• Courtesy Of Jesse Cronin
• Jesse Cronin

A local brewer is giving thanks to educators by offering them discounts on one of his newest offerings.

Jesse Cronin created Our Impossible Ask to honor those preparing to go back to school during an uncertain — and scary — time. The 7.7 percent alcohol by volume double IPA is "rich with tropical hop aroma" and packs a "boozy punch," according to its label. 

"Pairs well with late staff meetings, tech snafus, upended expertise, existential crisis, and ongoing complications," the label says.

Cronin knows from firsthand experience. His wife, Libby Bonesteel, is the Montpelier Roxbury Public School District superintendent, and the couple is trying to figure out how to send their two kids back to school. 

"All summer, I've kind of had a frontline view of what it's been like," Cronin said. "Just trying to plan for an impossible situation — and an ever-changing impossible situation."

• Courtesy Of Jesse Cronin
• Our Impossible Ask, a double IPA

Cronin, once a teacher himself, spent the last five years at Magic Hat Brewing, including two as head brewer. He left in March to stay home with the kids. In the months since, Cronin launched Lucy & Howe Brewing, a nanobrewery operated out of the family's 1850s farmhouse in Jericho.

"Small is actually relatively generous," Cronin said of his nascent operation. "It's really tiny. You could do the whole tour by kinda coming in and just spinning in a slow circle."

Cronin produces 18 to 24 cases of 16-ounce cans each week, which he sells at farmers markets, online and out of his house. Our Impossible Ask has "been pretty well received, and it's tasting pretty good," Cronin said.

Educators get 10 percent off each purchase.

"I figured they deserve a drink," Cronin said. "That's for sure."