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Atlanta-based beer company Sweetwater Brewery made a bet with the most iconic Boston-based brewery, Sam Adams, over this most recent Super Bowl. The stakes: the losing brewery would have to brew a beer honoring the winning team, complete with naming rights and commemorative can. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this was the most high-stakes bet ever placed by any company, ever.
Well, we all know how the game ended. And like the honorable folks that they are, Sweetwater didn't welch. The commemorative, limited edition Sweetwater Patriot Pale Ale hit the shelves this week:
it’s the bet that keeps coming back to bite us in the ass @SamuelAdamsBeer. We have 100 of these god awful cans at tours for souvenir beer pic.twitter.com/hWNkJtBihQ
— SweetWater Brewery (@sweetwaterbrew) February 15, 2017
The Patriot is described as "a soul crushing pale ale that will leave you feeling deflated. No G.O.A.T. harmed in the creation of this beer (but we gave it our best shot!)." Unfortunately, only 100 cans were made, and they sold out immediately:
cans are 100% gone and there won't be any more. Please stop calling poor Whitney and asking her to ship you some. https://t.co/xkJfKGA2AO
— SweetWater Brewery (@sweetwaterbrew) February 16, 2017
I imagine that if it were possible to ferment, bottle, and drink Victory, it would taste exactly like Patriot Pale Ale.
Credit to Sweetwater for doing a great job with their end of the bet. And while it's too bad that I won't ever be able to get my hands on a frosty can of the stuff, I'd like to think that some Patriots fan living in Southie ordered all 100 cans and drank them all in one sitting. Until it's proven otherwise, that's what I'm going to believe.