Mystery Brewing's Erik Lars Myers won $50,000 in a reality TV show contest that aired Tuesday on CNBC.

The Hillsborough-based microbrewery owner competed against two other new companies in an effort to convince three judges and the audience of the new cable TV show Crowd Rules that his business plan is the most deserving of the cash prize.

In the end, Mystery Brewing tied the other finalist Sky Fitness, a Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based gym, at 50 percent. But when the judges votes were removed (two for Sky and one of Mystery), Myers won 49 percent to 48 percent. "All I need is this little push to make us fly," Myers said in his final 30-second plea to the crowd.

The judges criticized Myers decision to open a tap room in Hillsborough instead of buy more kegs. Myers told the judges that $50,000 in prize money to buy more kegs would increase monthly revenues by $20,000. "We need to get more beer out the door," he acknowledged.

The theme of the show -- the second in the series -- was "debt," an ode to companies in the red at the start. As Myers told me in recent Pintful column the first year was a challenge. But the prize money will surely help move his vision along.

Once a year at the N.C. General Assembly, beer and politics and the politics of beer blend like a summer shandy at the “Rush the Growler” party.

For me, it’s a can’t miss – combining my “day job” covering politics for the newspaper and my “night job” writing about craft beer. And the growler event showcases the evolving mindset at the Statehouse toward beer – particularly craft beer – since 2005 when lawmakers “popped the cap” and lifted the alcohol limit from 6 percent to 15 percent. Click here to read the column and get an update on beer-related legislation this session.

Few people in the beer world are more recognizable than the man with the easy grin and salt and pepper beard. Charlie Papazian looks a bit like the “most interesting man in the world” character from the Dos Equis commercials. And he is a star in a mostly anonymous industry. I talked to him about the North Carolina craft beer scene in this week's column. See link below.

Also: Mystery Brewing opened its long-awaited tap room last week in west Hillsborough. The Public House, as founder Erik Lars Myers put it, “will serve as the main public face of Mystery and carry every beer we produce.” It also will serve other craft beers from around the world, a testament to Myers’ refined tastes. It is open 4 p.m.-midnight weekdays and noon-midnight Saturday and Sunday.

The other big news from Mystery: It’s going primetime. The seasonal-only brewery is a contestant on a new CNBC show called “Crowd Rules,” in which emerging businesses compete to win $50,000. The show debuts Tuesday, and Mystery Brewing will compete in the second week, May 21, against two other businesses.

Read more in this week's Pintful column.

Mystery Brewing in Hillsborough broke the mold when it debuted a year ago with its seasonal-only craft beer lineup. And don’t expect anything less in the second year.
Founder and head brewer Erik Lars Myers plans to offer Mystery beer in seven-ounce bottles sold in four-packs later this year.

The miniature bottle is a rarity in the craft beer industry, where 22-ounce bombers and champagne bottles typically showcase a brewery’s special offerings. But the smaller size makes more sense for Mystery, which offers four different “flagship” beers each season.

Myers envisions offering four-packs of one beer and mixed packs with one of each seasonal beer, essentially a take-home tasting flight.

“This is going to sound funny as a brewery owner, but I don’t drink that much,” Myers explained last week as the brewery celebrated its one-year anniversary. “Twenty-two (ounce bottles) are really easy, but that’s a lot of beer. Sometimes when I’m sitting down and drinking a beer, I don’t want a ton of it.

“To me it’s about variety and that fits our model really well,” he continued.

Read more about Mystery Brewing's first year and plans for the second in this week's Pintful column.