing studio is still a part of the space supporting us,” says Thrower. “This is how we feel about the local community around us–so far, we have been very lucky to gain the support of our community and we strive to return that by being a quick and convenient spot for people to grab their favorite brews. We also aim to be a clean and safe space for all those who wish to spend time at our shop, playing games or joining one of our many future events.”
Moon Dog plans to host live events such as DJs, live music/bands, comedy nights with local and well-known comedians, open mic nights, trivia nights, and mead flavor reveal nights. They also hope to partner with Triangle Rock Club (where Forrest and Thrower’s friendship began) for a weekly event where people climb and then come to the meadery after for discounted drinks and board games.
They will also host adoption events with the Animal Protection Society of Durham, who will bring dogs in from the shelter to meet potential adopters. Their first one is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
And, of course, you can expect board game nights, competitions, video game tournaments, and Magic: The Gathering draft nights (they have one planned in February when the new card set drops),
In due time, customers can expect the shops to expand to include outdoor seating, a bar at the back of the store to serve their meads on tap, and a staging area for potential live performers. All things they hope will give customers an experience complete with great drinks, entertainment, and relaxation.
Photos courtesy of Moon Dog Meadery
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