Every year, the patrons and staff at the Cloverleaf Tavern in Caldwell, New Jersey, raise a toast to their founder, George Dorchak. George founded the bar in 1933, his son Richard expanded it to a food and beverage operation, and his grandson Ryan is now an operating partner with Richard today. Since George passed away, the tavern has celebrated “Founder’s Day” on his birthday, September 9th, raising their glasses in his memory at around 7:00 PM. This year, however, the annual event will have an even deeper meaning—and feature a very special new beer.
In addition to his grandfather, Ryan says that this year’s toast will honor his uncle, Peter Dorchak, who passed away last year from ALS. For the toast, many of the patrons and staff at the Cloverleaf will be holding pints of Darlington, a beer created by Farmers and Bankers Brewing of Woodstown, New Jersey. Darlington was brewed in tribute to Margie Darlington, a friend and patron of the brewery who also passed from ALS in 2024.
The event represents a partnership between two members of the New Jersey craft beer community to raise crucial funds to end ALS by supporting the Ales for ALS™ program. Through Ales for ALS™, brewers around the country create a special brew using a unique hop blend, which they receive free of charge, courtesy of Yakima Chief Hops and Loftus Ranches. They then donate one dollar per pint from every pint sold to support ALS research at the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), a nonprofit biotech company and the world’s most comprehensive drug discovery lab dedicated solely to ALS.
The Story of Darlington — an Ales for ALS™ Beer
Mike Melniczuk, the founder and CEO of Farmers and Bankers, says that he knew he wanted to do something to support ALS research after learning that Margie—a physical therapy client of his wife’s—had been diagnosed with the disease. In a serendipitous moment, Mike and his business partner, Clint Brown, attended the Kennet Brewfest, a regional craft beer festival, later that year.
There, they met Jeff Norman, the event’s organizer, who lost his sister to the disease and works to give back by recruiting brewers for Ales for ALS™. With Jeff’s encouragement, they enrolled in the program and released the first edition of Darlington later that year. Since then, they have continued to support Ales for ALS™, and the beer’s release has become an annual celebration for the brewery.
“Margie was able to celebrate with three iterations of the beer there with us,” Mike says. “Then, last year, she passed away right before we had released it. But she got to be a part of that every year. We would do a release party to celebrate her, and now her family is still there and they're still a part of it.”
For 2025, Farmers and Bankers is releasing two versions of Darlington, both using this year’s unique hop blend from Yakima Chief. One, like past iterations of the beer, will be a hazy IPA. The second is a lighter hoppy pilsner. Both styles will be available in cans and on draft at the Cloverleaf Tavern’s Founder’s Day celebration—but, says Ryan, there’s one option that would have been his uncle’s clear choice.
Coming Together to Support ALS Research
“Uncle Pete loved coming in here, he loved supporting the Tavern, and he loved his Pilsners,” he says. “It was June of last year that we found out that my uncle's speech started slurring, and then he was diagnosed with ALS. Within six months, he passed away. That led us down the journey path of creating this event. When I heard about Ales for ALS™, I said, ‘This is perfect. We can do something, have fun with craft beer, and give back to a great cause at the same time.”
After getting in touch about participating in the program, Ryan knew that he wanted to find a special beer to serve for the toast. He connected with Mike and Clint, who offered to print a special label featuring Cloverleaf’s logo for the cans of Darlington that will be served at the event. Because the tavern, which is located in Northern New Jersey, is outside of Farmers and Bankers’ Southern New Jersey distribution area, Clint offered to load up his own car with cans and kegs and drive them up himself.
On September 9th, Darlington IPA and Pilsener will be available in cans and on draft to anyone who attends Cloverleaf’s Founder’s Day celebration, along with food, live music, and raffles to raise additional funds. It will continue to be available throughout the rest of the week, until they run out of the supply that Clint will drive up a few days beforehand. As always, $1 from every pint sold will be donated to Ales for ALS™, supporting ALS TDI’s essential research to end ALS and honoring the memories of both Margie Darlington and Pete Dorchak.
To learn more about Cloverleaf Tavern’s Founder’s Day Ales for ALS™ celebration, click here.
For more information about Farmers and Bankers Brewing, click here.
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