Built From
Okinawa
to Iraq
to Home.
"To have ambitious dreams means to keep them private and hold them fast — so that you know what you're building for, but no one holds expectations except yourself." — Jonny Merikan
It began in 2003, on Camp Hansen, Okinawa. A young Marine sought to learn the art of sake-making from a local craftsman. Before the lessons could finish, he was deployed to Iraq.
When he returned safely, the craftsman honored him with a dinner. At the table, he poured from a jade green bottle shaped like a dragon. The table went silent. That pour was Jonny's first taste of mead — and his first step toward building a stronghold.
From that moment, in every country he traveled with the USMC and beyond, he sought mead. He got out in 2008 and kept building. By 2018, home brewing had grown to nearly 100 gallons every three months. In MMXXIII, Merikan Stronghold became fully licensed and producing.