News

With a nod to one of Le Moyne’s most revered traditions, Dolphy Day IPA - a collaboration between Meier’s Creek Brewing Company (MCBC) and the Jesuit College - is set to rollout by the beginning of March at Meier’s Creek locations in Cazenovia and the Syracuse Inner Harbor and retail stores throughout the region.

The announcement of the new craft beer is the culmination of a months-long process between MCBC and Le Moyne, where the student marketing firm Heights Global Marketing (HGM) took the lead in several areas related to developing the Le Moyne-themed beer. This included conducting market research, creating and executing a survey sent to Le Moyne alumni and leading focus groups.

The goal of their work was to gather data from alumni about the preferred type and name of the beer; once those were selected HGM students worked on the design of the label. They have also designed a number of swag items to help with the promotion of the beer.

“The work of our students under the direction of Dr. Margie Ierlan, working alongside the tremendous team at Meier’s Creek, has been simply outstanding,” said Jim Joseph ’83, Ed.D. ’23, Le Moyne’s vice president for advancement and innovation and dean of the Madden College of Business and Economics. “Given the large number of alumni who live in this region, Dolphy Day IPA is sure to be popular and will benefit Le Moyne and our students.”

Under the agreement with MCBC, the College will receive 20 percent of all sales, which will go to the Le Moyne College Fund and specifically target the College’s wellness initiatives and student scholarship to help offset the cost of attendance. ​ "The project has allowed us to work with a number of talented and dedicated students at Le Moyne, who have been involved in a number of ways to help make this partnership a success,” said Crystal Paolelli, director of marketing for MCBC. “I can say from the team at Meier's Creek and our partners at The Buzz Creative Group, we are very excited to see what this partnership brews next."

Dolphy Day IPA was the overwhelming favorite in the survey conducted by Heights Global Marketing, with roughly 50% of the 2,000 alumni respondents indicating a preference for the name. Dolphy Day is a Le Moyne tradition dating back to 1971 where students spend the first warm day of spring outside enjoying the weather and the company of fellow Dolphins. Other names considered were Ignatian Ale - for St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits - and 1946, in honor of the year Le Moyne was founded.

Learn more about Dolphy Day IPA at this link. Those of legal drinking age can place pre-orders for the beverage starting on Monday, Feb. 19, with pre-reservations open until Friday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m.

The development of Dolphy Day IPA is in line with a recent trend of higher education institutions launching themed beer; these include Indiana University’s Hoosier Gameday Lager, East Carolina University’s Pirates Brew, Florida State University’s Legacy Lager and Marquette University’s ’77 Golden Ale.