Upland Brewing releases first Indiana University Athletics branded beer on Sunday

Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times
Updated ·2 min read
Upland Brewing Company's Hoosier Gameday Lager is the first-ever branded beer for Indiana University Athletics and will be sold beginning Sunday, Aug. 13.
Upland Brewing Company's Hoosier Gameday Lager is the first-ever branded beer for Indiana University Athletics and will be sold beginning Sunday, Aug. 13.

Upland Brewing Company, an Indiana craft brewer headquartered in Bloomington that has locations throughout Indiana, will release the first-ever Indiana University Athletics branded beer at noon on Sunday.

Hoosier Gameday Lager will be available at all nine Upland locations. On Monday, Aug. 14, the new lager will be sold at bars, grocery and liquor stores as well. Hoosier Gameday Lager also will be available to anyone 21 or older at football games at Indiana Memorial Stadium. The first Big Ten game will be Sept. 2 when the Hoosiers take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Hoosier Gameday Lager was created using feedback from Upland fans who were part of a formal market research project. More than 10,000 surveys helped to determine the beer design and taste profile. An "easy drinking lager" was the suggestion from the surveys, according to Eddie DeSalle, president of Upland Brewing, who earned undergraduate and MBA degrees at IU.

DeSalle said the road to becoming the first brewery to make an IU Athletics' branded beer began last August.

Hoosier Gameday Lager is sold in a can and is 4.7% alcohol by volume. The beer will be featured at watch parties for certain IU sports games, mostly football and men's and women's basketball games, DeSalle said.

Upland Brewing will donate a portion of Hoosier Gameday Lager sales to IU student scholarships through IU's Licensing & Trademarks Program.

“The support and excitement surrounding this particular beer has been extraordinary,” said DeSalle in a news release. “To have a beer specifically for IU fans and made by IU fans is unique to the market and really energizing for those who support the cream and crimson. Since we’re based in Bloomington, creating this beer was such a natural fit, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Currently, Upland Brewing has 30 beers listed on its website, uplandbeer.com. Hoosier Gameday Lager is not on the website but will be one of two lagers the company makes. DeSalle said Hoosier Gameday Lager is the company's first brew in the gameday beer category.

Founded in 1998, Upland Brewing Company has three breweries, two brewpubs and four tap house locations in Bloomington, the Indianapolis metro area, Jeffersonville and Columbus. It is the third largest brewer in Indiana, and the producer of the top-selling India pale ale in the state, Dragonfly.

Reach Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: First IU Athletics branded beer released by Upland Brewing Company