Ever since starting their Artist Spotlight Series, Main & Mill Brewing Co. has raised the label art game in the St. Louis craft beer market. Now, they are upping the ante once again with the upcoming release of a major series of beer and art honoring the legendary Satchel Paige and the National Negro Baseball Museum.
The release is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his Hall of Fame election in 1971. The series will feature a new American style Pilsner, accompanied by artwork created by Graig Kreindler with 20% of the proceeds going towards the Negro League Baseball Museum.
The backstory
“About a year ago, I had the idea of working with world-renowned artist Graig Kreindler’s and sent him a random email detailing an idea that would work around licensing his paintings/color studies of Negro League baseball players in a way to raise money for the Negro League Baseball Museum and players’ families,” said Denny Foster, owner of Main & Mill.
Kreindler, known as “The Painter Of The National Pastime,” is an award-winning artist whose sports work has appeared in juried shows and museums across the United States, and has been featured in nationally-distributed books, newspapers, magazines, on the Internet, and television. His “Negro Leagues Project” is a celebration of the 100 years since the Negro National League was formed. Kreindler created 235 color studies of various well-known and unsung Negro and Latin American League players.
“Kreindler was interested and got me in touch with Jay Caldwell who runs negroleagueshistory.com and has been actively involved in promoting the league, its players, and the history,” said Foster. “With Jay involved, we started fleshing out the idea further and ended up making the idea a reality over the last 10 months.”
The Negro Leagues Celebration Series
Later this month, Main and Mill will release Pilsner beer in four cans featuring a unique Satchel Paige painting. The second series is releasing in September with four new player cards/labels, celebrating the legacy and history of those that made the Negro Leagues what it was.
These releases will continue twice per year with new paintings, players, and information continually building a collectible set over the course of the next 15+ years Main and Mill continue to utilize Graig Kreindler’s amazing paintings. Each label is numbered as part of a nod to the nostalgia of baseball card collecting.
“We plan to sell this series in cans only, including at bars, to ensure everyone gets the chance to see the incredible art and read about each player as they’re released,” said Foster.
