Saturday was the official launch of "Smash No. 55" at Zeroday Brewing Company. It's a beer created by 14 students who are in the Brewing Science Program at HACC. The 9-month program involves not only the creation of the beer but marketing it in a shark tank form. Whichever one is selected gets brewed and canned.
They said the name "Smash No. 55" stands for "single malt and single hop," and the 55 represents the number of years HACC has been around.
"The most important part is that they get to see the evolution of the beer from an idea to actually putting it in cans," Victor Rodgers, Associate Provost of Workforce Development and Continuing Education at HACC, said. "Because this is what allows them then to go forward on an entrepreneurial pathway or to work in one of our mini-craft breweries that we have here in Pennsylvania."
"The best part about it was really getting to meet, interact, and learn from a lot of the industry professionals," Carl Machamer, a student, said. "Ya know, we we're fortunate to have at least three sponsored breweries that had either owners or brewers that came in to teach a lot of the courses so, just getting to know them and understanding the industry was definitely beneficial."
Some of the money from the sale of the beer will go toward HACC's Annual Day of Giving, a 24-hour event that raises money to help HACC students and the community.
