Alabama A&M University officials have announced an innovative collaboration with Huntsville-based brewery Straight to Ale to create a new American Lager. The initiative merges the brewing craftsmanship of Straight to Ale with the academic prowess of the university’s food science and MBA programs.
The agreement allows AAMU food science students to create an AAMU-inspired beer in collaboration with the Straight to Ale brewing team. The project also received support from a group of MBA students who will assist in the marketing campaign.
The new beer – Alama Mater – will be available on May 27. “We wanted a name that connected with Alabama A&M without it being exclusive to our university, but also one that appealed to most adults,” said Archie Tucker, II, vice president for marketing, communication & advancement at Alabama A&M.
This is one of few brewing collaborations nationally in which industry has aligned with higher education to create a new beverage for the market. By all indications, Alabama A&M would be the first historically Black college or university to have its own beer.
Alabama A&M will receive a contribution for each case sold during the life of the product.
“This collaboration is an amazing opportunity for our faculty and students to put theory to practice,” Tucker added. “It allows us to diversify our institutional revenue by connecting our world-class faculty to industry experts, while also producing an amazing product that can be enjoyed throughout the state and beyond.”
Are you Serious Alabama A&M? Instead of getting into an industry that has resulted in and inflicted more harm on the Black community (i.e., BEER), you should dedicate similar or more intellectual and material resources to lessen the ongoing salient issues in “Black Huntsville”. Believe it or not Alabama A&M the so-called Black community has more than enough places that sell that “liquid cancer”. In fact, the President of Alabama A&M should resign and the entire Board should be replaced for Approving this initiative. What next, Alabama A&M will delve into the Cannabis industry.
This is a great opportunity for AAMU and other Food Science and AgriBusiness programs. The craft beer market has been overwhelmingly populated by white folks and brands such as Founders (MI) have found themselves in the middle of DEI issues that were self-inflicted. To diversify the marketplace, encourage economic development through brewing, distilling, and avenues is exciting.
Hey Laurence,
I know you can not be that ignorant by supporting this Tom Foolery. I just bet you drink enormous amounts of beer.