God, beer, and evangelization by the pint: The story of Tridentine Brewing

Father and sons team Jeff, Trevor, and Cameron Alcorn have been brewing beer in their basement for fun for over a decade. But, in late 2024, three of their brews appeared on grocery store shelves in Wisconsin—the culmination of a lengthy process in their desire to bring their beer to the commercial scene.

In late 2024, I was able to visit their “research and design” brewery at Jeff’s family home in Wisconsin. Filled with his wife’s handmade art, restored statues, boisterous young boys, and a dog, Jeff’s house was a beautiful stop amid the somewhat dreary and flat cornfields of rural Illinois. Down in the basement, we were greeted by a flash of color and light, and the silver glisten of mash and brewing tanks.

Recently retired from a life sciences company, Jeff is an easygoing fellow, tall with short-cropped grey hair and a ready smile. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet Trevor, but I did get to meet Cameron Alcorn, another of Jeff’s sons, who has collaborated on the graphics of the brewing company. Jeff and Cameron placed label after label onto the stainless steel countertop, telling me the story of each of their brews.

The Alcorns named their basement brewing project Tridentine Brewing Co. in hopes their beer would eventually evangelize by being based on Catholic saints and traditions. Born of a love for the Catholic Faith, which they found enriched through discovering and attending the Traditional Latin Mass or “Tridentine Mass,” they decided the name also fit with their interest in traditional ways of beer making and love for family culture which it fostered.

The first three brews that have gone public almost tell their story in a nutshell: the “Cristeros Mexican Lager” honoring the martyrs of the Mexican Cristero War, the “Quartermaster Jerry Blonde Ale” named for Jeff’s Navy father, and the “Dies Irae Imperial Stout” named for the famous sequence in the traditional Requiem liturgy for the faithful departed.

All of their brews honor family or saints, and Catholic traditions. Jeff displayed a limited batch they brewed in honor of his grandmother, one for the marriage of a close relative, and finally his grandfather Jerry, an electrician in the US Navy in the late 1950s and early 60s. Jerry’s favorite beer was a Busch Light, so Jeff tried to create something similar to commemorate him—if a little more sophisticated. Each time they brewed a batch, he’d adjust the recipe a little until they arrived at the current formula—not that close to a Busch Light, but a blond ale much more palatable for lovers of fine beer.

This led to a fun tangent on the history of their family: the first known brewer in the family was Gertrude Skrzypek (Trevor’s great-great-grandmother, born in 1880) who made beer in the family bathtub, in her Chicago residence during Prohibition. Irene and Ken Solecki were also home brewers who brewed with and taught their son-in-law Jeff how to brew in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jeff recounts how they wanted to honor the Cristeros, to whom they have a devotion as Catholic saints with a particular connection to North America and a connection to the Traditional movement. A Mexican-style Lager was the obvious choice. The label explains how the lager is “brewed in honor of the men and women of Mexico who were willing to become martyrs to protect Faith, Church, families, livelihoods, land, and freedoms from the persecution of the Socialist government.” Characterized as “clean, malty,” and “amber”, the striking artwork on this—as well as artwork for the other commercial brews—is designed by Chris Lewis of Baritus Catholic Illustration—a Catholic graphic designer with a popular Etsy store.

Tridentine Brewing’s “Dies Irae Imperial Stout,” a beer designed to attain “peak darkness” with “hints of coffee and a pleasing hop aroma”, encourages prayer for the faithful departed: “May we raise this healthy reminder of our end as motivation to rightly order our lives towards God, and as a reminder to pray for the repose of the souls of those who have gone before us.”

During the years leading up to going commercial, Jeff was enthusiastic about creating connections and brand recognition among his fellow Catholics. This led to the creation of custom brews: two beers for the Institute of Christ the King: a “Christ the King Kölsch” Beer and a “Defender of the Faith German Hefeweizen”, originally designed in honor of the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the Institute and featuring their Patron, St. Francis DeSales. Another brew was created for the Mass of Ages documentary. Two invoke the patronage of Blessed Emperor Karl and Servant of God Empress Zita of Austria. The Alcorns’ “Hopsburg Vienna Lager,” which features the Habsburg Emperor, and a Red Ale in honor of his wife. Jeff made this brew simply because he was fond of Blessed Karl, but after the fact the Emperor Karl League of Prayer-–the American/Canadian Chapter of the League of Prayer that formally helps to promote the cause for Blessed Emperor Karl’s canonization—got in touch and Tridentine was able to bring some free Hopsberger beer for their conference.

With all these Catholic connections, I wondered how Tridentine Brewing would fare in secular grocery stores. “How have store owners received the explicitly Catholic branding?” I ask Jeff. He recounts the saga of navigating state alcohol legislation, and of finally finding a brewing company to collaborate with on larger batches in Wisconsin. He makes several connections and soon finds the owners of a couple of grocery stores and restaurants, willing to stock his product, but skeptical as to how popular it will be. You can use the “beer finder” on their website to locate retailers carrying Tridentine Beer.

One of the grocery store owners is Catholic, so that helps initially. But when Jeff tried to sell him multiple cases of beer, the owner declined, saying, “We’ll start slow and just stock a few six-packs.” But Jeff insists they’ll be popular: “You’ll sell out in a day or two with that little.” But the store owner wouldn’t budge and Jeff left him with a very small stock. “But the next day I get a call, ‘I’m out of beer, can you bring more?’” Jeff drives over with more, but still can’t convince the store to buy in bulk. Some fans of Tridentine Brewing had gotten wind that the beer was available, and for the next several weeks the store was running out every other day.

People were even driving from four hours away and out of state to get the beer. One day, some guys from Nebraska showed up and bought over $400 of Tridentine beer. “That’s a store-owner’s dream,” laughs Jeff. “He was selling out before his check to me would even clear the bank!” With people calling in to check if the beer is in stock, the store has wised up a little. But now Jeff is trying to handle the demand from states they are not yet set up to sell in. He just had a call from a restaurant in Kansas, and the Catholic owner pleaded with him to ship them beer—which in this case is legal, but expensive—and promised that he was happy to incur whatever extra expenses there were. Another liquor store manager said, “I have never, up until this point, seen people travel on a ‘pilgrimage’ for beer!”

One of the “Beer Pilgrims” explains the surprising venture. Ryan Yang, a member of the St Francis of Assisi Latin Mass Parish in Lincoln, Nebraska (run by the Fraternity of St Peter), describes discovering Tridentine Brewing: “Tridentine brewing piqued my interest ever since I saw photos of their Stella Maris porter and their Hopsburg lager. Initially, I thought these were just funny memes. But when a friend brought home some of the beers from their trip up to the brewery, I was hooked. The art was classy, and the beer was tasty.”

In his late twenties, Ryan is an active member of the Parish’s Young Adult group. “Our young adult group at the Fraternity of St. Peter Parish, which numbers around fifty people, had the opportunity to sample some of the beers before Christmas; we were hooked. From that point, our group made a huge bulk order.” Ryan says that for him and his friends, “seeing Catholic businesses use good art and create beautiful works (in this case, the beer) gives me hope that our hyper-consumerist culture has not entirely profaned the leisurely enjoyment of good things.”

Trevor tells me about the engagement of non-Catholics with the branding. “It’s been very positive. Most of the time, non-Catholics are drawn in by the beautiful can artwork, and often have a vague idea that the Catholic-themed cans are religious in nature.” He says the artwork has never been a turnoff for any non-Catholic that we have talked with concerning the beers. In fact, it often leads to a very organic conversation about the Faith. “Typically, absent the presence of the beer cans, there may not be an organic way to bring up specific topics such as the Cristeros fighters or the Four Last Things. However, when we have individuals who want to know more about what the artwork represents, it presents a great opportunity to discuss these themes and what they mean. In other words, it is a tremendous evangelization opportunity to introduce a Catholic theme; to plant a seed that may mature one day down the line.”

The future is bright for Tridentine Brewing. Currently, they are not selling beer online (although they plan to eventually), although you can find lots of wonderful merch in their merch store. With three beautiful brews just released to the market (and two more slated to appear this year), and an eager audience for them, beer-loving Catholics should take note—and if you’re in the Wisconsin area, perhaps a trip to one of the locations where they are in stock is in order—although it might be wise to call ahead and confirm!