Becoming the first meadery in the Natural State is no simple task nor one that is taken without a cultivated skill set and a natural knack for unique pairings. Owner and master brewer Tony Fry, who founded Arkansas Meadery in Alexander, has built a new narrative around the honey-fermented beverage one bottle at a time.
Fry, a part-time meadmaker and full-time information technology guru, ordered his first beer-making kit in 2001 and said he took to the craft easily. His love for creating brews stemmed from an interaction at Diamond Bear Brewing in North Little Rock.
“I’ve always loved creating things,” Fry said. “I love cooking, gardening, being outdoors — fermentation just clicked for me. My passion for brewing really started when Diamond Bear opened. That was the spark — getting to know the brewers, watching their growth and drinking their beer.”
After a year of concocting brews at home, Fry became one of the 12 founding members of Central Arkansas Fermenters. CAF served as a steppingstone; Fry held almost every board position and was the first alcohol vendor at the Arkansas Viking Festival in Hot Springs. There, his mead fit in historically and culturally, eliciting an outstanding response from festivalgoers…