Name Image Likeness

NIL Brew Review: University of Washington’s Montlake Gameday Gold Lager

Red Hook Brewery knocked its NIL beer partnership supporting Husky athletes out of the park!

Noah Henderson

Noah Henderson NIL Brew Review: University of Washington Montlake Gameday Gold Lager
Noah Henderson NIL Brew Review: University of Washington Montlake Gameday Gold Lager / Noah Henderson
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Across the nation, NIL collectives have partnered with local craft breweries to create unique beers to support athletes. Pledging a portion of every sale back to the collective, these collaborations incentivize fans to drink with promises of increased athlete retention and recruitment. Often found in the concession stands of home games, on tap in campus towns, and for sale in local liquor stores, these special-edition products have proven effective as NIL fundraising tools– but not all beer is created equal.

Over the next few months, I will be ranking and reviewing NIL beers from across the nation. First on the agenda is Red Hook Brewery’s Montlake Gameday Gold Lager, which proudly supports University of Washington athletes through the Montlake Futures NIL collective.

The can design is solid. It does not win any awards, but it gets the message across. A fitting color scheme and a lovely mountain background highlight its ties to the Pacific Northwest. A QR code links those fortunate enough to snag a can to the Montlake Futures collective to learn more about kicking back to student-athletes at Washington. Like any good NIL beer, it can be purchased in stadium at UW home games.

Beer Specs:

Style: Lager

ABV: 5%

Aroma: A little like raisins, a little like bread, but not like raisin bread - light malt

Bitterness: Nope, not at all, really, not for a craft beer, at least

Mouthfeel: Nice and crispy… but not super carbonated

Taste: Like heaven… as light and easy to drink as a Michelob with a richer malt sweetness and a clean finish; minimal aftertaste 

My video companion piece to the written review is embedded below:

This beer is good. Damn good. After my initial taste test, I brought a couple of cans to share with friends on a college football game day. The cans were all for me, but I went against my mother’s prudence and allowed everyone to take a sip from my can — sorry, Mom. Everyone was taken aback… a craft beer that didn’t taste like sweaty socks. No, this is what you get when you let beer nerds create a beer for gameday. Light, easy, and delicious.

No detractor was found; yes, we are like-minded men, but so are most college football fans. The reception was unanimous, reaffirming my high rating (stay tuned).

Red Hook Brewery is an underdog story. Founded in the 1980s in a transmission shop using hand-me-down brewing tools, it has grown into a prominent Pacific Northwest brewery. The only drawback is that it is limited to the region, and as a Chicagoan, I am unable to purchase this beer. Their partnership with Montlake Futures NIL collective began in September, much later than most schools, but it is already making an impact … its taste alone will drive funding to the athletes.

One last thing I love is that it exclusively comes in 16oz cans. This is how gameday beers should be. It’s always a slight rating boost for delivering a bit more in the hands of fans.

Overall Rating: 8.6

To upset UW fans, let’s get something straight. An 8.6 is a phenomenal rating. I wouldn’t anticipate many, if any, NIL beers to surpass this mark. Anything above an 8.0 is something I would never be upset at drinking — a 9.0 and above I would travel great distances for; anything over a 9.5, I would contemplate disowning certain members of my family in exchange for a 12-pack.

Great job, Red Hook. Great job, Montlake Futures. Go Huskies.

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Noah Henderson
NOAH HENDERSON

Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness. 

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