Barley malt doesn’t get more local than this ale
All Saints Brewing Co. has released a new beer made from an old recipe and some very local malt.
This past Saturday, the brewery in Hempfield, Westmoreland County, started to pour Old Hanna’s Town Amber Ale. Like the nearby county park and historic site for which it is named, the ale’s recipe dates back to the Revolutionary War era and is credited to Thomas Jefferson.
The barley was harvested from a field planted in the spring of 2020 by Heinnickel Farms about a mile from the brewery, so brewery founder and head brewer Jeff Guidos watched it grow. The grain harvested last summer was malted by CNC Malt, founded by Brendan and Oana Carrol, in nearby Butler County.
The farmer and the maltsters are partners in a pilot project called Farm to Tap. Local nonprofit Food21 organized it last year to work with “agronomists, farmers, malt houses and breweries” to “substantially increase the availability of locally grown and processed ingredients for this dynamic and regional industry.” Other partners include Greg Phillips, district manager/CEO of the Westmoreland Conservation District; Linda Box, chairman and CEO of the McKenna Foundation; and Fred Slazek, who consulted on the supply chain.
“The breadth of this effort is as powerful as any other aspect because it demonstrates what we mean by a value chain,” farmer and Farm to Tap team leader Vince Mangini said in a press release.
Food21, a Pittsburgh- based group, was founded in 2018 to be “a catalyst for the expansion of the regional food and agricultural economy in the Western Atlantic Food Shed.” The group plans to create and release a study that encourages other farmers in the region to plant barley for local breweries and distilleries.
Food21 paid for the seed for two farmers to plant two 25-acre plots in Westmoreland County. They started with spring barley,
knowing wouldn’t be as the good, yield but wanting There’s still to get enough this going. barley from the first crop to make more beers atother breweries this spring — Four Seasons Brewing in Latrobe, Recon Brewing in Butler, Conny Creek Brewing in Lower Burrell and Mondays Brewing in Peters.
“We tried to go north, south, east and west,” Mr. Mangini said. He points out that the next crop of winter barley is already planted in the two pilot plots. With the expected higher yield to be harvested this summer, they should be able to make enough malt for more than 500,000 more bottles of beer -— and millions of dollars of economic benefits.
Not everything about this first ale is local. The Cascade hops are at least from this end of the country, as they were grown in Virginia next to Thomas Jefferson National Forest, and they were found and procured by a friend of the uses brewery, The Mr. yeast European Guidos Mr. is Guidos from malt usually says. Colorado. but He says with as Hanna’s plans he the he continues to hyperlocal was Town use impressed more series the stuff. of Old of it brews, darker porter he probably expects next. with this Meanwhile, 7- a barrel to last batch for of a the couple amber of weeks. “It is light and crisp, and has a finish that keeps calling to ya,” he said.
Old Hanna’ s Town Amber Ale is available to go in growlers and crowlers while it lasts.
Learn more about the non profit’ s other programs, from grocery delivery to underserved neighborhoods to a farm in Duquesne, food21.org.
New Recon taproom
Butler’s Recon Brewing on Wednesday opened Recon at Meeder, a taproom in the new Cranberry community. The place has a dozen taps of Recon drafts, cider and mead, Pennsylvania spirits and wine, plus a family-friendly full food menu. The address is 301 Tillary Lane, Suite A, Cranberry (16066). Learn more at www.reconbrewing.com/meeder.
Brewery Guide 2.0
The latest version of the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild Brewery Guide is showing up at 40 participating breweries. Guests get their passports marked when they visit and earn prizes. The passports cost $10 and are available at breweries in Allegheny County. Free Butler County Beer Circuit passport cards have been expanded to 13 stops, including Recon a tRecon at Reeder and a second location of Cellar Works Brewing Co. Customers can get those stamped to win prizes, including a specialty mug.
Rock-hard beer
Here’s a beer that liter all yo cr ks: Law- renceville’ s Eleventh Hour Brewing boiled the wort by dropping into wood kettles fire-heated chunks of granite. The result is FOSSL — for “Fire Oak Stone Smoke Lager” — a traditional Steinbock that is for sale now in very limited amounts for $20 a four- pack. Owner Matt McMahon describes it as “smoky, oaky, kind of a caramely bock.” It was such a blast to make that they plan to fire it up again next year.