Beer and football, that’s what America does. This post season, local breweries showed their dedication with hoppy odes to their favorite teams. And sometimes the competition got heated.
Showing their true sportsmanship The West Flanders Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado generously offered free drinks and food to Patriots players during their trip to Denver. The only contingency: they had to attend between 3-6 p.m. on Sunday (aka game time). Except Giselle. She could show up whenever she wanted. The brewery’s latest beer, “Brett on the Broncos AFC Champion Style Ale,” quickly had its name audibled (damn you NFL infringement claims) to “Omaha, Omaha, Brett!” The beer is in honor of Peyton Manning screaming Omaha over and over at the line of scrimmage.
Not to be outdone the Seattle Seahawks can take pride in the newest Seattle brew, “The 12th Can” named in honor of the loudest home crowd in the NFL. Ryan Hilliard co-founder of Hilliard’s Beer, a 2-year-old brewery, summed up the idea saying that, “when you think of the Northwest, you think of craft beer, and in Seattle, you’ve got the Seahawks. Shouldn’t there be a craft beer for the Seahawks?” The beer has been a huge success, with 300,000 cans sold since the release in September and is a staple at Seahawk tailgates. Keep your eye out for the 12th can come February 2 in New York City.
Despite a tough loss on Sunday, San Francisco embraced their 49ers with “Niner Nation IPA”. The San Francisco Brewing Company beer did big business in the bay during San Fran’s run to the NFC Championship game. To prove their dedication to the 49ers, the beer was never sold in Seattle and brewmaster Josh Leavy says he’ll be rooting against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. San Franciscans may need a few of these Niner Nation brews to forget about the painful defeat in Seattle and Richard Sherman’s epic postgame rant.
Whatever city and team you rooted for this postseason, we can all agree that a great beer makes the game a whole lot more fun, especially when it’s named after your team. Except for Green Bay where they had to grill their beers to keep them from freezing. And they still lost.