MIFFLINBURG, Pa. — Rusty Rail enjoyers may be familiar with "Wolf King" or "Fool's Gold", but now customers of the brand, alongside Hershey Bears fans, can get their claws on a limited-time release of Bears-themed beer, dubbed "Roar."
“It started with Hersheypark and the pavilion over there. We got an opportunity to have our products over in the park and things went really well," explained Rusty Rail Brewing President Rich Schrader. "They were awesome to work with. We built a great relationship with them and then over time during the summer, this other opportunity came up. We talked about it, and it seemed like a really fun collaboration to be able to do. It felt very organic with those guys and it was just a great opportunity for us.”
Logan Powell is the head brewer at Rusty Rail and just so happens to be a huge hockey fan, especially of the Bears.
Rusty Rail is known for their attention to detail and Powell made sure to pour the same amount of effort into his latest creation.
“A lager, especially a Vienna Lager, is all about the process," explained Powell. "It’s about diligently monitoring your temperatures, making sure that everything is to spec and really making sure you dot your I’s and cross your T’s, which with a great organization like the Bears, I see a lot of parallels there. The Bears have been successful for nearly a century now and a lot of hard work and preparation goes into that, so I was really excited to do a traditional lager like this. It’s easy drinking and you really appreciate how much tender loving care went into it to create a winning product."
A limited amount of "Roar" was canned, and the specialty drink was recently showcased at the Bears Fe-brew-ary celebration. It's a new partnership with old beginnings that could be around for a long time.
“Everything we’ve seen is that people think the label is fun, the liquid is great [and that] it’s a great option to have," Schrader added. "It’s something different to enjoy while they are at the game.”