‘Cream the Patriots’ Inspires Spangalang to Brew Bronco-Themed Beer

Beer is fun. Football is fun. Darren Boyd, co-founder of Spangalang Brewery in Denver, combined the two for this weekend’s NFL’s AFC title game in the Mile High City. “Orange Crushsicle” is a 4.3 percent session ale with additions of orange juice, bitter and sweet orange peel, and a dose of vanilla.

“We are excited about the game and found a way to tie into it,” Boyd said. “Something that would standout and be identifiable. Orange seemed the good choice and we played around with words, we figured we would “cream” the Patriots so we thought of and orange cream flavored beer.”

Boyd said they started a batch of session ale six weeks ago and blended out the one-barrel portion this week to honor the Broncos after a win against Pittsburgh.

“It’s the beer equivalent of a Dreamsicle frozen treat,” Boyd said. “It really tastes like the name implies and I think it will be a nice surprise for people.”

This is the first time the brewery has done such a gimmick, but Boyd, who previously worked at Great Divide along with fellow co-founders Taylor Rees and Austin Wiley, said he knew other breweries have made a style similar, so he wasn’t worried about it not tasting great. Boyd said there are no plans to develop the beer long term for the small brewery that he describes as a “neighborhood brewery” that has made a few hundred barrels of beer after opening in May of 2015.

“It’s just a fun thing to do for a big game. Hopefully we’ll have enough to last us for the weekend. If they win maybe we’ll have to come up with something for the Super Bowl.”

Spangalang, which has a 10 bbl brewhouse, made waves just three months after opening, capturing a gold medal for their Belgian-style table beer at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.

The brewery is jokingly setting aside a very special keg of the beer for New England quarterback Tom Brady for after the game.

“Just before kickoff, we’re going to drop the pressure on the beer by a few PSI. It’ll be a bit flat and more to his liking,” Boys said, “something to enjoy while he wipes away the tears.”