x
Breaking News
More () »

WNY brewery drafts support for local veterans

New York Beer Project will launch a special beer on Veterans Day to raise money for Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — A local brewery is pouring up some suds of support for Western New York veterans. This afternoon they will launch a new beer called 3-2 Honor Lager, to help raise money for Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight, and the local heroes they send on unforgettable journeys.

Each of these veterans has their own story to tell, their service honored through a very special trip, to visit the monuments in Washington, D.C. that are dedicated to them.

For the people behind BNHF, it is an honor and a privilege.

"Just to give everything back, we do it for our whole nation and our families" says Greg Klubek, an Honor Flight volunteer and 25 year Air Force veteran.

But they can't do it without the generosity of so many and that is where the New York Beer Project comes in.

"So Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight reached out to us and wanted to do a collaboration," said Andy Appleby, a Marine Corps veteran and manager at the NYBP.

Now, the local brewery is raising a glass to the heroes of Western New York.

The New York Beer Project is doing what they do best to help salute these veterans.

"It's called a 3-2 Honor Lager. This beer, every pint we sell, a dollar will be donated to Honor Flight. As a veteran myself, I have a soft spot for some of that memory, that war history, so I think a lot of people will enjoy it."

A beer with quite the story behind it! In the U.S., 3.2 beer was the highest ABV allowed to be produced legally for nine months (between the repeal of prohibition and the passing of the 21st amendment in 1933).

During World War II, 3.2 lager became the official beer of the U.S. military. In fact, their policy since 1973 is that beer with an abv of 3.2% or less can be served regardless of age. Appleby says "the story goes the American soldiers preferred the 3.2 percent American lager to the European porters and ales off the base."

The first official pour is Friday at 4 p.m., at the New York Beer Project on Transit Road in Lockport. A dollar from every pint goes to the Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight.

Before You Leave, Check This Out