Veteran-owned Pennsylvania breweries join forces for commemorative Memorial Day beer

Some of Pennsylvania’s most prominent veteran-owned or operated beer makers have banded together to create a beer in honor on American military service members for Memorial Day.

Organized and announced by Pennsylvania beer culture website Breweries in Pennsylvania, the as-yet-untitled beer will serve as a collaborative beer between 20 veteran-owned or veteran-operated beer makers, including Phoenixville’s Root Down Brewing, Aston’s Aston Abbey Brewing, and Tattered Flag Brewing out of Middletown.

In addition to breweries, the beer will also feature contributions from beer-related companies like Glen Mill’s Deer Creek Malthouse, GEMS Hop Farm in Carlisle, and Pittsburgh’s First Sip Brew Box. A full list of participating companies is available on the Breweries in Pennsylvania website.

That group of military service members-turned-brewers will join forces at Harrisburg’s Newfangled Brew Works, where they plan to brew a double IPA scheduled for release on Memorial Day Weekend. The beer will be available for purchase at all participating breweries, and a portion of proceeds to go to charity. The beer’s name has not yet been announced.

As Breweries in Pennsylvania announced last week, the upcoming release is being touted as Pennsylvania’s first exclusively veteran-brewed collaboration beer made to honor other veterans. The goal, the site wrote, is to “bring everyone together for a dedication brew for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.”

Pennsylvania is the top beer-producing state in the nation, according to the Brewers Association, a beer industry trade group. Currently, the state is home to about 300 craft breweries who, in 2017, brewed about 3.7 million barrels of beer. California is the second biggest beer producer at 3.2 million barrels for 2017.

Veteran-owned or operated business who are interested in joining the brew can contact Breweries in Pennsylvania to join the roster.