Boulevard celebrates Sporting Kansas City’s MLS Cup win with Championship Ale saison

Boulevard Brewing Co. is celebrating Sporting Kansas City’s MLS Cup victory with a special beer –  Sporting Kansas City Championship Ale.

The limited-release Saison-style ale will come out in mid-June as part of Boulevard’s Smokestack Series. Boulevard is putting out 2,000 cases of 750 ml bottles of Championship Ale throughout the greater KC area, with a few bottles making it to Lawrence. 

It’s a busy time for Boulevard, with the release of Saison-Brett; new Tasting Room beers; the Boulevardia festival coming up in mid-June; the announcement of a 25th anniversary collaboration with Odell; and next week’s release of Entwined Ale (more on that on another day).

“It’s all happening according to plan for the most part,” says Jeremy Ragonese, Boulevard’s director of marketing. “Sometimes you have a wild card thrown in the mix. That’s kind of how the Sporting Ale happened. At first glance, our production schedule wasn’t going to allow us to have a whole lot of flexibility this year as we begin our expansion with cellar 5. Our brewers worked hard to find a small window to produce something like this and the timing just happened to be now.”

The brewing cycle for Championship Ale started about a month ago, but the project has been in the works since the day after Sporting won the championship, Ragonese says. Boulevard is able to use Sporting’s logo and mark as part of its sponsorship agreement with the club. 

Ragonese says Boulevard’s brewers chose the Saison-style due to the time of year.

“This time of year, obviously we’re looking for something that is highly drinkable, enjoyable as the weather starts getting warmer,” he says. “This particular beer, for them, was something more celebratory worthy. It’s a classic statement on the style with a unique twist by adding this particular hot new hop variety that has some distinct citrus characteristics to it.”

SKC Championship Ale featured late hopping with a German hop called Mandarina Bavaria. It also reaches back to Boulevard’s original Saison recipe. (The ABV is 6.2 percent.) 

The beer will be released only in the larger bottle format and will not be on tap at Sporting Park. However, Boulevard and Sporting are collaborating on other merchandise (clothing, glassware, scarfs, etc.).

“It’s a way for us to really celebrate with the city,” Ragonese says. “And we thought the bottle format was the way to go. This is one of the first times where the label really has some importance, some additional meaning to it that might mean that consumers are going to hold onto the whole bottle of beer. We would appreciate it – and I’m sure they would enjoy it – if they went ahead and popped the cork and drank the beer and just kept the bottle as a keepsake.”