MONYO Brewing Co | Q&A

Are you curious to know about the people behind the beers you buy? Or perhaps you want to know what inspires brewers to brew and beer bloggers to blog? Our “Q&A” posts are a light hearted way of getting to know people working in, and connected to, the beer and alcohol industry.
Today’s post features MONYO Brewing Co.

Who are you/what do you do?   We are the MONYO Brewing Co., microbrewery from Budapest, Hungary.

What was the inspiration for starting the brewery?   We want to move the Hungarian craft beer scene to a next level.

What are you hoping to achieve with MONYO?   From the very beginning, our goal  was that people recognise MONYO beers throughout the whole world.  

Where do you see, or hope to see, the brewery in 5 years time?   We hope we will be the craft beer market leader in Hungary and that we will be exporting to the neighbouring countries and Central Europe.

Are there any other breweries which have influenced you?   Basically we are one of the first breweries in Hungary and there hadn’t been craft breweries before. But if there was to be one brewery that we followed, it would be an American brewery, like Anchor.

Out of all the beers you brew, which is your favourite?   Our favourite beer is Beaver Fever. It is a Vienna lager and it’s a historical beer and less known than other types.

What is the hardest thing to master when learning to brew?   To find an investor!

A large number of breweries have started experimenting with unusual flavour additions to their beers. Are there any interesting ingredients you think work particularly well?   We brewed an oyster stout as a collaboration with RothBeer. The Blue Oyster was the first oyster stout in Hungary. We wanted to try this old tradition and we were wondering how they affect the taste of the beer. The Blue Oyster is brewed with 50 kg fresh oyster from the French shores. The result was a creamy, salty dry stout, with a little minerality in the aftertaste.

The craft beer movement seems to be going from strength to strength. Why do you think brewing and beer making has been such a  great success in recent years?   People have realised that commercially produced beer is not up to the best standards and they want more tasteful, flavourful beer made with better ingredients (quality hops and malts) and beer brewed with better equipment and also a underground feeling.

What do you see as the latest beer styles to look out for in 2016?   We guess that barrel ageing beers will still dominate the market and sour beers will be a new trend too.  

We know it’s a hard task, but if you had to choose your all time, top 3 favourite beers what would be on the list?   AleSmith Speedway Stout, Russian River Pliny the Younger and Funky Buddha Morning Wood.

What was your first drink and where were you when you had it?   We guess some commercially lager.

What drink can you no longer face having had one too many?   I guess the IPA, because everyone brewed one.

What is your favourite style of beer?   It’s a hard question. Russian Imperial Stout.

Thank you to MONYO for chatting to us.

You can view and buy MONYO beers here.