MILWAUKEE – For the second consecutive year, Pilot Project Brewing, in conjunction with Milwaukee Athletics, is set to welcome its Panther beer this week – launched for the 2024-25 season with a new design.

The "Panther Pale Ale", an American pale ale beer, will make its first appearance in a new can design this week to celebrate the multi-part collaboration in time for the holiday season.
 
An officially licensed product, the beer was first developed last year in partnership between Pilot Project Brewing, Craft Beverage Warehouse, Milwaukee Athletics, the UWM Peck School of the Arts, and CLC, the University's trademark licensing company. Today marks the beginning of the second straight year of the multi-part collaboration.
 
The cans will make their debut and be available to the public for the first time at UWM Panther Arena for the men's basketball contest against Cleveland State on December 5. The person who purchases the 100^th can of Panther Pale Ale that evening at the game against the Vikings will win a $100 gift card to Pilot Project Brewing.

UPDATE (12.16.24): Fans and customers looking to purchase the product can now find it at:
-Gasthaus (UWM Student Union)
-Ian's Pizza North Avenue
-Cheba Hut Eastside
-Discount Liqour
-Major Goolsbys
-Downer Wine
 
Director of Athletics Amanda Braun and General Manager for Milwaukee Panther Sports Properties Kristina Filipovic helped move the process to once again bring the concept to market, through the work that current Panther Athletics staff members and University leadership put into this concept to make it a reality.
 
"We are so excited for the debut of this year's design, as well as the continued collaboration with campus partners and the Milwaukee business community on this project," Braun said. "An especially important component of this campaign is the opportunity for UWM students to gain real-world design experience beyond the classroom and see their efforts come to life. Thank you to Pilot Project Brewing, Craft Beverage Warehouse, and UWM's Peck School of the Arts for their partnership."
 
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the beer will be directed to student scholarships and other student-centered programming at UWM.
 
Michelle Markuson of Glendale, Wis., and a Design and Visual Communications Bachelor of Fine Arts major with a certificate in Digital Fabrication and Design at UWM, created the artwork that was selected to appear on the product. Her winning design was one of numerous submissions made by UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts students that worked its way through the approval process.
 
"Working on the Panther Pale Ale collaboration has been a profound experience as a student designer and a UWM Panther," Markuson said. "From the folks at Pilot Project Brewing, who made the process straightforward, to the Craft Beverage Warehouse who made my design possible, and Milwaukee Athletics for their vision. Everyone involved has such a strong passion. This passion was my main inspiration for the design, showing Milwaukee's relentless strength. This collaboration between the school and our community attests that being a UWM Panther means you will be supported by your classmates, the staff, and our community. I hope that more cross-campus and community collaborations like this one will be in UWM's future. For the MKE!" 

The product will be available for purchase at UWM Panther Arena, Pilot Project Brewing and other select bars/restaurants and liquor stores in the greater Milwaukee area. Any retailers interested in carrying Panther Pale Ale should reach out to Sales@PilotProjectBrewing.com.
 
"It's such a privilege to be involved in the UWM Panther Pale Ale project for a second year in a row," Pilot Project Co-Founder and CEO Dan Abel said. "Pilot Project is a beverage incubator and exists to give creative opportunities to beverage creators; the fact that we get to work with students in the UWM Peck School of the Arts program and give back in a meaningful way really helps strengthen Pilot Project's purpose. Plus, we have a great time doing it!"
 
Craft Beverage Warehouse is once again printing the cans and packaging for the product, one with a design that came directly from students at the UWM Peck School of the Arts, while CLC was involved with officially licensing the product and signing the agreement with Pilot to allow for the brand on the beer.
 
"Craft Beverage Warehouse (CBW) is once again excited to collaborate with Pilot Project and the University to bring Panther Pale Ale to life," CBW President and Co-Founder Kyle Stephens said. "This collaboration is a unique experience for all parties, providing a real-life packaging development case to students at UWM's Peck School of the Arts, whose students were provided with a design brief and executed a branding plan brought to them by CBW, Pilot Project, and the Milwaukee Athletic Department. Our whole team looks forward to continuing this partnership long into the future and enjoying a few Panther Pale Ales at future sporting and university events!"
 
Stephens, a UWM graduate, is thrilled to be a part of the collaboration once again.
 
Pilot Project Brewing is a brewery incubator & restaurant located in the Brewery District of Milwaukee, Wis., Pilot Project was launched as a collaborative and artistically curious space to help support talented brewers in an industry with exceptionally high barriers. Modeled after the music industry, Pilot serves as a launch pad for start-up breweries, offering assistance with recipe R&D, production scaling, marketing, distribution and more.