The Art and Science of Beer

by Kurt Epps, a.k.a. The PubScoutOct 13, 2025Food & Drink, North Brunswick, Pub Scout

MOBA Beer curates locally brewed beer and locally created art in Leland.

When I first broke into the beer writing business back in 1996, one of the big questions at the time was whether brewing beer was a science or an art.

I confess that at the time, as long as the beer was good, I cared not a whit whether scientists or artists took credit for the product.

But the truth is brewing good beer is BOTH science AND art. And the expert mixture of the two is the difference between just good beers and GREAT beers.

Jason Fosdick, Carl Cross and Matt Ray, partners in MOBA Beer, have decided to showcase both at the now defunct MannKind Brewery site on Ploof Road in Leland.

People sit and converse in a modern, brightly lit art gallery café with colorful abstract paintings on the walls, large windows, and casual seating arrangements including sofas and chairs.

Port City Daily reports that Fosdick said: “I went and saw the brewery, bought it from the bank and literally in about a four-day window, I had to find Carl, I had to get Matt on board. I wasn’t going to do it unless I had the right players involved, so I knew it was going to be a great experience and a great business.”

Cross, for his part, has been involved in brewing at what Fosdick described as “a thousand places.” “He is a brewer to the core and this was kind of his vision,” Fosdick says.

Whether Cross’s vision gains traction will, in The PubScout’s humble opinion, depend more on the artistry in the beers than the art that adorns the walls — which, I confess, is often stunning.

Local artists will have the opportunity to display their work on a rotating basis at MOBA.

When the Missus and I attended the grand opening of MOBA on August 22, 2025, as the first customers to enter at 3 pm, that wall art was striking indeed. But everyone who piled in to the bar after us seemed more concerned about the beer being poured by Lindsey and Byron than what was adorning the walls.

A tall glass of light beer on a patterned coaster sits on a bar counter, with blurred people in the background and TVs mounted on the wall. The glass features a white circular logo.

That’s not to say the art was overlooked. Many beer nuts, anxious to see what MOBA’s Brewer, Isaac Ley, could conjure up, pointed occasionally at a piece they fancied.

But more often they pointed to the MOBA beer menu and the beers offered there. In a short space of time, the bar and the side seating was filled with thirsty beer nuts, all clamoring for a taste of MOBA’s “art.”

As the first customer in the place, I managed to corner Ley and asked him to give me a sample of the beer he was most proud of having crafted. He immediately brought back two samples: an American IPA called Remember When and a Hazy IPA called Floof.

The AIPA was quite good and on style, but Floof hit the bullseye. Made with Cashmere and a hint of Amarillo hops, it was a work of art — or, if you prefer, science.

The Remember When, made with Amarillo, Cascade and Copper hops, was a tour de force, though not my favorite this afternoon. Floof got that nod. And if you’re a hazy IPA drinker, it will likely get yours, as well.

And when you consider that Ley was never a home brewer (unusual, that) but rather a journeyman brewer with wide experience, his devotion to his art is even more impressive. That Rice Bock of his sounds most interesting.

A smiling woman with blonde, wavy hair holds a glass of craft beer at a bar. She wears a pink Keith Haring t-shirt, and bar taps and TV screens are visible in the background.

The Missus opted for a Schilling Pilsner from the OPB (Other People’s Beer) Menu, and it won her seal of approval in that beautiful, tall mug. Apparently, other beer nuts also found it appealing, because I could see many of those taller mugs being hoisted throughout the brewery.

The taps, all paintbrushes, were certainly busy, and I thought that Byron and Lindsey might have benefitted from another pair of hands behind the bar. But they managed to keep up the service —and their smiles — rather nicely.

As I have often said, you meet the nicest folks at breweries, and we struck up a conversation with two delightful California transplants to Brunswick Forest — Tom and Marlene Anderson. Affable and beer savvy, they are part of a Beer Club in Brunswick Forest that has a membership roll of about 400.

MOBA was so packed on opening day, I thought for sure the club had scheduled a meeting, but Marlene and Tom could discern no one from their group.

I had chatted with Carl Cross before the opening outside, as he was transporting his precious progeny, Micah and Noah, home. And I hoped, in vain, to engage with him upon his return to probe his mind about the genesis of this novel idea.

Three colorful fish paintings are displayed on a wall: a realistic yellowfin tuna in the center, flanked by two abstract, stained-glass-style fish artworks on each side.