Tag: college football

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Sports & A Beer – College Football Realignment

College football has a great product and loyal tailgatin’ fans but boy do the people in charge seem intent on not being content raking in cash hand over fist.

TV deals have created strange looking for literally greener grass dynamic as teams bolt one conference for another no matter how much air travel that means for the gymnastics or lacrosse teams.

The former Pac12 nee Pac10 is now just Cougars and Beavers. There are two “Big” conferences with more teams than games in a year. Supersized SEC and ACC and rivalries trampled into dust.

But there is a path out of the chaos. It starts with their being one TV deal that is evenly split with bonus money to individual teams that rank in the top 10 and those that make the playoffs. Further, at least half of your games have to be played in your time zone and each university will be required to retain at least one legacy rivalry game.

For example, the mighty Oregon State Beavers would have to play six games against West Coast opponents and their big game against the Ducks. That leaves six games against whomever would bring them closer to the top ten from a strength of schedule viewpoint.

For a beer you could go one of two ways. You can find a beer that has lost its way and find out what can be done to make the beer better or you dan give in to the football fat cats and find the most expensive, barrel-aged stout and cackle like a tycoon.

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Fight On

USC can Big10 tailgate properly with the new , Stone Fight On! Pale Ale. Stone Brewing will be the official USC Athletics beer will be available for purchase the week of August 14, 2023.

The Pale Ale with “a balanced blend of tropical and citrusy hop flavors” will “be distributed throughout Southern California at stores, bars, and restaurants and onsite at the Los Angeles Colosseum and the Galen Center, home of the USC Trojans.”

Maybe I can get Linfield University to have an official beer made by Heater-Allen.

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College Football Town Brewery # 3 – Lansing Brewing Company

We head to the Stadium District in Lansing, Michigan to the eponymous Lansing Brewing Company since the Spartans are still hanging in the Top 25.

Let’s see what to have here, shall we…

Amber Cream Ale – “A unique twist on a cream ale. Bold flavor yet refreshing and smooth finish.”

Blackberry Shandy – “Light and refreshing! Our Blackberry Shandy is a combination of blonde ale, craft lemonade, and blackberries to create a bright citrus punch with a sweet fruit finish.”

Home Grown Harvest Ale – “Our harvest ale is a wet hopped ale utilizing Chinook from Top Hops Farm in Goodrich, MI. We used 35lbs of fresh hops that were cut from the farm and brought right to our back door to use in our brew only an hour later. The Michigan grown Chinook gives this beer a nice floral and slightly fruity flavor balance with caramel and toasted malts. It’s both hop forward and malt forward.”

Stadium Stout – “Stadium Stout is our initial stout that we brewed for our opening. It has a prominent blend of coffee and chocolate notes, medium body, and light bitterness.”

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College Football Town Brewery # 2 – Narrow Path Brewing Co.

Next up is the land of the Bearcats who are in the top 20 in the rankings this year and Cincinnati where we head to Narrow Path Brewing Co.

Here is what I would drink:

Pomegranate Mint Kettle Sour

Tire Patch IPA – “tropical, citrus and soft lingering bitterness.”

Old Fashioned Lager – “bourbon oak chips, orange peel and Luxardo cherries.”

Barrel Aged Pathinator – “vanilla, orange marmalade, chocolate and mild oak.”

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College Football Town Brewery # 1 – Alluvial Brewing

Iowa State is ranking just inside the top 10 so off to Ames and Alluvial Brewing we go to see what beers I would cyclone into a taster tray…

Lutris Pale Ale – “Our flagship pale ale featuring Citra hops & heirloom Maris Otter malt. Double dry-hopped with Citra and Apollo. New England style, hazy.”

Lontra IPA with Coconut – “Citra, Citra, Citra, Maris Otter, Citra and Citra. Made using the Norwegian Lutra Kveik yeast which brings a strong tropical flavor, pineapple and stone fruit. This variant was finished with hand toasted coconut for a summery twist.”

Waitoreke NE IPA – “Softly hopped, NE style IPA with tons of late hops from the famous New Zealand hop, Nelson Sauvin. White wine and gooseberry notes. This variant features additional Galaxy hops adding hints of tropical fruit.”

Coastdream DIPA – “Double dry-hopped w/ Mosaic and Sultana hops. Pineapple, bright citrus.”

BTW – Alluvial refers to alluvium which is “clay, silt, sand, gravel, or similar detrital material deposited by running water”