The Couple Who Bet on Mead in Beer City, USA

Ask most people what mead is, and they’ll describe a Renaissance fair: a guy named Gary in a leather vest, a drinking horn, a turkey leg somewhere nearby. The real answer is honey, water, and yeast, and it might be the oldest alcoholic drink humans ever made. It has deep roots here, too. Back in the 1880s, San Diego was the honey capital of California. Then we forgot all about it and opened 150 breweries. Billy and Suzanna Beltz didn’t forget. In 2017, the married couple quit their corporate jobs to launch Lost Cause Meadery, named for how everyone reacted when they announced a honey wine business in Beer City, USA. It went on to win a pile of international medals anyway.

This week on Happy Half Hour, presented by Redfin, Troy Johnson sits down with the couple behind Lost Cause Meadery and Oddish Wine, their “winery with no vines” that makes low-intervention wine from San Diego County grapes. They talk about the very first meads Billy poured for Suzanna (reviews were not kind), how they cracked the code on making mead in a fraction of the usual time, and the unfortunate date they picked for their tasting room’s grand opening. Troy also works through a lineup that includes a smoky mead named after their son, a Ramona Pinot Noir he refuses to share, and a pizza vermouth that’s now in a martini at one of San Diego’s best pizza joints.

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They also get into foraging San Diego’s canyons for botanicals (including one ingredient that may or may not have been legally acquired) and tease their next project in La Mesa. Plus, Troy shares the week’s food news, from a beloved bakery’s expansion up the coast to a one-night taco omakase you’ll want on your calendar.

This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear from the humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.