Right Under My Nose

With all of the digging I've done on the web to satisfy my hunger for a mix of history and beer, I barely noticed that a gold mine of such things was right here under my nose. In nearby Lawrenceville, Arsenal Cider House and Winery puts out some awesome cider. Not only that, but some of the final products are named after local historical heroes.

From what I can tell, quite a few of the offerings have a Civil War theme. It occurred to me when scouring Blue Dust's website for an updated draft list. When I finally got to the page I noticed Arsenal Fighting Elleck was tapped once again. I've had this before, but never thought twice about what it meant. Woe is me.

The "Fighting Elleck" was Alexander Hays whom was born in Franklin (an hour north of Pittsburgh). If you are from there and went to the dentist in town, it was most likely my uncle that did work on your teeth! Anyways, Hays was killed during the Overland Campaign and is currently buried in Allegheny Cemetery. One of his monuments at Gettysburg is near where some big news is actually going on.

I previously mentioned that Arsenal had other offerings named for other historical figures. The best source I've found so far is Arsenal's Facebook page.