Mystery beers, birthday brews and a few special events: What's not to love about Cypher Brewing?

Cypher Brewing is gearing up for its second birthday with a range of new release beers and plenty of the creative flavours for which it’s become well loved.

The Gungahlin brew pub has become a valued part of the craft brewing landscape in Canberra.

“There’s a story behind every beer,” Cypher co-founder and CEO Jeff Wilson-Shipley said when Region recently dropped in for a drink.

Each of the 12 beers on tap seems to have a tale attached, whether it’s a story about an event, a collaboration, or the person who brewed it. In addition to the regular core range, the brewery releases a new beer every week.

The Lion Eyes Amber Lager is the first creation from new brewer Lucy Shorrock who has been training with resident head brewer Matt Thiele. Half the batch of imperial stout Ogre Bones is ageing in rum barrels and won’t be revealed until Cypher’s next dark beer festival Chaos Realm later this year.

But one particularly enigmatic beer caught my eye: Blind Faith. I asked bartender Halim about the beer and was surprised by his answer.

“We’re not allowed to tell you anything about it! There’s been a lot of speculation, but it’s a mystery.”

I couldn’t quite nail the flavour: was it a little sweet? A little vegetal from the hops? Time will tell and I’ll be keeping an eye on the Instagram page to find out exactly what went into this interesting brew. I’m told they’re planning to make Blind Faith a regular part of the brewing rotation with a completely different beer each time, so guests can come back soon and be puzzled all over again!

After tasting a selection of the excellent beers on tap I settled on Lingo: an easy drinking West Coast IPA, perfect for a hot, late summer afternoon.

In addition to a few special anniversary brews, Cypher’s second birthday will see the introduction of monthly cultural collaborations. The beers will be brewed to pair with dishes from each country’s cuisine and there’ll be live music, dance, markets and more across each month. It’s still ironing out the details, but conversations are under way with the Peruvian ambassador to kick things off mid year.

“Now that we’ve settled in, we can start doing some more of the community events we’ve been wanting to do since we opened,” Jeff said.

“We’ve really hit our stride, and we’ve got heaps of cool stuff planned.”

After the immense success of its Yuma Ginger Beer – made with native ingredients and released at the multicultural festival this year – the team’s decided to do another batch, which will be available soon at the Gungahlin location and to take away in cans. There’s also a non-alcoholic drink planned featuring more native ingredients including emu bush, strawberry gum and lemon myrtle.

Coming soon on the weekly release roster is Andromeda Awaits: a red IPA with a malty finish and tawny colour. Members of the Cypher Collective get first, exclusive access to the weekly special release and a fixed deal on four-packs of the new beer. It’s an excellent deal for locals with an interest in creative, specialty craft beers, plus you can claim to have tasted it first!

There are also Sunday DJ sessions (including a chance for up-and-comers to try their hand at the decks with the pros) and regular live music.

Keep an eye on socials for more details, but save the dates 11, 12 and 13 April for some special second anniversary celebrations at the brew pub.

Cypher Brewing Co. is located at unit 3/35 Hinder St Gungahlin. It’s open 11 am to 9 pm Monday and Tuesday, 11 am to 11 pm Wednesday to Sunday.
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