Local brewery reappears on tap at Gaslight Brewhouse

Beer from a locally owned brewery is once again being served in Oxford after a short hiatus.

Misrule Brewing, co-owned and operated by Rhett Brymer and Eric Stenstrom, has reappeared on tap at Gaslight Brewhouse after serving its final drink with former partner Bello Woodfired Pizza Studio on Dec. 31, 2025.

According to Brymer, Misrule’s partnership with Bello began in late 2024, in which the two businesses shared a lease on High Street. The owners of Misrule brewed some of its beer on-location and operated the bar inside the restaurant. 

Although Brymer would not discuss the reason for the split, he said the brewery has reopened its original location on Somerville Road as a result, which includes a barn with a one-barrel system. He said the brewery will also continue renting space in other breweries to keep up with demand.

Before Misrule partnered with Bello, Brymer said the group began by selling at festivals, and Gaslight was actually their first client when they met at Oxtober Fest in Uptown Oxford in 2023. He said ever since, the restaurant has almost always kept one of their brews on tap.

Since December 2025, Brymer said Misrule has been preparing for its new partnership, which kicked-off with a launch party on April 7 at Gaslight. The greater number of seats inside Gaslight, Brymer said, could increase Misrule’s sales three-fold.

“(We’re) really excited about Gaslight,” Brymer said, “because Gaslight’s professionally run, it’s a big, wonderful space, lots of parking, great food, kind of a fun atmosphere. … We’ve had a long-standing relationship with those folks (and) always appreciated everything that they’ve done and are just excited about bringing our Misrule community over to Gaslight.”

Brymer said Gaslight will keep six of Misrule's beers on tap – about the same amount it could serve at Bello – and at least one of the servers who worked the bar at Bello for Misrule may be joining the Gaslight team. Otherwise, he said he and Stenstrom’s relationship with Gaslight will be mostly hands-off, with Gaslight servers maintaining bar operations.

Dave Hornack, director of operations at Gaslight, told the Oxford Free Press during the April 7 launch party, the partnership with Misrule was “really enticing for us because we would like to have a brewery.”

“So as we move forward, we’ll start brewing beers that are actually just for us,” Hornack said, adding that Misrule is working on a Gaslight-exclusive blonde ale that will be on tap this summer.

Hornack said Gaslight enjoys supporting locals through the food it cooks with, and now, the beer it has on tap.

Brymer said Misrule will continue serving beers, lagers and meads at local festivals, including the upcoming Oxford Bee Festival on April 18.

He said Misrule was started by him and his four friends – Stenstrom, Brandon Ney, Michael Conger and Dow Scoggins – in 2023. 

Stenstrom, Brymer and Conger were all professors at Miami University when Misrule Brewing was started, although Brymer has since begun teaching at the University of Cincinnati.

“Misrule started with me and four friends, who are all dads,” Brymer said. “We all have lived in Oxford and have raised families in Oxford … and what we’ve noticed about breweries is that they really build a community. And so we’ve been trying to do that since 2023 when we began at Oxtober Fest.”

Today, Ney, who has a full-time job at another brewery in Mason, still helps Brymer and Stenstrom. Conger also helps make pilot batches. Scoggins owns the barn on Somerville Road and offers sage advice as a “long-standing icon of craft beer” who opened the first craft brewery in Georgia, according to Brymer.

“(We’re) just trying to be responsive and local and listen to our customers as much as they’re willing to tell us and try to brew what Oxford wants to drink,” Brymer said, adding the brewery is excited to begin its “new chapter.”