ST. Paul, Minn. — Around four years ago, Kyle Bowles and the Minnesota Wild food and beverage team noticed a trend of beer bats at baseball games. The long plastic bats were open at the top, and when filled with beer, fans could sip from them like unorthodox cups.
“Why aren’t we doing this?” Bowles thought to himself. “We need this, too.”
Last season, he and his Levy Restaurants catering team introduced beer-filled plastic hockey sticks to Grand Casino Arena. The Wild were able to have them ready just in time for the playoffs. They were a smash hit, said Bowles, who is a senior executive chef and has been with the team for 16 years. The plastic sticks, made by a company called the Beer Twig, are “part drinkware, part souvenir, and all energy,” per the company website. Bowles said the Wild were the first NHL team to use the product.
“We just wanted to do something cool, something ‘wow,’ something over the top,” Bowles said. “Then, boom. Beer Twigs.”
The vessel holds 24 ounces of liquid and is sold at four locations on the main concourse. Fans can fill it with their beer of choice or Slap Shot Seltzer, a green, cherry limeade flavored drink only available at the arena.
A group of friends stood holding their Beer Twigs in the main concourse around 90 minutes before puck drop.
“It’s sick,” said Chase Carlson, a 22-year-old wearing a Devan Dubnyk jersey. “C’mon, you get two beers with these puppies, too.”
“It looks awesome,” added Carlson’s friend Karsen Brickson. “It’s going to be a keepsake at my house.”
Carlson saw a video of the Beer Twig on Sunday on TikTok. He and his friends were more than content with his purchase a night later. One joked they were going to play lightsabers with them after they were done drinking.
The Wild sold the Beer Twigs during the regular season, but the team has seen an uptick in sales since the games rose in importance.
“We have noticed it is much more of a playoff, ‘wow,’ good-time fun item,” Bowles said. “They’ve really been booming again as we’ve gotten back in the playoffs.”
The Wild aren’t the only team using creative beer holders. The Hurricanes have a beer skate, which sells for $19 empty and $31 full. The Hurricanes tweeted that 4,687 sold at their Game 1 win against the Flyers — the equivalent of one out of every four fans. Buffalo began selling a Beer Sabre this season. The Utah Mammoth have a tusk mug.
“It’s kind of turning into an arms race right now,” Bowles said.
He compared it to collectable popcorn buckets at movie theaters.
“People love a collectable gizmo,” he said.
Bowles loves watching people exit the arena with their empty Twigs. He keeps some empty ones in his garage, though he noted, “In my old age, it’s bigger than I can chug.”
“People love them,” he said. “I personally like watching people walking out of the building holding them. It’s just a cool thing to take out of here with you.”
