Stick City Brewing Company and the RCTC - a partnership worth toasting
Stick City Brewing Company located in Mars, PA has become a great partner and friend of the RCTC these last three years. Nick Salkeld and his parents, Ron and Elaine, own and operate the brewery which opened in April 2018. Nick started brewing beer with his brother in the 2009/2010 timeframe using their father’s home brewing equipment. In 2016, the family started working towards the goal of opening a brewery.
Nick indicated that the name Stick City came from his family hanging out in the “sticks” in the rural parts of Butler County. Ron would say they were going to Stick City on these trips.
Stick City was the first craft brewery in Pennsylvania to join the 1% for the Planet Movement. The brewery donates 1% of its sales to environmental non-profits. Nick says they do this because they genuinely care about wild areas and waterways.
RCTC first met the Stick City folks at the Oboz Trail Challenge (sponsored by Public Lands) finish picnic, which was held at the brewery that year, and our partnership bloomed quickly thereafter. We quickly discovered that Stick City’s beliefs dove-tail neatly with the RCTC’s beliefs and goals. Starting with the 25th Rachel Carson Trail Challenge celebration event in 2022, Stick City has partnered with RCTC making specially brewed beers specifically for the events.
The event T-shirt logos (different each year) are incorporated onto the beer can design logos through Nick’s efforts. This has become a big hit at the event! The cans as well as the T-shirts are commemorative and unique to each year’s event.
Since hazy ales and IPA’s are the most popular beers for the last several years, Nick has endeavored to brew up special unique hazy ales for the RCTC. Event participants really enjoyed the beers and look forward to them each year. Nick’s goal is to produce a very tasty and enjoyable hazy ale / IPA with a moderate alcohol level (APV) of about 5 to 6% so they aren’t too strong.
Of note, wheat is commonly used in beer recipes as part of the grain bill (barley is typically the largest grain source in most beers) but Nick leaves out wheat in RCTC beer recipes to eliminate the possibility of a negative reaction to the presence of gluten that some people may have.
Each year some 1,200 to 1,400 sixteen-ounce cans are filled for the event and while the rest of the beer is kegged. Four packs and draft beer are sold at the dinner the night before and at the Challenge. If there are any beers left after the event, they are available at the brewery until sold out. The ratio of cans to kegs has been adjusted slightly to reflect the ratio of sales.
Stick City Brewing donates 20% of the net sales of the beer to the RCTC which has amounted to $2,500 or more for each event. Over the three-year partnership, the RCTC has received more than $7,000.
The RCTC values our partnership with Stick City and looks forward to seeing what the 2025 RCTC Challenge beer will taste like. In the meantime, grab your Stick City beer at the brewery located in Mars, PA.
For more information about Stick City Brewing contact them at stickcitybeer.com or 724-687-7849.