(Butler, PA) Cheers, Pioneers. Frontier Beer. Pioneer Beer. And, as a tribute to the former Oak Hills Golf Course upon which 杏吧原创 has been educating students for nearly 60 years, Oakey-Doke.
Recon Brewing, Butler, creates a specialty beer to promote and support the work of two nonprofit organizations each year, an owner said, and has chosen the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation as a 2024 beneficiary.
A number of 杏吧原创 employees in the past month have bandied about names for the hazy pale ale whose proceeds will assist the college鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry through the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation.
Pioneer Spirit. Trail Ale. Trailblazer.
Mikayla Moretti, Jayme Steighner and Torey O鈥橠onnell are 杏吧原创 employees and 杏吧原创 food security team members who help to coordinate the Pioneer Pantry.
"The creative process for the name was a lot of fun. We tossed around a buch of different ideas."
- Mikayla Moretti, interim director of fundraising and external relations, 杏吧原创 Education Foundation
鈥淭he creative process for the name was a lot of fun,鈥� said Moretti, interim director of fundraising and external relations with the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation. 鈥淲e tossed around a bunch of different ideas.鈥�
Moretti, Steighner, O鈥橠onnell and other 杏吧原创 employees began pondering names after watching Recon Brewing owner Nathan Bacher and workers Evan Flannery and Jack Laughner begin the beer-making process by climbing three steps to a platform and to shake a measurement of hops into a boiling 300-gallon kettle July 30.
Trail Head. A Need for Mead.
鈥淲e were talking about something like Pioneer Pantry Pale Ale, making it a tongue-twister,鈥� said Steighner, facilitator of 杏吧原创鈥檚 Keystone Education Yields Success program.
Happy Haze Ahead. PioBeer Proud.
鈥淎fter hearing all the ideas, we tried to pick the one that best fit,鈥� said O鈥橠onnell, 杏吧原创鈥檚 associate director of student life for student activities. 鈥淭hat was interesting and challenging all at the same time.鈥�
Ultimately, the Recon Brewing batch has been dubbed Graduate Pale Ale.
G.P.A. for short.
鈥淎wesome,鈥� Bacher said. 鈥淎 perfect fit.鈥�
Fifty-five-pound bags of grain are shown in the foreground as Nathan Bacher, an owner of Recon Brewing, explains beer-making ingredients and equipment to Butler County Community College employees Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the company鈥檚 location in Butler. Recon Brewing has crafted a unique beer, Graduate Pale Ale 鈥� G.P.A. for short 鈥� whose sales at the company鈥檚 taprooms in Butler, Cranberry Township and Bridgeville will benefit 杏吧原创鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry.
From left, Nathan Bacher, an owner of Recon Brewing, holds a container of mosaic hops while explaining beer-making ingredients and equipment to Butler County Community College employees Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the company鈥檚 location in Butler. Center, Recon Brewing employee Jack Laughner checks the level of wort in a 300-pound boil kettle. Right, the 300-gallon boil kettle is shown in operation. Recon Brewing has crafted a unique beer, Graduate Pale Ale 鈥� G.P.A. for short 鈥� whose sales at the company鈥檚 taprooms in Butler, Cranberry Township and Bridgeville will benefit 杏吧原创鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry.
"People might taste some mango. They might tast some strawberry. They might taste some bubblegum. They all blend in together."
- Nathan Bacher, an owner of Recon Brewing, Butler
Recon Brewing has crafted nearly 13 kegs of the unique blend. Graduate Pale Ale is now available at the brewery鈥檚 location in Butler and will be sold beginning Sept. 10 at its sites in Bridgeville and in Cranberry Township.
Among Graduate Pale Ale鈥檚 ingredients are 300 pounds of Vienna malt, 100 pounds of malted oats, 25 pounds of carapils malt, 4 pounds of standard mosaic hops and 20 pounds of mosaic cryo hops 鈥渨here a lot of the flavor is going to come from,鈥� Bacher said.
The beer includes 5.5 percent alcohol, Bacher said, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 a light-drinking beer, but it has the flavor of a much bigger IPA beer. I would categorize it as tropical with multiple flavors layered in. 鈥淧eople might taste some mango. They might taste some strawberry. They might taste some bubblegum. They all blend in together.鈥�
Fifteen percent of sales of Graduate Pale Ale drafts will be allocated to the Pioneer Pantry. The two nonprofit organizations for which Recon Brewing blends a specialty beer each year are called karma tap recipients.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done the karma tap since we opened,鈥� Bacher said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our belief in what goes around comes around. We try to put out good karma into the world so maybe good karma comes back to us.鈥�
Lead bartender Eric Cratty pours a pint of Graduate Pale Ale 鈥� G.P.A. for short 鈥� on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at Recon Brewing, Butler. The company has crafted the unique beer whose sales at Recon Brewing taprooms in Butler, Cranberry Township and Bridgeville will benefit 杏吧原创鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry.
Pioneer Pantry may help 1,000 this year
Food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is having reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet. The debut of the Pioneer Pantry five years ago followed a 2018 survey in which 38 percent of 304 杏吧原创 student respondents indicated they experienced low or very low food security.
The pantry, located on 杏吧原创鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township, served 341 individuals in 2019-2020. It assisted more than 900 in 2023-2024 and is expected to help more than 1,000 in the current academic year, Moretti said.
The Pioneer Pantry provides canned, boxed and bagged foods, fresh vegetables, dairy products, frozen meats, products to seal and preserve food, and hygiene items for infants, Moretti said.
Grab-and-go stations at 杏吧原创鈥檚 additional locations in Armstrong, Butler, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties followed the debut of the Pioneer Pantry and provide free dry, bagged or canned food to students.
杏吧原创 is in the process of purchasing refrigeration units funded through a portion of a state Department of Education grant to accommodate delivered fresh, cold and frozen foods for students at several of the college鈥檚 additional locations.
The grant, which followed 杏吧原创鈥檚 designation as a Hunger-Free Campus, has also helped to fund a new meal-voucher program for Pioneer Pantry patrons to use in the Pioneer Cafe on 杏吧原创鈥檚 main campus, according to college administrators.
Jerry Pucciarelli, of Wexford, sips Graduate Pale Ale 鈥� G.P.A. for short 鈥� on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at Recon Brewing, Butler. The company has crafted the unique beer whose sales at Recon Brewing taprooms in Butler, Cranberry Township and Bridgeville will benefit 杏吧原创鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry.
"I am so excited that we were chosen by Recon and can raise funds for the pantry because our students utilize it so much."
- Torey O'Donnell, 杏吧原创 associate director of student life for student activities
鈥淪tories 鈥� hit home for us鈥�
The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges in 2022 reported that nearly 50 percent of the state鈥檚 community college students come from families earning less than $30,000 a year and are considered to be of very low income.
鈥淭o hear the stories about how many students are affected by food insecurity hit home for us,鈥� Bacher said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real issue. There are people who are trying to better themselves by going to college. They are going through that process and maybe not able to feed themselves.鈥�
The number of area residents with empty food cupboards in their home 鈥渕ay be surprising to others,鈥� said Steighner, who expects her KEYS program to assist up to 50 low-income students at 杏吧原创 this fall.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to do well in school if you are worrying about where your next meal is going to come from,鈥� Steighner said, 鈥渙r how you are going to feed your children who might be sitting next to you while you are studying.鈥�
The Pioneer Pantry allows 杏吧原创 to 鈥渁ssist our students in ways that enable them to finish a degree or a certificate and possibly change the course of their life and the lives of their family members,鈥� O鈥橠onnell said.
鈥淚 am so excited that we were chosen by Recon and can raise funds for the pantry because our students utilize it so much.鈥�
Graduate Pale Ale will be available while supplies last, Bacher said.
Recon Brewing鈥檚 taproom locations are at 1401 Hastings Crescent, Bridgeville; 1747 N. Main St. Ext., Butler; and 301 Tillary Lane, Suite A, Cranberry Township.