Dylan Sprouse Admits To Brewing Alcohol Since He Was 16 Years Old

While actor — and meadery owner — Dylan Sprouse is 26 years old now, People is reporting that his passion for mead began when he was only 16.

Sprouse is best known for his work on the hit Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but him and his brother, Cole, decided to take a break from acting and pursue their education once the show ended. The twins both attended New York University, where Sprouse studied video game design with a double minor in studio art and creative writing. He revealed that even in his dorm room at NYU, he was brewing mead.

“I started immediately with mead because it was recommended to me by a lot of home brewers simply because it was the easiest thing to brew. Quite literally it doesn’t require nearly as much effort as making beer does,” Sprouse said. “And I wanted to try drinking alcohol with my friends, underage, without using an ID. I was also interested in the history and the lore. I don’t think there’s been a part of my life since I was 16 years old when I didn’t have a batch of mead brewing.”

If brewing mead on a college campus while underage isn’t risky enough, his roommate was the Resident Assistant!

Sprouse explained that the R.A. was a med school student who spent all of his time in the library, so Sprouse often had the room to himself — free to whip up his concoctions. Post-college, Sprouse is still acting, having picked up roles in indie films like Turandot and Banana Split. His career isn’t limited to acting, though. While his brother Cole is busy starring in The CW show Riverdale, Sprouse opted to start up a meadery of his own. He founded All-Wise Meadery, which opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2017.

All-Wise sells two different types of mead blends — an original made from raw honey and an Oolong, made from both raw and fermented Chinese oolong tea leaves. While, for now, they just sell mead through online orders and walk-ins, Sprouse hopes to expand the business in the next year by opening up a taproom where food and drinks will be available for purchase. While Sprouse still loves acting, he says he’s happy to be able to pursue his love of mead-brewing.

“I opened the meadery because it’s not a commissioned paycheck,” Sprouse said. “It’s something that I love to do, and it’s not acting which is very important for creatives in general — to do other things.”