A Kalamazoo brewery is pouring out its love for the Detroit Lions one pint at a time. Wax Wings Brewing Co. has reintroduced Pride of the North, a 7.2% ABV hazy IPA brewed as a tribute to the team, with can artwork that now mirrors the black and Honolulu blue of the Lions' Motor City Muscle jerseys.
According to MLive.com, the beer was first introduced in 2024 and returned last fall before coming back again this season. It's brewed using hops favored by the brewery's lifelong fans, per the same account, and is available both on tap and in 16-ounce cans at the taproom located at 3480 Gull Road in Kalamazoo.
Pricing stays consistent with past runs: $7 for a 14-ounce pour, $4.25 for a 7-ounce half pour, and $5 per can to go, the report notes. Wax Wings taproom manager Tia Thompson expects the current batch to last through November's Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears.
Can Art Matches the Team's Dark Mode
The new can design, created by Wax Wings brewer Andrew Evans, was timed to line up with the Lions' black Motor City Muscle uniforms, which the team planned to debut against the Green Bay Packers. The matchup was set to kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET at Ford Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, according to Lions Wire. The outlet describes the look as a black jersey with Honolulu blue numbering and lettering, the same color pairing echoed on Evans' can art.
Lions Wire also reported that the team teased the uniform's return on social media with a video captioned “dark mode activated,” building buzz ahead of a stretch that has Detroit playing back-to-back home games against divisional rivals Green Bay and Minnesota at Ford Field.
Taproom Plans to Stay Open Late for Game Day
Wax Wings' taproom is normally open noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, but Thompson said staff planned to stay open later if a crowd gathered to watch the game, per MLive.com's reporting. The rest of the week, the taproom keeps more standard hours — 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 3 to 10 p.m. Fridays, and noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays.
A Cautionary Tale From a Previous Lions Beer
Kalamazoo isn't the first Michigan brewery to try bottling Lions pride. Back in 2020, Eastern Market Brewing Co. debuted a 4.5% ABV lager called Same Old Lager, according to the Detroit Free Press. That can featured an 8-bit football player resembling Lions legend Barry Sanders wearing No. 20 — an homage that didn't last. Eastern Market Brewing Co. said it would cease sales and production of the beer, the paper reported.
Pride of the North avoids depicting any specific player, leaning instead on team colors and branding tied to the uniform rather than a likeness. For now, the Kalamazoo brewery's bet is that fans will keep ordering pints of black-and-blue-themed IPA through the rest of the Lions' divisional gauntlet this fall.
