Michael Izzo

@MIzzoDR

HACKETTSTOWN – Matt Czigler has been preparing for this weekend for half a decade, studying, working, building and brewing his way to opening his own brewery.

At noon Saturday, Czigler, 28, of Hackettstown will open the doors to Czig Meister Brewing in Hackettstown and serve his own beer to eager fans.

It’s been a long road to that day though.

Before creating Czig Meister, Czigler had built up an impressive resume. He graduated in 2009 from the University of Maine with a triple degree in microbiology, biochemistry, and molecular and cellular biology. But while job hunting, he found a homebrew kit in his basement and took it up as a hobby.

Czigler didn’t know it at the time, but that was also where he’d get the name of his eventual brewery.

“My friends call me Czig, and when they’d come by they’d always ask ‘what does the Czig Meister have on tap?” Czigler said. “When we were coming up with names that one stuck out.”

Soon Czigler decided to return to school, entering the World Brewing Academy, which only accepts a handful of applicants each year. Over the two-month course he studied in Chicago and in Germany.

After graduating, Czigler spent a year as a brewer at Adirondack Brewery in Lake George, N.Y., traveling the four hours home each weekend to spend time at his parents’ horse farm in Blairstown.

Czigler wanted to find a job closer to home and soon accepted a position as Kane Brewing Co.’s head brewer. He spent about two years there beginning in 2012, at which time Kane developed in to one of the state’s best and most well-known breweries.

Along with owner Michael Kane, Czigler upped efficiency and created recipes for some of the breweries most popular and award-winning beers, including Morning Bell, an imperial milk coffee porter, and A Night to End All Dawns, an imperial stout.

But Czigler wanted a brewery to call his own, and in April 2014 he left that job to begin the long road to Czig Meister.

“Matt was an important part of our team at Kane while he was here,” Kane said. “He’s a great brewer and we can’t wait to check out the new brewery and taste his beers.”

Czigler looked for a location close to his parents’ house, and quickly settled on his current Valentine Street location in Hackettstown. The brick building erected in the 1920’s was originally used as a car maintenance bay.

“I just love the building,” Czigler said.

Getting the proper permits and licensing takes time – in Czigler’s case more than two years from when he started – so he spent that time building the brewery piece by piece, right down to making the picnic tables and planter boxes himself.

He completely transformed the interior to give it an “old world” feel and to house his 15-barrel brew house and a small pilot system.

The “old world crafts and trades” theme of the brewery also carries over into the Czig Meister logo’s use of a mash paddle, one of the most well-known symbols associated with brewing. The tap room looks like a German beer garden, which is also by design.

“We’re German not necessarily in our beer style, but in the quality of our beers,” Czigler said. “Not that we won’t have plenty of German style beers also.”

The “old world” theme also carries over to the beers, as each is named after a different trade and features a tool for a logo.

“(The theme) goes back to quality being such a big thing in my beers. It came from that feeling of ‘they don’t make them like they used to,’” Czigler said. “We want to make things well here, no matter the cost. If a batch doesn’t taste right, we’re not going to serve it, we’ll throw it down the drain. If it needs to ferment an extra week, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Czig Meister’s flagship beers are Huntsman, a German-style Kolsch, Falconer, a pale ale, Prospector, an amber ale, and Blacksmith, an oatmeal stout. Those four will always be on tap at the brewery.

“The amber ale is probably my favorite but they’ve all got something to them,” Czigler said. “I wanted our year-rounds to be session ales, with ABVs in the low-4s to mid-5s so people can try a few. But they’re not watered down. They’re made to have a bigger flavor, so you’ll know you’re drinking a real beer.”

The first seasonal on tap for opening weekend is an India pale ale.

In addition to seasonals, expect several pilot batches to pop up on tap often, but leave just as quickly, as he will make only one keg at a time as he makes his way through his 200-plus recipe book.

“If people really like one,” Czigler said, “Then it can become a seasonal.”

And while the tap room will be a great gathering spot to sample a flight or fill growlers, he said he plans to distribute 80 percent of the beer he brews to bars and restaurants.

Czigler can start to distribute his beer at the beginning of July. He’s planning to have a tap takeover at Morris Tap and Grill on July 1 before delivering to more locations the following day.

By the end of July, he hopes Czig Meister is on tap in 30 bars and restaurants. This time next year, he hopes that number jumps to about 120.

Canning or bottling his beers may happen down the line, but not in the near future.

“I want people to know the name first,” Czigler said.

Opening day at Czig Meister begins at noon Saturday.

“I’ve been working so hard that it hasn’t fully hit me yet that I’m going to be serving my own beer,” Czigler said.

Based on the social media response, he’s expecting a crowd. If lines get too long, he’s happy to direct customers to nearby restaurants and breweries, something he didn’t see coming when he first looked at the location years ago.

“The town since I first looked at it originally has completely transformed. I first came here because of the great Main Street and because the town supported brewing,” Cizgler said. “But now we’ve got Man Skirt Brewing across the street and Jersey Girl Brewing up the road. It’s a great place to be.”

Czig Meister is located at 106 Valentine St. in Hackettstown.

Following opening weekend, the brewery will be open 3 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, 3 to 10 p.m. Fridays, noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Go to http://www.czigmeisterbrewing.com/ or follow the Czig Meister on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for updates and more information.

Czigler also co-hosts a craft beer-centric podcast, “The Coolship Podcast,” with Warren Wilson, owner of Hackettstown’s Homebrew University. The show can be found for free on all major podcasting apps.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636;mizzo@GannettNJ.com