?Enjoy hearing sounds of a watermelon lager? Or blond-style ale aged on citrus peels? If so, you definitely want to check out the Roy-Pitz Brewing Company, started by two West Chester University graduates. Ryan Richards and his partner Jesse Rotz both graduated from WCU in 2006. Richards graduated with a degree in business managing, and Rotz graduated with a degree in business marketing. After matriculation, both partners went on to receive degrees in brewing technology at the oldest brewery school in America, The Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology.
Richards continued to further his education in advanced brewing studies and received another degree at a prominent brewing school in Germany. The two then mapped out their business and are now both co-owners of the Roy-Pitz Brewing Company, located in Chambersburg, PA. “We were also encouraged and pushed to proceed with our dreams by many professors even though we knew it was a long shot,” Richards said. Classes and professors here at WCU helped them fine-tune their business model.
According to Richards, the business has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in start-up capital in its first year.
However, the two want to give something back to West Chester.
“After all, they helped shape the foundation that gave us the vision, belief, and determination to get where we are today,” Richards said.
To give back to the school, Richards and Rotz plann to feature their product, free of charge, here at a men’s soccer alumni game on April 26. The duo is also planning a promotion party at Ryan’s Pub within the next month. They are anticipating their product to be in West Chester’s bars and around the area by late May. They are also coming to talk to senior business classes in the next month about entrepreneurship. According to Richards, they want to show the students what the business world is like from a real world point of view, “in hopes to aspire young entrepreneurs like us to make it on their own.” In addition, the duo wants to reach out to marketing majors by seeing if they would like to help the company design logos.
The company’s first beer they created is the Lovitz Lager, which was first developed while they were here at WCU. It is an all-light lager that is aged on fresh watermelons. Currently, they are developing a beer specifically for WCU, which they are titling the “West Chester Blond.” The beer is a light blond-style lager that is derived from aged citrus peels.
The accomplishments that the Roy-Pitz company has made goes to prove to everyone here at WCU that if you set your mind to something and follow your dreams, success can be achieved!
Marcelle Bacon is a first year student majoring in French. She can be reached at MB650800@wcupa.edu.