Elysian and Harpoon Brewing make Super Bowl Bet
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.
