People in Philadelphia really dislike people in Dallas. And it’s pretty much completely football related.
About a year ago, Eagles superfan and Weyerbacher Brewery Chief Operating Officer Josh Lampe was behind the counter at Jose Pistola’s — a center city Philadelphia bar — and he got an idea.
“We were hanging out, and on the point of sales system it said ‘Dallas sucks,'” Lampe said. “And I thought ‘we should totally do beer, a collaboration.'”
A few months later, Dallas Sucks, a 4.5 percent pale ale — brewed succinctly for the light beer purpose of tailgating — was born.
“So that was it, spur of the moment and we decided to brew it,” Lampe said of his Easton area Brewery that serves many bars in center city. “We are all football fans. We know how tailgates go. You’re going to have more than one and you want something that’s not going to put you under that table.”
The beer is front and center this week as the Eagles prepare to head southwest to face bitter rivals the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The rivalry has become more prominent over the last two seasons, with second-year quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott ascending into two of the best in the NFL.
But the rivalry is nothing new
“I can remember back when I played here in 1999, it was all week long,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said, remembering his days as a quarterback in the city. “It was like you just [say], ‘I don’t care what else happens the rest of the year, you just have to beat the Cowboys.’ That’s the mindset of the city and it is. I mean, listen, they’re 2-0, we’re 3-0 in the division, and it’s a very important football game for both teams. It should be a great football game as it always is.”
Lampe grew up in the Philly suburbs and knows everything there is to know about the rivalry. And thanks to Nobel Rey Brewing Company outside Dallas, he’s now had a direct impact on the dueling banter between the two proud fan bases.
“We have gotten nationwide attention,” Lampe, whose Dallas Sucks beer will be available through the end of the season, said. “There’s a brewery in Dallas that brewed a response beer called ‘Eagle Tears.’ We have a bet going Sunday if the Eagles win they have to take a photo of themselves in an Eagles jersey and post on it on facebook and if Dallas wins I have to wear a jersey.”
The Eagles are 3.5 point favorites on the road in Texas.
“I haven’t bought a jersey,” Lampe said with confidence.
