A tip of the cap and raise of the glass to Jagged Mountain Brewery based out in Denver, Colorado. They revealed on Tuesday that come next Friday June 2, they will be having an official release party for a new craft beer, one that is to honor former Michigan State punter, the late Mike Sadler.
"Hey Diddle Diddle" beer + label!
Join us from 5-9pm on Friday, June 2 to celebrate Mike Sadler's life and legacy!https://t.co/zRUgQ2iai7 pic.twitter.com/ynYpKwZd3w
— Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery (@JaggedMtnCB) May 23, 2017
Jagged Mountain, which is just blocks away from Coors Field in downtown Denver, is co-owned by a Spartan grad in RJ Banat. The Sadler-inspired beer is named “Hey Diddle Diddle” after a trick play Sadler did during his time with the Spartans football program.
[the_ad id=”80408″]
Spartan fans may remember this play rather fondly. It happened back in 2013 in a road game against Iowa, a fake punt they deemed, “Hey diddle diddle, send Sadler up the middle.”
Banat shared his thoughts on the creation of the beer:
“Based on everything I know about Mike – a super-funny, witty guy – I think it’s just awesome to have a beer in his name,” said Banat, a Sterling Heights native who graduated from MSU in 1997. “It’s been fun, it’s been a great time. And we feel very privileged and honored to be the guys who were asked to do this.”
The beer is suppose to be one that is Mike Sadler would have drank religiously based on his palette, per Balat and those close to Sadler. Banat describes it as a “drinkable All-American wheat ale” that is brewed with Belgian yeast along with oranges, apricots and hints of rose.
[the_ad id=”90168″]
The rose flavor and design on the bottle derives from being a member of the 2013 team that won the 2014 Rose Bowl Game vs. Stanford. The “All-American” description comes from Sadler being a 4-time Academic All-American — the only player in program history, and was also named an All-American on the field by ESPN for 2013.
“We wanted to make this as memorable as possible,” Banat said. “Mike loved Michigan State. He had a huge role in the year they won the Rose Bowl. We thought it was very important to somehow incorporate Michigan State and his legacy there into the beer.”
Sadler tragically lost his life along with former Nebraska punter Sam Foltz in July of 2016, in a car accident during inclement weather while attending a kicking camp in Wisconsin. The school dedicated days after the accident to remembering and honoring Mike as a student, player and person on and off the field. He was preparing to enroll into law school following his time at MSU, ironically at Stanford University, after earning undergrad and master’s degrees.
Jagged Mountain will reportedly donate $1 for every pint of “Hey Diddle Diddle” sold to the Mike Sadler Foundation, which was created by Mike’s mother Karen “to develop programs and awards that emphasize the values Michael embraced: academic excellence, athletic achievement, leadership and character strength.”
