Phish article: How a Phish-Loving Beer Distributor Helped Make the Mondegreen Beers Happen
From Surrender to the Flow
This article was published in the 2024-2025 New Years edition of Surrender to the Flow, a print newspaper/magazine about Phish.
Matt Flisher of OtherSide Beverage can shed light on how the three special Mondegreen craft beers came to be. The Phish-named beers with Mondegreen branding were a hot commodity at the festival and hard to find each day. Flisher might have dreamt of that happening but didn’t see it coming—the project itself almost never happened.
OtherSide Beverage is a craft beer distributor serving Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Matthew started it in 2019 with his buddy Shawn and his finance-minded brother Andrew. The distribution company’s mission statement is “Good Vibes, Great Beers,” which speaks to the OtherSide team’s approach—OtherSide handles logistics in a genuine way and their sales approach comes from a true love of the beer.
When Mondegreen was announced for Dover, Delaware, a state OtherSide Beverage knows well, Matthew asked around about opportunities to participate in Mondegreen as a distributor. His passion for Phish made him immediately ask, “How do we sell beer at this?” But sponsorship costs were more than OtherSide was willing to pay.
Then, about three weeks before the festival, he got a call from Austin Zonnevylle at Burlington Beer Company, who had heard from Dante DiPasquale at AEG Presents. The Mondegreen powers that be were interested in having a special craft beer designed for Mondegreen and available in the Taste the Beer tent. OtherSide joined an initial meeting about the initiative with Burlington Beer Company who would brew it, representation from Phish, and the event team, and they laid out the timeline it would take to get it done.
Part of the process was getting approval from the band within those weeks right before the event, and at one point, Matt didn’t know if it would come together in time. But “in the eleventh hour,” it did—the band approved, labels were finalized (maybe a day late), the beer was made, and eighty cases of each beer were sent to Delaware. Matt’s excitement about that moment was palpable; he remembers feeling like, “This is awesome.”
Three specially-crafted beers by Burlington Beer Company were produced for Mondegreen—46 Haze, a New England IPA; Powerful Pilsner, a European-style pilsner; and Mexican Cousin, a light Mexican-style lager. “My bust out song is Mexican Cousin,” Matthew said, and he dreamt of drinking the Mexican Cousin lager while listening to the song. Ultimately, Matt didn’t get a Mexican Cousin, but Phish did play 46 Days and Fluffhead.
Before the festival, the beers were promoted on the Mondegreen app and on social media, which the team suspected would be a game changer. Matt said that the beers were so popular, they allocated a certain number of the eighty cases for each day, and then they quickly sold out, even while only available in the Taste the Beer tent. It became Mondegreen lore, whether fans could get one each day.
“It is so fun going from being a Phish kid to a Phish adult and having this happen. All of my friends are coming, it’s close to home, we made these beers, and they sold out immediately,” Matt said. “Pretty surreal sitting there when you did find the beers and you’re watching your favorite band and drinking a beer that you had a part of.”
Matt reiterates that it took a number of people and organizations to make it possible, and ultimately OtherSide Beverage was just a small part of the Mondegreen beers, but he’s grateful for being able to have a role in a festival that meant so much to him. He remembers going to his first festival with his brother Andrew, Super Ball in 2011, and never could have being part of a festival like this. It’s an example of how Phish festivals tend to open opportunities for the community. There were multiple examples of that at Mondegreen, like the camping pods hosted by grassroots Phish groups.
“It was really neat that being the size that we are, we were able to be involved. I was very thankful for that part because usually it’s the big players that get to do that,” he said.
Matt said that if Phish does come back to Delaware, or chooses Maryland or Washington, D.C. for future festivals, he looks forward to what’s possible. Find OtherSide Beverage on Instagram and Facebook or at othersidebev.com.
Since 2022, I’ve written about the band Phish in this newsletter and for Surrender to the Flow. Click here to find my writing about Phish.