The Irish red ale will help fight homelessness and hunger…
Last year, Breaker Brewing (Wilkes-Barre Township) partnered with the Diocese of Scranton on a special release beer. That brew, “Forty Days,” was a Doppelback-style beer, and the proceeds helped fund the diocese’s “Rectory, Set, Cook!” initiative.
They’re doing it again this year.
Breaker Brewing announced today that it had started brewing a new Irish Red Ale beer that would once again help fund the Scranton Diocese’s “Ready, Set, Cook!” project, which helps fight hunger and homelessness in the Scranton, PA area. The new beer, which hasn’t yet been named, is set to be released on Fat Tuesday (March 4th).
To quote from Breaker Brewing’s Facebook post:
Brew Day! And it’s a special one because we’re brewing our second collaboration with Diocese of Scranton. It’s an Irish Red Ale with Italian Amerena cherries, so the beer is also a collaboration of sorts, representing both Saint Patrick and Saint Joseph.
Our friend Father Brian Van Fossen was back to help us brew today. Here he is adding the special ingredient Amerena cherries, that came directly from Italy, into the whirlpool with us during the brew.
The idea for the Scranton Diocese and Breaker Brewing to collaborate on a beer was hatched by Mark Lehman (Breaker Brewing co-owner) and Father Brian Van Fossen of the Scranton Diocese. The two men, one a brewer and the other a priest, have known each other since grade school. The collaboration began last year with the release of Breaker Brewing’s Forty Days beer and has proven successful enough that the partnership is continuing into 2025.
And while the idea of the Catholic Church going into business with a beer company might raise eyebrows…it shouldn’t. As pointed out by the National Catholic Register last year when this unusual partnership was first announced, the church has a long history of brewing beer, especially around Lent. Catholic monks have brewed their own beer for centuries, even crafting special brews to help them get through Lent, when they wouldn’t eat any solid food for forty days.
Last year, Forty Days was one of Breaker Brewing’s hottest-selling beers. So while this new brew was just announced and we’re still a few months away from its release, it’s likely that it will very quickly sell out. Once released, you can pick up cans of the Irish Red Ale at either of Breaker’s two locations; its home base in Wilkes-Barre Township or at its “Outpost” location in Archbald.
What do you think?
What are your thoughts on this second collaboration between Breaker Brewing and the Scranton Diocese? Tell us all about it in the comments section below because nobody cares about your feelings about Catholic beer more than me.
