Mieza Blendery Brings Its Fruit-Centric Beer-Making Process To Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Amid Alexandria's growing beer production scene, a new way of making beer has arrived in the city.

Mieza Blendery is open at 109 Clermont Avenue in Alexandria's West End. The blendery had a soft opening in June, but a grand opening could happen in the fall, owner Alex Lynch told Patch. The beers offered at the blendery are barrel aged, fermented with mixed cultures and are dependent on the types of fruit supplied seasonally.

"I think what's going to be different is the sheer level of focus [on fruit]," said Lynch about the blendery concept being introduced to Alexandria.

Mieza Blendery, legally considered a brewery, could be part of an "unofficial trail" of breweries developing in Alexandria. Lynch said Mieza Blendery is convenient to the Eisenhower-Holmes Run bike trail and is within miles of other production facilities — Port City Brewing Company which has been open since 2011, and Aslin Beer Company, which opened in 2019.

Lost Boy Cider, while not a beer brewery, introduced the city's first hard cider production facility in 2019. Another brewery, Atlas Brew Works, is expected to open at the Carlyle Crossing development later in 2023.

Lynch, a northwest DC native who later went to school in Virginia, started professionally brewing beer in 2011. Lynch started out at Ashburn's Lost Rhino Brewing Company and later worked at the large Bear Republic Brewing Company in California's Sonoma County. He became particularly interested in making saison and sour beers as well as the blending technique.

A blendery has a few key differences from a typical brewery. One distinction is that the first step to making beer is done off site. Wort, the liquid that results from grain mashing, is done for Mieza Blendery at a friend of Lynch's brewery. That allows Lynch to save on the costs of equipment breweries typically have.

"It allows you to invest in the aspect you care about most," said Lynch.

Lynch believes the DC region's breweries have a lot more capacity for wort production than what is currently being utilized. That could open up opportunities for others who want to try making beer like him.

Because wort production is done off site, Lynch can focus on the fermentation process. The beer is fermented by combining the wort with mixed cultures in barrels. That beer can mature for at least a year, but it could also be left for two or three years to achieve a different flavor.

Another key difference between the blendery and other brewery is the use of mixed cultures. Lynch says lots of beers made at local breweries are made with a single strain of yeast.

Once the beer is matured to the desired levels, fruit fermentation will begin. The mixed cultures will absorb the sugar during this process, which takes about two to four months to complete.

Lastly, Lynch may do a final blend to adjust flavors and bottle it for about two months before it's complete.

While it isn't unusual for breweries to offer beers made with fruit, the blendery has a greater focus on collaborations with fruit producers. Beers will be on a two-year rotation, which reflects what kinds of fruits were provided before the beer making process begins. But a beer can develop its own character based on the barrels it is being produced in, such as a saison aged in gin the blendery is making for the fall.

"Blends are made with local berries and stone fruit in the summer, wine grapes in the fall, and engage in spontaneous fermentation on winter nights," said Lynch. "Due to the differences in base beer, microbes, and barrels, the variances in fruit each season, and the blender's choices on blending day, each blend inevitably has a distinct story."

Mieza Blendery's beers can be tried in its 30-person tasting room and purchased for takeout. Beers are served in a tasting format to help customers find what they like.

Lynch said "the reception has been great to the business." He sees the early months of the business as a time to get a sense of customers' tastes. He later plans to offer monthly blending sessions for customers, where they can try samples and make their own blends.

In the meantime, the blendery is focusing on producing beer for the next year amid the summer fruiting season.

"We're brewing almost a year's worth of beer in almost three months," said Lynch.