The Chupacabra Shrine

The Chupacabra Shrine began as a vision for my tombstone. A final monument that would honor both my written work and the mythology I've spent years building. But as the concept developed, it evolved into something far more significant: a living pilgrimage site where cryptids, craft beer, and community converge.

At its heart stands a bronze Chupacabra statue, but this is no ordinary memorial. The Shrine is designed as an active, interactive space where seekers can participate in ritual, where champions are honored, and where the boundaries between fiction and reality blur in service of something greater. It's a place where story becomes sacred, where beer becomes ceremony, and where pilgrims leave their mark through offerings of currency and intention.

What started as my imagined ending has become a beginning. A destination that will outlive me, continuing to draw people into the deeper mysteries hidden within the TIME Agency universe.

The Statue

This monument is still a vision. Details may evolve as the concept takes form.

The centerpiece is a bronze statue depicting the mascot of Myths and Malts Productions: the Chupacabra. The creature stands in eternal vigil, holding a pitcher in its right hand. This is the cryptid's own drink, fixed and symbolic, never to be poured. But its left hand remains open, extended toward visitors. This hand is not empty; it serves as the vessel for an annual ceremonial toast called The Sacred Pour.

Twenty-four hours before the Sacred Pour ceremony, the Chupacabra's eyes will illuminate, powered by solar energy, a beacon marking the approach of the ritual. The light extinguishes the day after, returning the statue to its watchful silence.

When the beast awakens, the pour is near.

The statue rests on a custom granite base mounted with plaques bearing QR codes. These digital portals link visitors to free digital downloads of the TIME Agency books, author biography, a personal video message, and an archive of cryptid folklore, bridging the physical memorial with the mythology it represents.

A nearby bench offers space for reflection and reading. This is not a party space but a quiet, meaningful installation designed to harmonize with the cemetery's natural beauty and heritage. The Shrine encourages personal engagement with local folklore while respecting the sacred atmosphere of its surroundings. The annual gathering is intentionally small and reverent: a designated individual leading a respectful ceremony with no amplified music or disruption.

The Delivery System

The Sacred Pour operates through the Bottoms Up Draft Beer System, a technology that transforms the ritual into something both precise and mystical.

Pilgrims place their specialty 16oz pint glass into the Chupacabra's left hand. The cup itself contains a hole in the bottom, ringed and sealed with a magnet. When placed on the Bottoms Up dispenser, the nozzle post lifts the magnet away from the cup and dispenses a pre-programmed amount automatically. The beer fills from the bottom up, a reversal of expectation that mirrors the Shrine's deeper purpose: turning endings into beginnings, mortality into legacy.

The system ensures consistency and reverence. Each pour is exactly measured, each ceremony identical in its precision yet unique in its moment. The Chupacabra doesn't simply hold the cup; it activates the ritual, bridging the pilgrim's intention with the mythological power the Shrine represents.

A vibrant beer garden at Cryptid Con with attendees enjoying local brews.

The Location

Like the cryptids themselves, the Chupacabra Shrine's location remains shrouded in mystery. It exists in vision but not yet in coordinates, a destination waiting to be discovered by those who seek it.

When the time comes, the location will not be broadcast widely or marked on public maps. Instead, it will be revealed only to those who hold a Pilgrim Coin, a challenge coin designed to serve as both key and invitation to the pilgrimage. This ensures the Shrine remains what it was always meant to be: not a tourist attraction, but a sacred space for those who understand its significance.

The mystery is intentional. The journey matters as much as the destination. And like any true pilgrimage, it begins not with a map, but with intention.

The Pilgrim Coins

The Pilgrim Coin is a two-sided black-nickel challenge coin that serves as key, invitation, and proof of membership in a select community of seekers.

The face bears the image of a Chupacabra holding a beer, the iconic mascot of Myths and Malts Productions rendered in sharp relief against the dark metal. Words are etched along the coin's face, but more importantly, numbers are engraved on the coin's edge. These numbers are the Shrine's coordinates, the secret location revealed only to those who hold the coin in their hands.

The reverse side carries a symbol and a single phrase that defines the coin's purpose:

Many will carry the legend. Only one may pour it.

This is not military challenge coin repurposed for civilian use. This is something purpose-built for pilgrimage, a physical token that transforms ownership into access, curiosity into quest. To hold a Pilgrim Coin is to possess not just coordinates, but permission. To know not just where the Shrine stands, but why it matters.

The Pilgrim Coin,  will be limited, intentionally scarce. Not everyone who seeks will find. Not everyone who finds will understand. Though it does not activate the sacred tap, its presence marks you as a believer, a wanderer, a storyteller.  It was created to honor the story, the shrine, and the shared belief in myth and mystery.

Those who carry this coin may journey to the Cryptid Shrine. They may place their coin upon the bench or offer a pour to the Chupacabra's eternal glass. They may sit beside the monument, sip from their own pint, and know they are part of something strange and sacred.

Keep this coin close. Tell no one where it came from unless they already know. And if ever you meet another who carries one… nod once. That is enough.

The Pours

The Sacred Pour is the annual gathering, a celebration not only of the author but of the mythology created by the TIME Agency series. It is ritual, remembrance, and renewal.

The ceremony begins with words read by the Shrine's caretaker, known as The Cryptid Keeper, guardian of the lore. Pilgrims insert their sacred pint into the Chupacabra's left hand. If the creature deems you worthy, your glass will fill. Drink. Read. Remember.

The First Pour Ceremony

The First Pour takes place upon the passing of the Shrine's creator. This ceremony is both a farewell and an awakening. This is where the story begins.

The First Pour is made into the Chupacabra's pitcher, the one held in its right hand, filling the vessel that will remain eternally full. Pilgrims raise their own filled pints. A toast is made. From this moment forward, the Chupacabra holds two drinks: one for the dead, one for the living.

The Annual Sacred Pour

Each year on the selected date, the Cryptid Keeper performs the Sacred Pour. Pilgrim Coin holders are welcome to gather, reflect, and toast. On this day, the Chupacabra's left hand serves the living, while the right continues to hold the eternal pint.

The Keeper may deliver a short reading or play a recording of the final message. After the pour, the Shrine sleeps again until the following year.

The Off-Day Ritual: BYOB to the Beast

A visitor arrives, not on the chosen day. There's no keg, no active tap, no grand ritual waiting.

But they bring a beer.

They pour a little into the Chupacabra's pitcher, the one held eternally in its right hand. They sit on the nearby bench. They sip. They scan the QR code and enter the mythology. Maybe they post a photo. And they become part of the myth anyway.

The Shrine doesn't only activate once a year. It lives quietly between ceremonies, waiting for those who find it on ordinary days and make them sacred through their own small acts of offering.

He doesn't just pour for you. Sometimes you pour for him.

Bring a beer. Leave a moment. The Chupacabra is always thirsty.

The Cryptid Cup

The Cryptid Cup is an annual contest where brewers take the announced selected recipe from the TIME Agency book series, make it their own, and compete for a traveling trophy chosen by fans.

Each year follows a rhythm: the announcement of the annual recipe, the brewing and submission process, the reveal of the winning brewer, and finally, the beer release and trophy presentation at the Sacred Pour. The winner's brew becomes that year's ceremonial pour, the beer that fills pilgrim glasses when the Chupacabra's eyes illuminate and the Shrine awakens.

This isn't just a brewing competition. It's a chance to enter the mythology, to see your interpretation of a fictional beer become the real liquid poured in ritual. Your recipe becomes canon. Your name enters the Hall of Champions.

Read more details on the Cryptid Cup page.