CLEVELAND, Ohio – Griffin Cider Works founder Richard Read was raised around cider, but he took an unconventional path to making the refreshing drink.

Read, who founded Griffin in 2010, grew up in county Herefordshire, England, cider country about 140 miles west of London. But unlike many cider makers who are farmers, Read studied science.

"I learned how to make cider when I was barely a child," he said. "I spent time with cider makers sampling when they weren't around, and sometimes when they were."

He concocted his first cider when he was 14 using apples and pears. And it didn't hurt that his parents "were into good beer and good cider."

"When I got to be 18, 19, I started learning what was occurring (in the process.) I had a lot of trial and error."

Trial, error and an inquisitive nature led to him studying microbiology.

"I'm not a typical cider maker, who are farmers," he said. "I operate on a molecular level."

The science background serves Read well.

"One time too much air got in and affected a batch," he said, the proverbial "one bad apple spoils a bunch" coming to mind. But he realized it would work as a blend, and redirected his efforts to use it in small batches. He shrugs off the effort as "a good chance occurrence."

Griffin's Original is a medium-bodied cider using Ohio apples with a nice smidgen of tartness. It's not sugary, and has a hearty but not too high alcohol level. Like a brewery offering different styles of beer, Griffin's ciders produce different tastes. Burley Man and Lemon Blues, for instance, yield a range of savory flavors.

And he's doing it in Northeast Ohio, 3,600 miles from home.

He visited this country in 2001, studied in North Carolina, where he met his wife, who is originally from Steubenville. They landed in Northeast Ohio a few years later.

The place in the market for Griffin – often the lone cider at various beer fests – is bright, Read, 34, said in the basement at J.W. Dover Beer and Wine Making Supplies in Westlake. A "Think globally, support locally" banner hangs over a conglomeration of barrels, vats, packaging and other equipment.

British themes, like Robin Hood, are prevalent in some of his ciders' names. James Bond might be in the works, he said.

Even though his roots are across the pond, the fedora-wearing Read has embraced the creative spirit found among brewers in the United States, a country he has adopted as a second home. Even his company's logo shares the nations' flags on either side of a pint-hoisting griffin.

"That's a very American thing," Read said about experimenting with ingredients. "If you do this in Germany they'd hang you," referring to longtime brewing purity laws. "I can dabble, do some interesting things. Sure you're going to miss sometimes, but it's about breaking that mold."

In the United Kingdom, cider means alcoholic. In the United States, the word "hard" indicates alcohol, as opposed to the sipping cider you can taste at an orchard or buy by the jug in a store. But alcoholic cider is finding its way in a competitive marketplace crammed with light lagers and craft beers.

Read sees light cider competing with light beers, but good cider is usually found on tap in bars and restaurants that care about craft beer. Locally, The Rail and Melt, for instance, sell Read's cider. Seventy to 80 percent of what Griffin produces is on draft.

In addition to making real cider and launching a second line, Adam's Revenge, for light cider, Read is eying expansion for space. He also is considering making soda ("I think that's American, it's cool – cool as '50s chrome," he says) and teaching classes on cider making.

"It's creating its own niche," he said.