It's a tradition among governors, mayors and other pillars of the community to place bets on the outcomes of big games. But brewers have something pretty directly related to the experience of watching sporting events, and especially the Super Bowl--beer. In keeping with friendly tradition, Elysian Brewing of Seattle and Harpoon Brewery of Boston have placed a bet on Super Bowl XLIX. In case anyone in either of those two cities has been living under a rock without cable, the Seattle Seahawks will be facing the New England Patriots in the University of Phoenix stadium on Sunday, February 1. The products of big brewers like Anheuser-Busch might dominate the ad airwaves, but it will be the beers of Elysian and Harpoon that are on the line in the bet between pioneering craft brewers.
The bet involves three kegs of beer from each brewery crossing the country in opposite directions, to be poured in the breweries' taprooms the week after the big game. The loser will be required to fly the flag of the opposing, winning team until the beer is gone. Like so much in the craft side of the brewing industry it's a friendly competition--even the losers win, by getting to drink the beer of their cross-country friends and colleagues. One of the beers Elysian is sending, in fact, is called Loser, first brewed for the 20th anniversary of Seattle's indie record label, Sub Pop.
The Patriots, of course, are no strangers to Super Bowl appearances having won three in relatively recent memory. And the reigning champion Seahawks are the first team since the Patriots roughly ten years ago to win the Super Bowl one year and make a repeat appearance the following year. It'll be the battle between an established AFC dynasty and an NFC dynasty in the making. Whoever comes out on top, the folks at both Harpoon and Elysian will be drinking excellent beer, both that of their own making and their friends from across the country.
and this from Harpoon:
As you read this, three kegs of Harpoon (IPA, The Long Thaw, and Leviathan) are being shrink-wrapped and palletized in preparation for shipment across the US of A. In a few short hours they’ll be loaded on a truck for transport, marked “We’re on to Seattle.” If all goes according to plan – and it will – in roughly 10 days the aforementioned Harpoon kegs will be tapped and pouring from the Elysian Brewing Company’s taps in Seattle. That’s how confident we are.
When it was determined that the Pats would be playing the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, our CEO Dan Kenary dialed up Dick Cantwell, president of Elysian, and proposed a wager: if the Pats win the Super Bowl, Elysian will pour three different kegs of Harpoon in their tap room and if the Seahawks win (ha!), three kegs of Elysian will be tapped in Harpoon’s Boston employee tap room on the Monday following the Super Bowl.
When it comes down to it, it’s pretty much a win-win beer situation.
And yes, we made doubly sure that all the kegs were 100% full before shipping... Go Pats!
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