Welcome to Aqua Vitae Alchemy: Where Mead, Metal, and Community Collide!
Hi, I’m Mark, a passionate mead maker, metal head, and Chicagoan. This all started with a humble homebrew kit and an appreciation for good drinks. It evolved from an occasional hobby, into a passion, and then into the dream of opening my own brewery. Over the past 5 years, I have shared my mead and beer with our friends, family and (honestly anyone who will try it). I have also entered competitions and won 4th place and 3rd place. Some of my signature recipes are a blueberry passion fruit and a sour cherry made with kettle sour beer yeast. The feedback I have received is amazing and it’s fueling my desire to share my unique recipes with a broader audience…aka…you!
I’m thrilled to introduce you to my dream project: Aqua Vitae Alchemy, a meadery and brewery dedicated to crafting exceptional meads and brews infused with creativity and a passion for defying the conventional. But this is just the beginning — with your support, I aim to create not only A meadery but eventually a vibrant brewpub and community hub for the metal and alternative scene.
A Legacy of Bees, Wine, and Resilience
My journey into brewing didn’t start with a job, a class, or a whim — it started with family. My grandparents were both beekeepers and winemakers, and their passion for creating something meaningful from nature inspired me from an early age. Today, I carry on their legacy by crafting mead: the ancient, magical drink made from honey, fruits, and botanicals. With a sudden career change, I decided to invest in what truly matters to me: crafting mead and sharing it with others who appreciate creativity, craftsmanship, and community
Plans for our Taproom
Aqua Vitae Alchemy has started as a dedicated meadery and brewing operation. In time this will have a small tasting room and some seating. My focus will be on Mead and community.
I will be producing a range of handcrafted meads and beers that highlight fruits, botanicals, and, of course, the finest honey from local suppliers. From bright, crisp session meads to rich, bold dessert meads, hazy IPAs infused with fruits to new spins on classic brews, every bottle will reflect my dedication to quality and artistry.
The Vision: A Brewpub for the Alt Scene
This is just the first step. Once the brewing operation is established, my goal is to expand Aqua Vitae Alchemy into a full-fledged brewpub. Imagine a brewpub where mead and beer flow freely, live music fills the air, and Chicago’s metal and alternative community can call home. All are welcome with open arms and cold drinks, regardless if they are a member of the alt community. It will be a place to share drinks, support local artists, and connect with others who love good brews and great vibes.
From intimate acoustic sets to headbanging metal nights, the brewpub will be a haven for creativity, music, art, and community — a space where everyone is welcome, and every night tells a story. We will host karaoke nights, DnD nights, board game nights and other types of community events.
The Social Impact and sustainability
People are drawn to the values behind our company we aim to be sustainable and work towards social equity and good in the alt scene and our community. For sustainability in our production we believe allocating a portion of our ingredients in fruits that would otherwise be thrown away or that is imperfect. For our honey we want to make sure its sustainably sourced. We aim to demonstrate a viable model for making good products using locally grown crowd sourced ingredients. Should we succeed in decentralizing our supply chain that comes from 1000 backyards instead of one big field that’s far away, what shall be the next question and how will that lead us closer to creating the resilient community that so many of us are seeking?
For social equity in the alt scene we believe in making the world a better place. Some of our proceeds from certain batches will be donated to Punk Rock Saves Lives, Howard Brown Health and other Migrant/ Unhoused/ POC/LGBT+/ Marginalized Community organizations. We will be doing donation drives for clothes and food for those in need. On top of that we plan to do charity drives for different occasions. I want to create a space that allows for mutual aid.
As for our music artists and artists that will have their art decorating the space we plan to I plan to take no proceeds from the shows and art sales. Far too many music venues take massive cuts from small bands struggling to start. A concept that will be explored is the idea of revenue sharing from shows and drink tab sales on the nights of concerts too.