Beer at St. Bart's annual festival made with grain from the farmer next door

When folks grab a glass of beer this weekend at the Saint Bartholomew’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival, they’ll be able to shake hands with the farmers who grew the grains used to create it.

“It doesn’t get more local than this,” said Alquin Heinnickel, who joined with Vince Mangini of Crabtree and other local farmers to grow just under 2,000 bushels of barley and about produced about 75,000 pounds of malt. It was then sent to All Saints Brewing in Hempfield, where owner Jeff Guidos used it to create St. Bart’s Festiv-Ale.

It will be on sale exclusively Friday and Saturday at the festival grounds behind the church, in Salem’s Crabtree neighborhood.

Mangini serves as a value-chain coordinator for Pittsburgh nonprofit Food21, which helped kickstart the initiative with $3,000 in seed money, connecting with a handful of local farmers to shorten the supply chain for the local breweries that have proliferated in the region.

“It’s all gone pretty smoothly,” he said. “This will be the second year we’ve grown grains for local brewers, and we’re going to do 16-oz. commemorative cups at the festival. And then once people buy the first cup, refills are $3.”

Last year, Mangini partnered with Guidos to brew Old Hanna’s Town Ale, based on a recipe created by Thomas Jefferson in the 18th century. He was also able to literally watch it grow as he drove past the fields on his way to the brewery.

“This year, we were talking about something light, crisp and easy to drink,” Guidos said. “The Festiv-Ale is about 4.4% ABV, and it’s got a beautiful light golden straw color.”

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Heinnickel wrapped up the barley harvest a few weeks ago, sending sample batches out for analysis at the Hartwick College Center for Craft & Food Beverage in Upstate New York. Once it passes inspection, it’ll head to CNC Malting Co. near Butler, before being sent back to Guidos to complete a nearly 100% local supply chain.

There are even extra benefits for Heinnickel, from an agricultural perspective.

“Barley is a great conservation crop,” he said. “We can double-crop — once we take the barley off, we can plant beans. It’s also a great cover crop, but you have to have a use for it. That’s where Vince comes in.”

The festival will be from 5-10 p.m. Friday and 5-10:30 p.m. Saturday.

There will be a 4 p.m. Mass prior to the festival’s start on Saturday.

Live entertainment will be provided at 7 p.m. Friday by Black Ridge, and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday by East Coast Turnaround, with fireworks to follow. There will be an art show both days, along with food and more.

The church is at 2538 Route 119 in Salem.