Ghost is a rock band from Linköping, Sweden. Mystic Hills is a small farm craft brewery from East Concord, New York. What do the two have in common? While it may not seem like much on the surface, it’s actually more than you think. Many beers you find on the draft board at Mystic Hills are named in honor of Ghost songs, which, as a huge fan of the band Ghost, is one of my favorite things in local craft beer right now.
Music and craft beer are two of my greatest passions – worlds that go pretty much go hand-in-hand. Craft beer is supposed to be fun, right?
To date, the brewery has named more than half a dozen beers in honor of Ghost and their songs, including Citrice IPA (“Cirice”), Hunter’s Moon Belgian Wit “(Hunter’s Moon”), If You Have Oats (You Have Everything) Oat Cream IPA (“If You Have Ghosts”), Kaisarion Berliner Weisse “(Kaisarion”), Kiss the Gose Cucumber Gose (“Kiss The Go-Goat”), Respite on the Blueberryfields Blueberry Wheat (“Respite on the Spitalfields”), Secular Haze New England IPA (“Secular Haze”), Papa Mystic Patersbier and Year Zero Anniversary IPA “(Year Zero”). And there’s more on the way I’m told (think beers named in honor of “Call Me Little Sunshine” and “Square Hammer”).
“There are plenty more songs that are written down on post-it notes in the brewery. We don’t want to tip our hand, but “Call Me Little Sunshine” and “Square Hammer” are waiting for their opportunities to be used, the latter is reserved for a beer that will be as memorable as the opening riff of the song,” owner Michael Prusakowski explained.
And if you’ve not been to Mystic Hills before, it’s a cozy farm brewery nestled in East Concord owned by Reanna Dembitsky and Prusakowski that offers bucolic views of rolling green fields from their quaint beer garden. But my favorite spot in the taproom is a small library nook. It’s kitschy – from the unique out of this world wallpaper to giant mounted deer head – but it’s warm and inviting and the best place to enjoy a few pints or a flight in my opinion. But the beer garden is a very close second.
I was sitting in the library at Mystic Hills recently for their 3rd anniversary party, drinking a Kaisarion Berliner Weisse, named for Ghost’s brilliant (defacto) Impera opener, and the thought hit me – it would be incredibly fun to rank my favorite Ghost-themed Mystic Hills beers. So let’s do that.
“Ghost names were forming for a long time even before we opened. You can occasionally see me rocking a Ghost shirt at the brewery,” Prusakowski said. “As a Christmas gift, we took Daniel Uhl, our head brewer, to experience them live in Toronto. We have a Papa Emeritus II action figure in the back office. Names like Secular Haze were reserved for our first true hazy New England IPA and uses imagery on the can label art. Other’s quickly followed as we changed the wording to fit the beer style.”
5. Beer: Year Zero Anniversary IPA
Song: “Year Zero”
Why: Named for Mystic Hills anniversary release and an excellent song off the Infestissumam album, Year Zero finds a home on this list because it’s a beer I look forward to every year. I’ve made it each of Mystic Hills first three anniversary parties and have had this beer every year – it’s almost a rite of passage at this point. So, for that reason alone, it makes my list. But “Year Zero” is also a killer tune – a microcosm of early incarnations of Ghost – hymnal chants, driving low end, massive infectious hooks and great vocals.
Song: “Respite on the Spitalfields”
Why: One of my favorite Mystic Hills beer names ever, Respite on the Blueberry Fields, a spinoff of Ghost’s “Respite on the Spitalfields,” the excellent closing track of 2022’s Impera, was an easy choice here. With big grooves and massive harmonies, “Respite on the Spitalfields” allows not only frontman Tobias Forge to flex his vocal muscle, but each member of the band shines as Ghost’s musicality really shows. Plus, this hook – ‘we will break away together, I’ll be the shadow, you’ll be the light, nothing ever lasts forever, we will go softly, into the night’ – really slaps, as does the beer. Respite on the Blueberry Fields is brewed with whole blueberries and honey malt, but the best part of the beer is that it’s not overly sweet.
Song: N/A
Why: I went a little off book for my third choice here. Papa Mystic Patersbier isn’t named for a Ghost song, but it is Ghost inspired. Tobias Forge, who I mentioned earlier, portrays the band’s mascot character, a satanic priest known as Papa Emeritus. Combine that with Mystic, for obvious reasons, and we have the name of this beer. This is one of the best beers I’ve ever had from Mystic Hills. No one brews a Patersbier anymore – a light, low-ABV Trappist ale. It’s light and malty with notes of citrus fruit and a smooth finish.
2. Beer: If You Have Oats (You Have Everything) Oat Cream IPA
Song: “If You Have Ghosts” (Roky Erickson and the Aliens cover)
Why: Even though it’s a cover, Ghost’s “If You Have Ghosts” is my favorite Ghost song of all time. Taken off of their 2013 EP, If You Have Ghost, which was, crazily enough, produced by Dave Grohl, this track houses one of the best hooks the band has ever put to wax. And I liked both the Elani and Sabro hopped versions of “If You Have Oats (You Have Everything) Oat Cream IPA,” a hazy IPA with malted and flaked oats and lactose.
Song: “Hunter’s Moon”
Why: One of the absolute best beers I’ve had from Mystic Hills, Hunter’s Moon Belgian Wit, takes the top spot on this list. And the song in which it takes its name is a banger too. Let’s start with the beer – light and drinkable with notes of citrus zest and coriander. This was the best beer I had recently at the brewery’s third anniversary party. And there’s a good chance you’ve heard “Hunter’s Moon even if you aren’t a Ghost fan – not only is it one of their most popular songs, it can also be found on the soundtrack to the 2021 slasher film Halloween Kills.
Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).
