Pottstown's Sly Fox Helps Support Military Families with Craft Beer

You might not think of baseball bats as a beer ingredient, but someone out there did, and Pottstown's own Sly Fox Brewing Company was part of the process.

According to an article in the Huffington Post, Sly Fox and eight other craft breweries created Homefront IPA, all using the same recipe, with ingredients such as orange peel and yes, unfinished maple wood baseball bats. 

Near the end of the fermentation process, the maple bats, made by Louisville Slugger, are placed in a tank with the beer to impart a maple essence to the brew. 

The bats are meant to symbolize America's pastime, baseball.

Sales of the beer benefit Operation Homefront, which, according to its website, provides emergency assistance to military families and wounded warriors. 

Homefront IPA is part of a project called Hops for Heroes, started by brewer Chris Ray of Center of the Unvierse Brewery in Richmond, Va. 

In addition to Sly Fox and Center of the Universe, the Huffington Post article lists Fremont Brewing in Seattle, Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Fla., Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, the Phoenix Ale Brewery in Phoenix, Az., Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colo., and Stone Brewing Co., in Escondido, Calif. as participating breweries.

The breweries will sell bottles and kegs of the beer in their areas, with proceeds going to Operation Homefront.