WKU Sports launches beer ‘1906 Lager’ with West Sixth Brewing

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-What’s a better pair than watching sports and drinking beer?

“It’s probably the coolest project that I’ve been a part of,” said Hilltopper Sports Properties General Manager Chris Freeman. 

Western Kentucky University Athletics has partnered with West Sixth Brewing to launch a new beer. 

“It’s always really cool for WKU to be the first to do something and we’re the first in the state to be able to do this,” said Freeman. 

The beer is called 1906 Lager. WKU was founded in 1906.

“What we really wanted to do was create a beer for the masses. So what we created was a nice crisp lager, easy drinking, 4.2% alcohol,” said West Sixth Brewing Partner Joe Kuosman. 

The beer is branded with WKU’s official red color, red towel, and the school’s saying “Stand Up And Cheer For Dear Old Western’.

“If they see a beer that has the WKU red towel on it, they want to buy that beer, because it means a lot to them. Whether they drink it or have it in their man cave in their living room,” said Freeman. 

West Sixth Brewing is located in Lexington and only distributes beers in Kentucky. This is their first partnership with university athletics. 

“We jumped at it. As a brewery, 10 years ago when we started one of our main missions was to be really community focused,” said Kuosman. 

The beer will be available in concession stands at WKU football and basketball games. You can also find it in local Houchens IGA stores, and eventually local convenience and liquor stores. 

The official launch is January 17th. The beer will be available to the public on the 18th.