What pairs well with this CT craft brewery? Their ancient, authentic, Roman artifacts go well.

If you are looking to brush up on your ancient Roman history while enjoying a craft beer, Caius Farm Brewery is the place to go.

Founder, head brewer and owner Caius Mergy is no stranger to the craft beer scene. He resume includes homebrewing with his roommates, enrolling “in the Master Brewer Program at the Siebel Institute in Chicago and the Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany,” and putting in hours at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company in San Carlos as a brewer, according to the Caius Farm Brewery’s website.

It may come as a surprise, then, that he also holds a master’s degree in classical archaeology from the University of Oxford, and features ancient Roman artifacts at his Branford brewery.

We got the opportunity to ask Mergy all about his own experience with craft beer, opening Caius Farm Brewery and those aforementioned artifacts for visitors to peruse while grabbing a cold one.

Check it out below:

Where does the name Caius come from?

Caius is my first name and it comes from the Latin name “Gaius” which translated means “rejoice”!

When I was thinking of a name for the business, I wanted something to fit the classics theme of the beers. I also wanted to pay respect to the longstanding use of the property as a working farm. After a lot of back and forth on options,  my wife suggested the name “Caius” since it fit the theme, so “Caius Farm Brewery” was born!

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What got you (and other head brewers/owners) into craft beer initially?

I was originally not a beer drinker but during my senior year of college at Middlebury College in Vermont, a friend brought me on a day trip to Hill Farmstead. I remember trying a bottle on-site of Flora: Peaches & Pears and being so surprised by the flavors and complexity. I was also shocked it was tart/sour and didn’t know beer could be sour and it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I needed to learn how beer could be made that way. Shortly after, I was reading all sorts of homebrewing and brewing books/textbooks and practicing homebrewing with my friends. I became obsessed with beer and knew that it was something I wanted to explore as a career.

What were the steps involved from coming up with the idea for Caius Farm Brewery to opening the business?

I knew early on that if I did get into the beer industry, the end goal would be opening my own business. I loved the friendly and relaxed atmospheres of breweries like Hill Farmstead, Foam, Fiddlehead, and several others in Vermont. I wanted my brewery to be a place for friends and family to gather over beer. I also loved how those breweries were focused heavily on their quality and always learning and experimenting with beer and new ingredients, so I wanted to do the same for my own location. I also wanted to incorporate my classics background and love for history into the beer and the brewery style. Essentially, I wanted a place where all of my favorite things could be: family/friends, beer, and classics.

After deciding what I wanted to do with the goal of the brewery, I was always looking at property and locations that were available. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was working as a brewer in California but decided to move back home and go all in on opening my own brewery. Shortly after moving back home, I found the current brewery property and we purchased it in the summer of 2020.

It took a long time with permits, supply chain issues, and finding a proper contractor, architect, and other tradesmen, but eventually we broke ground in 2022. During this time, I was homebrewing and testing out a lot of recipes. In fact, Cleopatra, Brutus, Balbilla, and Sappho all come from my favorite homebrew recipes at this time! I also found the equipment manufacturer and other suppliers during this time and had everything ready to go when the building was being constructed. There were a lot of moving parts but everything got done!

Talk about the Roman artifacts on display at the brewery. How were they acquired? What are any standout pieces?

My parents and I are collectors of ancient artifacts acquired mostly through various online antiquities auctions. We chose the pieces to go into the brewery because they all relate to things I studied in graduate school at Oxford University. We have various glass jars, oil lamps, and clay stamps (all of which I had studied in depth), and I also found the mosaic which inspired the logo in the UK, so we tried to get a few mosaics to hang on the walls to be a reference to the origin of our logo.

I would say my favorite or the stand-out piece is the mosaic of the Roman god Mercury (or known as Hermes in Greek mythology). Mercury is the Roman patron god of financial success and commerce, so it seemed fitting to have a mosaic of him at the brewery! We also are constantly adding new pieces as our customers view the changes as part of their unique experience with us.

What beers do you want to highlight at Caius Farm? Any personal favorites?

I have always been passionate about traditional styles and barrel aging. Some of my favorites to highlight are our flagship German-style helles lager, Sappho, and German-style pilsner, Hortensia. Sappho and Hortensia are both brewed with traditional German hops and (unconventionally) whole leaf American grown hops. I use the whole leaf American hops to bring some modern flavors to the beers and flavors which consumers in the US are familiar with but traditionally taste them in other styles of beer.

Both brews are also krausened with each other in order to provide the carbonation. Adding krausen is the process of adding a small portion of fresh fermenting beer to a beer that has finished its fermentation and is conditioning. The residual fermentation will slowly carbonate the finished beer naturally. It adds a nuanced flavor and smaller carbonation bubbles, resulting in a smooth drinking experience. Both Sappho and Hortensia are also homages to my favorite beers I enjoyed in Germany while I was at brewing school.

I also want to highlight our flagship IPA, Cleopatra which I originally brewed for my wedding in 2022. It was a beer designed to showcase New Zealand hops, which are my favorite, and it has become our best seller.

My personal favorite is our World Beer Cup silver winning barrel aged stout, Elagabalus. I blend multiple different stout recipes which have aged in bourbon barrels anywhere from 12 months to over 30 months. It is a beer designed to showcase the best of our barrels and the complexity that just comes from aging a beer in a barrel over an undetermined amount of time. It is a beer which I can really express most of my creativity through blending and creating the yearly blend is one of my favorite tasks to do.

It’s been a challenging time for breweries as of late. What do you notice in trends in the industry?

I have noticed that the major trend for the industry is going to low abv or non-alcoholic options. A lot of consumers are being more health conscious but still want to enjoy beer since it is a social beverage, so we have been seeing a lot of our own customers gravitating to lower abv styles – anything under 6.5% ABV max but I would say the 5% beers have been the biggest sellers.

We have quite a few exciting new low ABV beers coming out over the next few months, such as our rice lager, Atia (this second batch will be aged in Pinot Grigio barrels), and a new low abv New Zealand bitter which will focus on New Zealand hops and be around 3.5% ABV. There are also several others which we will announce as they are ready!

What reactions do visitors give when they notice the Roman artifacts?

Visitors will usually ask our staff first if they are real or not and then be shocked to find out that they are real. They then will go over and read all the informational plaques and a lot of people will take photos! We have a lot of customers who are students at Yale come and read about the artifacts while enjoying our beer too. Even regular customers still go around looking at the artifacts from time to time, so it definitely is a unique aspect of our brewery.

Any upcoming brews or events you want to shoutout to our readers?

We have a special double barrel stout aged on vanilla beans coming out for our third anniversary party which is on March 14. We also have a few special vintages coming out for that event, which will be a surprise for customers. We also have a few lower abv options coming out over the next few weeks and months, and also will be setting up a British beer engine for traditional cask beer, which I am very excited about.

We also have a few events over the year that we are doing, like our 80s party on June 27, our yearly Oktoberfest on September 19-20, and then our yearly Saturnalia party on December 12. We also will be introducing some fun other smaller events at the brewery over the Spring and Summer, such as beer and cheese pairings.

Caius Farm Brewery is located at 101 N Branford Rd in Branford.