Grainworks to Release 'Cincinnati Liars Lager' to Honor Legacy of Local WWII Shortwave Radio Station

West Chester’s Grainworks Brewing Company has partnered with the National VOA Museum of Broadcasting to create a special brew: Cincinnati Liars Lager.

While the name initially sounds like a slight, it isn’t — unless you like Hitler.

According to a release, the name comes from a barb tossed out by Adolf Hitler during World War II toward the local Voice of America Bethany Station.

“When the Voice of America at Bethany Station began transmitting shortwave radio war news to the European theater and our Allied troops in September of 1944, we didn’t know if anyone was listening,” says Jack Dominic, VOA museum director, in a release. “It soon became apparent that they were. Adolf Hitler, who ran an extensive propaganda machine to control the German people, soon after called the Bethany Station, ‘those Cincinnati liars.’ We’re proud to honor Bethany Station’s contribution to the VOA’s mission of telling the truth in media in order to let people in oppressed countries decide what form of government they want and will support.”

Cincinnati Liars Lager will be released at Grainworks (7790 Service Center Drive, West Chester) during a special fundraiser and keg tapping 2-10 p.m. June 15. Proceeds from the beer sales and Cincinnati Liars T-shirts featuring the beer label will benefit the museum. Bottles will be available for sale at the taproom later this summer.

The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting is located at 8070 Tylersville Road and is open 1-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for children.

Long story short, the museum is dedicated to the local Voice of America Bethany Station, the result of radio efforts to combat propaganda before, during and after World War II. In the 1930s, Crosley Broadcasting Corporation locally began developing radios that could broadcast news and music to Europe and Latin America. This became vitally important after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called an emergency meeting in 1942 asking major broadcasters to set up radio stations to beam news accounts overseas and to help coordinate accurate war information. The VOA Bethany Station was one of three in the nation built as a result, along with an NBC and CBS station — VOA Dixon and VOA Delano, respectively. The goal of the VOA was to broadcast truthful, comprehensive information about the war to allies in 40 different languages, which it did and which irritated Hitler.

The VOA Bethany Station is celebrating 75 years on Sept. 21 with its own special fundraiser as well, which will also feature the Cincinnati Liars Lager.

“We’re happy to support the VOA museum during this special anniversary,” said Steven Brock, Grainworks COO, in the same release. “We look forward to helping spread the word about the incredible people and technology at the museum.”

For more information, visit facebook.com/grainworksbeer and voamuseum.org.