Oskar Blues | 5 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 beermaking 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 company also operates Reeb Cycles), helps support 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 experiences 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
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