The KC Wizards do. Seriously. We have several brewers in town. If this idea were to happen, what would you prefer?
As in "This Wiz sponsored by Budweiser?" Kevin and I both homebrew -- we can knock together some Aztex Ale. Just a shame we can't drink it at the stadium.
1) Why is lager posted twice in that poll? 2) Couldn't we do varieties of beer for Aztex much like Shiner (i.e. Bock (Regular), Light, Blonde, Black, Hefeweizen, etc.)?
Because I'm stupid. Let me see if I can edit. ...Nope. If you want lager, do NOT vote for the first one. Because for some odd reason, everyone that's voted for lager has voted for the second one.
I was liking the idea of what KC's doing -- having the beer available generally. Seeing the RAW Ale in the beer case near Newcastle (just to pick some random beer) From what I read, KC's going to eventually have three. But I figured having one would be a start.
Well three is the first start. If we going to start a RAW beer, we need to broaden it. Perhaps have: 1) American style RAW beer 2) European style RAW beer & 3) Mexican style RAW beer. Anything to please the local beer market in the ATX. I know it sounds too cosmopolitan, but you can't go wrong with that. BTW somebody need to tell Dan from the Free Beer Movement about this.
Hellz ya. I'll tell um and there's your vendor for the matches right there. And yes I agree, obviously, we need a RAW Ale stat!!! (Has a nice ring to it too.)
Definitely an Amber Ale. Aztex Amber... I like the sounds of that. Maybe 512 could do a brew. Then free Aztex Amber before the game, sponsored by the Free Beer Movement! In all seriousness, I think this could be a huge angle for the club to pursue before next season. With the move downtown we've got access to plenty of beer-distribution facilities (bars) and why not have a "team brew" at a "team bar" for pre and post-game festivities. With a brewery on board and a place to serve it, the Aztex can establish a following beyond just the soccer (which is what smaller clubs need to do.. sorry it's about more that just the soccer on the field). Beer brings all sorts of people (that's my job) and we can use beer to fulfill our fans and bring in new ones. Now we've got to find a brewer, a bar, and talk to Phil this off-season (Chantico's... it's up to you).
If this could be pulled off, it would be a fantastic angle indeed. It would add an extra interesting hook to every water-cooler conversation and team article printed anywhere: "...and they even have their own beer!" Just think if it were big enough to be tied to a full team sponsor. Even a jersey sponsor, perhaps? (Somebody call Carlsberg... ) Though I suppose jersey-sponsor-sized breweries are probably in a different realm than local-microbrew-sized breweries. It could be a good gimmick as a "seasonal" beer, too. Instead of a "summer" or "winter" seasonal, a "soccer" seasonal. We wouldn't want it to be 'a "team brew" at a "team bar"', though, FBM. We'd want it to be a "team brew" at as many bars as possible!
Yes, of course, we'd want it all over the place. But I was just thinking that getting the "team brew" at the pre/post game hang out for the fans on game nights (like Nomad and Cuatro's from last season) might go a long way to creating that additional atmosphere for our House Park/downtown season.
If Real Ale will name a beer after a bike company, I see no reason someone can't do it for a soccer team. As far as I can tell, it's even their most popular beer. It would be interesting to talk to someone at Fireman's and see if its helped their marketing. http://www.firemansbikes.com/
Huh. I occasionally drink Firemans 4. I thought the gear on the logo was interesting, but I had no clue that it was named after a bike company. I guess the marketing didn't work on me!
There are a number of breweries in the area, as well as our local homebrewers in the CA. If we can get Phil to sign off on this, I would suggest this priority of speaking with breweries to get the "Aztex Amber Ale" (my personal favorite idea thus far) created, bottled, and/or hopefully kegged. 1. Independence Brewery www.independencebrewing.com 2. 512 Brewery www.512brewing.com 3. The Draughthouse Pub www.draughthouse.com 4. Live Oak www.liveoakbrewing.com This ranking is based on my personal experiences with each brewery and how likely I think they are to respond to the idea and help make it happen.
Might want to try link repairing one more time. The links all have 'bigsoccer' domains added to them.
There's your winner right there. We might call it's nickname AAA as well. BTW I fix the links up above my post.
OK we got it now! "Aztex Amber Ale" Red beer for the red and white! Let's get this done! Consider the Free Beer Movement in for whatever the next step is.
Next Steps (in no particularly good order or thought): Official Route: 1. Talk to Phil 2. Bribe, mow lawns, and buy free beer to get organization approval 3. Talk to breweries 4. Either allow them to take creative license with the recipe or have our homebrewers work on it 5. Create the most badassingest AAA label imaginable 6. Bottle and distribute to soccer pubs in town Unofficial Route: 1. CA Homebrewers unite to create the badassingest amber ale recipe that ever lived. 2. Drink, judge, tweak recipe. 3. Repeat 4. Find a way to bottle said final recipe 5. Bribe, mow lawns, and buy free beer to get 2010 CA home pub approval to allow us to bring the AAA with us to enjoy. I'm sure there are more legal things to think about regarding licensing the brand to a brewery, but that will be up to the Aztex Organization. I am just trying to keep this ball rolling.
I like it GaineGruene. Way to keep the ball rolling. If we go unofficial I am happy to brew some test batches and taste/tweak them until we get it right (with CA participation of course.) Unfortunately I think getting a home brewed beer served in a regular bar likely runs afoul of some TABC laws. Lovejoy's downtown serves some homebrews I think, but I can't think of any other bars that do. If we go the official route and Phil gives the okay I would suggest someone get in touch with either Independence Brewing (eastside) or 512 (southside). I love Real Ale but they're out in Blanco. Basically we'd be asking them to contract brew a batch of beer for us... I don't know if that's an option for them or not. Options to tweak the recipe might be limited...
The other thought is that instead of working to get this served in a pub, we initially use the brew at the pre-match gatherings next season (after in depth, repetitive testing during the off season). I'll talk to Phil Tuesday night about using the name "Aztex" in the name. I believe that we will need to steer clear of the Aztex crest.
Assuming we don't already have CA members that would want to take on the task, I have a good friend who does amazing graphic design work. So if and when we have Phil and organization approval, we could work up some preliminary design ideas using the name without the crest. (Oddly enough, she also works for AMD.) And I definitely am in agreement with Scooter Pete's post. Great job guys. I'm (obviously) really excited about this venture. I think it is an amazingly unique branding and advertising opportunity for the club. Plus, it's beer!
It all sounds fantastic. I think this is a great push to expand the influence of the Aztex in the Austin-area. Obviously we're looking at putting out a quality soccer team for 2010, but adding an "outside" role of the brew to the equation makes the Aztex more marketable and more known. If its a quality brew by whoever we've got real clout and a real conversation starter with Austinites, soccer fans or not. I know it was mentioned that home brews might run outside our objective, but I talked to a home brew friend of mine and him and his brother were interested in test brewing stuff for the AAA brew ( I would finance it). If 512m etc were not interested I can green light this. But major local brewers should be our first stop.
And of course if several batches, made by several of our resident homebrewers, were made who's ta say that all of them couldn't be used.