Raptors announcer Jack Armstrong now has his own beer
Toronto Raptors announcer Jack Armstrong is taking on a new life challenge this year.
And no, he’s not leaving his broadcasting gig, but rather launching a new product based on his life’s work: the game of basketball.
In collaboration with Ontari0-based brewer IX Poets, Armstrong has launched the Buzzer Beater beer. With a 5.2% alcohol content, the beer is described by IX Poets’ Scott Venton as a “nice, easy drinking, crowd-pleasing beer.”
IX Poets was founded when Venton reconnected with a childhood friend from Waterloo at his father’s funeral, and a series of happy accidents along the way got them to where they ended up launching a beer for one of the NBA’s most iconic voices.
“We’re both beer guys… we brewed a beer to give out to family and friends, kind of like an homage to our parents,” Venton said in an interview with Daily Hive about the company’s genesis. “The plan here wasn’t to do something extravagant. But somebody from the LCBO tried it and called me and said, We love your beer. We want it. So that’s how we started the brewery.”
Buzzer Beater is the brand’s second beer, after launching the The Hazy Mariner New England style pale ale as their first. Venton met Armstrong one night in Toronto at The Harbour Sixty when the latter was drinking a Hazy Mariner, and the two became fast friends after a waitress informed Armstrong the beer’s founder was at the next table over.
“He’s the real deal, you know, he is totally genuine. Like, people say somebody knows how to work a room, but he is genuinely interested in talking to everybody,” Venton added about Armstrong, who has been part of the Raptors broadcast team since 1998.
After approaching Armstrong with the idea and a bit of paperwork later, the passion project of Buzzer Beater was eventually launched.
While it’s in the process of getting approval to be on LCBO shelves, you can find it in Toronto at select Sobeys and Loblaws locations. Armstrong will be doing a meet and greet on Monday, December 2 from 5 to 6 pm at the BierMarket on the Esplanade as part of the launch for the can.
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Though the beer is a new one for him, Armstrong is hardly a stranger to doing a few extracurricular activities outside of his work. Back in 2022, he dropped a Christmas album that included a couple of live performances of his work.
And if you’re looking to catch the Raptors over the holiday season, what better combo than a Jack Armstrong-inspired beer and his rendition of “Jingle Bells” to get the vibes up?
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