Scoring Craft Beer at the Ballgame

 

Having a beer at the ballgame has always been a central part of being a spectator, minus the hooliganism you occasionally see from that dude two rows down with no shirt on, but that’s to be expected. What has been an annoyance though are the slow strides our favorite teams and stadiums have made in offering greater variety than the mass-produced swill we’ve always come to expect. Well, that’s all changing…

, Scoring Craft Beer at the BallgameWhat’s really spurred our interest of late has been the flexibility smaller franchises, minor league teams and lesser entrenched sports like soccer have found by bringing in craft beer vendors. For instance, two larger Portland Brewers have thrown themselves head long into minor league Baseball (BridgePort Brewing and the Hillsboro Hops) and Major League Soccer (Widmer Brothers Brewing and the Portland Timbers).

Bridgeport has been behind the Hops since their creation 2 years ago, supporting their team by even creating a baseball specific, triple hopped and sessionable Long Ball Ale. Conversely, Widmer Brothers just launched their world renowned Hefeweizen with new branding to include the Timbers logo, a franchise they’ve partnered with for 15 years, long before joining the MLS 4 years ago.

“My brother Kurt and I, as well as many of our brewers and other members of our team, are longtime fans of the Portland Timbers,” said Rob Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “We are excited to continue our partnership and bring together two Portland originals for beer drinkers and soccer fans in Oregon with the Timbers and Hefe co-branded package. The Timbers are a great Portland institution, and we’re happy to continue our support and association with the team.”

Yet it isn’t just small market or sports with smaller followings that are now catering to us craft freaks. Other than the obvious locations such as Seattle’s Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field both offering over 30 craft beer varieties (70% of their tap list) or Coors Field award winning Sandlot Brewery in Denver, the recent surge of brewing in the Carolinas has prompted the creation of a Craft Beer Garden for Charlotte Hornets games as well as Panther football games.

In the end, the best places you’re going to find great craft beer offerings at any arena or stadium will vary based upon two factors: how savvy the regional craft beer scene is and/or how dedicated management is to maintaining their association with their macro overlords. If you’re trying to geek out at St Louis’ Busch Stadium or Milwaukee’s Miller Park then yeah, you’ll certainly find less variety (Busch was weak as of 2013 and Miller Park is slightly better), yet don’t expect much more than crafty and imported offerings owned by AB and Miller (plus  Yuengling) at Yankee Stadium, all at $12 a cup.  Then you have an excellent new stadium, like Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, that lies in the crossroads of tons of regional brewers and is bursting at the seams with craft beer featuring over 21 draft, 50+ bottled offerings and all under $10 a cup.

As we ramp up for baseball season, find out where your team’s stadium ranks and what beers it offers in this excellent Washington Post article from last summer. Scroll down a bit and you can compare two teams at a time viewing their best rated beers, where they rank nationally and the strength of each locations variety. For there’s nothing worse than being taken out to the ballgame and having nothing good to accompany your peanuts and crackerjack…

Learn more about where to find the best in craft beer at baseball and football stadiums across America.

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