DALLAS, Pa. — Some veterans at Back Mountain Brewing in Dallas are bonded by their roots in Luzerne County.
"We've all been friends since high school. We were all in the Army together. We've all deployed, not together, but roughly at the same time," Rick Blaine said.
After their service, Rick Blaine and Eric Pimm started Heroes Hearthstone.
"Heroes Hearthstone is an NEPA nonprofit. We work with local combat veterans and first responders, most of whom are struggling with post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression," Blaine said.
Not long after opening Back Mountain Brewing Company, Clay Cadwalader decided to team up for a fundraiser for Heroes Hearthstone.
"We just started talking one day, and I was like, 'Hey, we could do a bottle release and get you guys involved,'" Cadwalader said. "You can bring your smoker out, be like a big fundraiser. And that's pretty much how it kicked off."
There will be a release party at the brewery inside the Twin Stacks Center in Dallas on Saturday, November 4.
"It's a big beer. We're pushing about 9 percent this year on an ABV. We do it in the 22-ounce bombers, which are kind of going out of style. I personally like them," Cadwalader said.
The proceeds benefit local veterans.
"This one I love because it's a local veteran organization business helping a local veteran nonprofit that helps local veterans and first responders, so it is veterans helping veterans, helping veterans," Blaine said.