One sip of Blue & Gold Brewing, an independent Marquette student-run business, can bring a wave of nostalgia to the ’77 Marquette basketball champions, thanks to four Marquette students, alumni and local collaborations.
All the brewers involved are Marquette alumni, and the entire process of designing the can, formulating the beer and getting it ready to sell took place over a couple months, from its beginning in October to its debut on National Marquette Day, Feb 4.
“Two alumni, Tim Pauly, the owner of Broken Bat Brewing, and Kevin Braur started up a conversation because they all saw a tweet, from this guy, at a bar with Panther Pilsner on the menu, and was like why does Marquette not have this? Basically, then they tagged a few brewers that are alumni, and from there … Tim and Kevin said let’s make this a reality,” Jackson Cosgriff, a senior in the College of Business and director of finance for Blue & Gold Brewing, said.
The five alumni involved are David Dupee, co-founder alongside Tim Pauly, Kevin Braur, director of business development, Joe Yeado, founder and a part of Gathering Place Brewing and Chuck Swoboda, a beer mentor and apart of Lonerider Brewing.
They were introduced into the project during its early stages, around October, thanks to John Knapp, the director of innovation and entrepreneurship and Connor Nelson, a senior in the College of Business and the director of marketing and entrepreneurship for Blue & Gold.
They did a variety of beer tastings, Will Dales, a senior in the College of Business, and director of marketing, sales and distribution for Blue & Gold, said.
Dales said they tasted beers that were already out and from there picked aspects of the beer that they liked, and then sent it to the alumni beer brewers and board.
“The beer tasting influenced the naming because we came to the conclusion that golden ale is what we wanted to do, for one, it appeals to everybody, it’s not a hard beer to drink if you do not drink beer, and the entire being gold was kind of a lay-up, if you will with the color palette,” Dales said.
Nelson also said a lighter beer would be the most appealing to a larger crowd and target a bigger audience.
“We ended on the ’77 Golden Ale, to commemorate the 1977 Championship that Marquette won, and the idea for us was kind of like to sell that nostalgia, as the beer is targeted more towards alumni,” Dales said.
Nelson said the ball really began to drop on popularity when University President Michael Lovell spoke of Blue & Gold Brewing at his presidential address.
“Having the debut on national Marquette Day is a no–brainer, there’s a bunch of alum in town, and it was a huge opportunity for us, and we wanted to build onto the hype already surrounding National Marquette Day,” Nelson said.
The design of the can was based on a moment in Marquette’s history.
“The design was inspired by the ’77 championship jerseys and the stripes on the side similarly resemble the stripes on the basketball jerseys. The fonts that I used were all from the 1970s, so we wanted to keep that retro look going throughout the whole can,” Gracie Pionek, a senior in the College of Communication, and director of graphic design and brand strategy said.
Dales said that they were laying out the groundwork and pioneering for future students and that there will be a new design and a new beer next year.
“The idea is that it is a rotating project, giving experimental learning to a different group of students every year. Ideally, we laid a pretty solid framework, that they can just plug and play,” Dales said.
Dales said that after they have one more batch distributed for retail, the ’77 will shut down but the business venture will pack back up next year with four new students that will be selected.
Devin Mistry, a junior in the College of Business, said his first impression of the drink on National Marquette Day was through the online marketing presence leading up to its debut, which included Instagram promotion and features in Marquette Today.
“When I first tried the ale, it was at the Butler vs. Marquette game where it quickly sold out … while I am not usually a beer person … I really enjoyed it and it exceeded my expectations,” Mistry said.
Nelson said they were able to get the beer into Fiserv, and it sold out right before the end of the first half due to high demand.
Mistry said it indubitably made his National Marquette Day better, besides the fact that he lost his can that he wanted to keep as a souvenir.
“This brand helps create a community here at Marquette by connecting students to entrepreneurship and tacts that research Marquette alumni and outside communities. A drink like this that is all about Marquette is a super cool flex as a student… the brand/ale speaks for itself,” Mistry said.
This story was written by Trinity Zapotocky. She can be reached at [email protected]
