Big Grove Brewery launches TIGERHAWK lager to support Hawkeye Athletics
Big Grove's TIGERHAWK lager sends part of every pour, can and case to Hawkeye Athletics. The 4.2% ABV beer launched June 8 as Iowa's official craft brewery tie-in.
Big Grove Brewery put a college-branded lager into the Iowa market with a direct funding hook: part of every pour, can and case of TIGERHAWK goes to Hawkeye Athletics. The June 8 launch made the Solon-based brewery the latest craft beer name to lean on fan loyalty, but this one is tied not just to tailgates and stadium taps, but to the university’s sports budget.
Big Grove describes TIGERHAWK as a light, refreshing lager at 4.2% ABV, and the beer is now available year-round across Iowa. It is being sold in 12-packs, 24-packs and individual 16-ounce cans, with draft availability at Kinnick Stadium and Carver-Hawkeye Arena during games. Big Grove also says its distribution reaches all of Iowa and select counties in Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Illinois, giving the partnership a wider footprint than a single-campus novelty release.
The deal was arranged through Hawkeye Sports Properties, Learfield’s local multimedia-rights unit that handles the University of Iowa’s athletics marketing rights. The school and brewery had already been working together since Big Grove was named an Official Craft Brewery of the Iowa Hawkeyes in July 2024, and the new beer extends that relationship into a product fans can buy by the case.
Matt Swift, Big Grove’s co-founder and CEO, said TIGERHAWK directly supports the Hawkeyes and is meant to be a beer Iowans are proud to hold. University of Iowa deputy director of athletics Matt Henderson said the beer gives fans a direct way to support programs while enjoying a high-quality local beer. For a school chasing new dollars, that framing matters as much as the lager itself.
The release lands in a broader era of revenue pressure around college sports. Iowa Athletics has launched Flight Funds to support student-athlete revenue sharing after the House settlement, and the university has said revenue-sharing begins July 1, 2025, with a $20.5 million annual cap in the 2025-26 academic year. Against that backdrop, a branded beer becomes more than a merch play. It is a retail channel, a stadium product and a fan purchase that can be pointed toward athletics funding.
Big Grove, founded in 2013 in Solon, expanded to Iowa City in 2017 and added taprooms and breweries in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids in 2023. TIGERHAWK folds that growth into the state’s most visible sports brand, turning a local lager into another lane for Hawkeye money, one pint and one six-pack at a time.
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