For Bradenton's Darwin Brewing Co. and Pennsylvania's Rivertowne Brewing, distance is nothing.
The craft breweries have teamed up to create two beers — one brewed as a red ale, and the other as a lager — in two locations using the same recipe. A kickoff for their collaboration, called the Aji Limo Rojo, is planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Darwin.
In December, Rivertowne master brewer Andrew Maxwell visited the Bradenton brewery to make the lager, while Darwin brewmaster Jorge Rosabal and general manager-owner Matt Cornelius traveled to Pittsburgh a week later to brew the red ale.
Since the duo shares a connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates (Darwin is headquartered across the street from the team's spring training venue, McKechnie Field), the collaboration's release will coincide with the launch of spring training.
Alongside the brews, Rosabal and Maxwell will be on-site to discuss their partnership during the release event.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2016.