Union Craft Brewing’s latest beer will pay homage to the University of Maryland, College Park.
The Baltimore brewery is teaming up with UMD to release Testudo Premium Lager, a beer named after the university’s terrapin mascot. Testudo will be the school’s official craft beer and will be served at on-campus athletic venues like SECU Stadium and Xfinity Center. It will also be available at liquor stores throughout the state.
Union’s co-founder and CEO, Adam Benesch, is a 1998 alum of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith Business School.
“We are Terps through and through and being able to bring this refreshing craft beer to each of them is a dream come true for me and all of Union Craft Brewing,” he said in a statement.
Cans of Testudo Premium Lager will feature the university’s colors — red, black, white and gold — as well as a vintage Testudo logo that was used in the 1980s and 1990s.
The UMD/Union partnership will offer internship and learning opportunities for students studying marketing, fermentation science and other majors, the university said in a news release. Part of the beer’s sales will go to the One Maryland Collective, which connects student athletes seeking name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals with charities, businesses, fans and alumni.
The new brew will be served for the first time at a launch party Aug. 14 at Union Craft Brewery’s taproom and production facility in Medfield. The event, which is open to the public, will start at 4 p.m.