ARTifice Ales & Mead, a project from Willie Wrede who most notable is the owner of Meduseld Meadery, will be opening very soon at 55 North Main Street in Manheim. The anticipated opening is scheduled for the end of April/early May, with a few more items left to be worked out. This will also join the growing list of Veteran owned/ operated breweires in PA.

We sat down to talk with Willie to learn more about this new project along with his background in the craft beverage space. As we learned, Willie started in mead after entering beer in the Mount Hope Beerfest. During this event, he showcased a honey maibock, which was technically a braggot (a mead and beer hybrid). It was from this that his expansion into the commercial world took a focus on producing mead through Meduseld.

However, as he informed us, he had always wanted to get into the craft beer space as it was his first passion. Everything about the craft beer movement attracted him to it, small-batch, beer festivals, the camaraderie, etc.

So after starting year 4 for Meduseld, Willie made the plans to expand into his love for craft beer, and ARTifice Ales & Mead was born. With this new location, he will be centralizing production for both mead and beer.

ARTifice will specialize in offering all meads under 8% ABV. Along with mead and craft beer, the location will also offer “Cyser”, which Willie tells us is a cider with the addition of honey. Also “Hydromel”, which is a hard seltzer with honey also added to it.

Joining Willie on this venture are Steven Becker and Will Sciocia. Steven has been doing much of the heavy lifting when it comes to the brewhouse and Will is the new brewery’s Head Chef who, to use Willie’s words, “designed and executes our kickass menu“.

To learn more about this anticipated location read our one on one conversation with Willie below.

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BIPA: What stage are you currently in?

Willie: We are currently fully licensed and under production, our build-out is almost finished. We have a tentative opening at the end of April, early May.

BIPA: What styles of beers will you focus on?

Willie: I want to make a lot of common beer styles that pair well with food. We will have a dry Irish stout, a brown ale, a pub ale (esb), and an amber. We will be doing a lot of one-off IPAs, and a lot of braggots (beer and mead hybrid) as I feel there is a lot of innovation in this category.

We will also have regular cask offerings at the taproom!

BIPA: Can you describe the space you are opening?

Willie: We are opening in what used to be the old Bickel’s chips factory started in the ’60s, and then moved production in the early 2000s to Hanover. It is roughly 4,000 sq/ft with another 1,000 sq/ft in an addition on the side. In non-pandemic times, the taproom will seat about 77 with 12 seats at the bar. This will be an English pub-style with touches of industrial.

We will have 16 taps and fluctuate what we offer, with 6 flagships always in serving tanks. Our plan is to have 4-6 meads on tap at any time, and also we will be starting an extensive barrel-aging program. The restaurant will have an international menu, with the focus of pairing both mead and beer.

In addition to the drinks and food, we will have ax-throwing available in the addition on the site. We are going to start with 2 lanes and can expand up to 4. We are using projected targets and can do zombies, play tic tac toe, etc.

We currently have a Brewha biac system, it’s a system that you can brew all in the same tank. We have 2 -7bbl biac tanks, 2-3bbl biac tanks, and then 2-10bbl uni-tanks.

BIPA: Will you release crowlers/cans there as well?

Willie: No we will not have cans, I actually want to put everything in glass. I believe it is better for the beer or mead.

BIPA: Will there be food offered?

Willie: Yes, we will be featuring an international menu to pair with our beer and mead. I was in the military and was able to travel, I spent a lot of time in Korea) a lot and try lots of great food.

We will have items such as fish and chips, wings with different sauces, some Korean short rib egg rolls with kimchi, and some burgers with great options. Cavapi, a Croatian dish sort of like a gyro, will also be served. We also like the idea of some street food, with some delicious gourmet hotdogs and pierogi platters.

The focus will be to serve the highest quality of both food and beer/mead.

BIPA: Anything else our readers should know about the Artiface ales and mead Brewery?

Willie: The food is equally important as the beer, and we are putting a lot of effort into making the entire experience top-level for customers.

Make sure to give ARTifice Ales & Mead a follow on Facebook and Instagram. Visit their website, and keep an eye out for some announcements coming soon about their grand opening!