On Oct. 4, Mystery Brewing Company won a silver medal at the Great American Beer festival in Denver, CO.
It’s the brewery’s first national award. Mystery has also picked up three regional awards during its three-year existence.
Erik Myers is the founding brewer of Mystery Brewing, located on Dimmocks Road in Hillsborough.
“The beer that we won for is called La Querelle,” said Myers. “It’s frankly, an experimental beer we did. It’s a revival of a historical style. It won in the Other Belgian Style category.”
He describes it as a cross between a witbier and a hefeweizen.
“It’s made with barley, oats, wheat and buckwheat,” said Myers. “It also has coriander and salt in it. So, if you know different wheat beer styles, it’s kind of like a bunch of mishmash of other styles pushed together.”
The historical style is seef bier, and Myers said he can think of one other commercial example in the world, brewed in Antwerp, Belgium.
Creating brews that don’t fit into a set category, and recreating lost styles of beer are two specialties of Mystery Brewing Company, which also operates its Public House at 230 South Nash St.
There, you can choose between 14 and 16 draft beers, and the styles rotate often.
“We like to play around and keep it interesting over there,” said Myers.
Mystery Brewing employs 16 people, some of them part-time.
Myers said that small brewers like himself tend to enjoy the nerdiness of the craft, and in many difference ways. Some, for instance, enjoy the science and engineering aspects.
“I have a really big humanities background,” said Myers. “So I tend to be really excited by history and unique flavor combinations.”
“And you know, it’s not about just making the best IPA ever. It’s about making something that is unique, or a new take on a style.”
He added that the historical research that goes into the process “really hits all the right buttons” for him.
Up until now, the only place to buy La Querelle was at Mystery’s Public House. But in celebration of the silver medal win, an extra limited edition batch was brewed earlier this week for wider distribution.
“It’ll be a small batch released statewide,” saud Myers. “so you should be able to get it locally.”
Mystery Brewing typically has four core styles and one-or-two special beers available for the marketplace.
“So right now, you can get our Mild Ale, our Red Belgium IPA, our Smoked Rye Stout, our Saison; and for a very short amount of time, our pumpkin beer,” said Myers.
In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that the number of U.S. breweries doubled over the past five years, with much of the credit going to small crafters.
An average of 1.2 craft breweries opened every day over the past two years, according to the Journal article.
Mystery Brewing holds the distinction of being the first brewery to successfully open with Kickstarter funding.
Myers said the craft brewing business may not always be the biggest moneymaker in the world, but it’s something he finds really satisfying.
You can email info@mysterybrewing.com for information on weekly Saturday tours.
The website for Mystery Brewing Company is here.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines