January 2014
| Business World Magazine | 167
after the initial space in Lyons was outgrown
and the hand-crafted beers had gradually
taken over as the primary magnet for the
business.
An ironic occurrence, Melis concedes,
considering Katechis’s first foray into beer-
making had come years earlier when he was
a student at Auburn University and mixed
his first brew – derisively labeled “Dale’s Pale
Ale” by his student cohorts – in his bathtub.
“It’s very cool how things have come full
circle,” Melis says. “The other spinoffs we’ve
done, like making our own bikes (the com-
pany also operates Reeb Cycles), helps sup-
port the beer and people create great bike
rides and experiences on the trails, and then
come together socially to share the beer.
“We help create all those great experi-
ences that complement each other by staying
true to what we’re passionate about. Tying
all those things together has been really fun
and I feel like that has been a success part of
our marketing and our identity.”
As for that identity, don’t expect to get a
straight answer when it comes to the Oskar
Blues name. Ever the image-builder, Melis is
coy when discussing the name’s origin and
admits to concocting a different story each
