Zeke’s Coffee Brown Ale, A Caffeinated Collaboration

Let’s cut to the chase. Coffee represents way more than just the first drink of the day. Americans consume over 400 million cups of coffee per day making the United States the leading consumer in the world. With that being said, there’s still a lot more coffee to consume. As thousands of coffee varieties are available and new shops are opening on a weekly basis, this gives small businesses the opportunity to create something innovative and exciting for the coffee industry. Rivertowne Brewing and Zeke’s Coffee have capitalized on this opportunity and created Zeke’s Coffee Brown Ale. We spoke with Rob Johnson of Rivertowne Brewing Company about the caffeinated collaboration.

It all started when John Renyck, a childhood friend of Chad Hammitt of Zeke’s Coffee decided to toss around the idea of a coffee beer. The concept of Coffee Beer is no new phenomena, but Chad and John had a new concept in mind to bring to the Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week. Instead of creating something that’s become a commodity such as a stout, they decided to make the beer into a brown ale using a Brazilian Surata bean as the base. “This really allows for an earthy bean to shine through really nicely, it’s hard to find something like that”, Rob claimed.

After discovering the innovation behind this ale, Rob Johnson needed this product in a can and on the shelves. Rob stated, “To do a draft release is simple and rather easy, but to put this in a can and bring it to life is much more impactful”. So far, the reception of Zeke’s Coffee Brown Ale has been fantastic. As it’s beginning to hit the shelves, many are already falling in love with this innovative, flavorful creation.

In the future, Rivertowne is planning on doing quite a few more collaborations. Be sure to check out Zeke’s Coffee Brown Ale on a shelf near you.