University of Montana Licenses Beer for First Time Ever

Newstalk KGVO

By Jon King

August 29, 2017

There are lots of licensed Griz products, from clothing to ice cream, but now, for the first time ever, the University of Montana is licensing a beer, which will be brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company out of Missoula. University of Montana Chief Marketing Officer Mario Schulzke says the beer’s release is synced up with an important anniversary for the school.

“We talked a lot about the benefits of this and the potential disadvantages and I would be lying if I said there were no disadvantages and this was a very easy decision for us to make,” Schulzke said. “You know, next year is our 125th anniversary and we decided that if we ever wanted to do something like this, this kind of a partnership, then this would be the time.”

Schulzke says a wine was licensed for the university’s centennial, so there is a history of licensing alcoholic beverage during special years. In this case, some money from the sale of the beer will go towards alcohol abuse prevention.

“With the royalties, the licensing revenues coming back from this product we decided that we wanted to make sure that we could hopefully make a positive impact on various programs on campus that are tied to A: alcohol education and awareness and B: transportation,” Schulzke said.

Schulzke says the beer should be on shelves until next spring, however it will not be sold on the University of Montana campus. One of the programs that will be funded with the royalties is ASUM’s Gold line, which is a late night bus service from downtown, the Curry Health Center on campus will also receive some funds.