(South Deerfield, MA) – From Berkshire Brewing‘s newsletter this week:

We hope you are all well as fall over takes us, basking the region in the colors of nature’s seasonal palette. With this month’s newsletter, we issue a special invitation to all to join us in the remembrance of a dear friend, to join us in a celebration of the life of Greg Noonan. Greg was a mentor, an inspiration and a friend to many of us in the brewing community, and so on Monday, October 11th, 2010, we will release Gude Greg’s Wee Heavy Reserve as our reverent nod to this great man.

We ask all interested to join us at 2 P.M. in the Berkshire Brewing parking lot (12 Railroad St., South Deerfield, MA) for a toast in his honor on this, the anniversary of his passing. Greg was the founder of the Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington, Vermont, author of several books on beer and brewing, and a true pioneer in the evolution of the American craft brewing scene, particularly here on the East Coast. Most of all he was a great man and a great friend who left us far too soon. We hope you will be able to join us in raising a glass in his name.

“Gude Greg’s Wee Heavy Reserve” is a classic Scotch Ale, brewed with passion as a celebration of the man to whom we owe so much. This beer was then aged in bourbon barrels from the Woodford Reserve Distillery and will be bottled in a commemorative twenty-two ounce bottle.

Bottles will be available for purchase on October 11th exclusively at the Deerfield Spirit Shoppe (53 S. Main St.), around the corner from the brewery. At this time we cannot guarantee where or how much of this limited release brew will be available after Monday, October 11th, so this is your best opportunity to purchase bottles. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of “Gude Greg’s Wee Heavy Reserve” will be donated to support the Greg Noonan Scholarship Fund at the American Brewers Guild.