Update: Thursday, May 14th
I need your help. Some beer/brewery recommendations, please. Seattle breweries and Seattle-brewed beers only. On Friday, the Mariners start a three-game series against the Padres at T-Mobile Park. The final leg of the Vedder Cup. The Padres lead the overall series 3-0. As for my friendly wager with the San Diego Beer News, I need the Mariners to sweep the series and also score a bunch of runs (run differential is the tie breaker). It seems unlikely the Mariners will bring home the Vedder Cup this year, but there’s always hope.
Time for me to face the reality that I will probably need to uphold my end of the bargain and ship some beer to Brandon Hernandez (San Diego Beer News). Obviously, I want to send him good beers from our best breweries. Stuff that showcases the city’s beer scene in a positive light. If you had to send some beers (canned beers) to a certified beer geek in San Diego, and they had to come from a Seattle brewery, what breweries/beers would you send? Go to our Facebook page and leave your recommendations in the comments.
Original Post
The Vedder Cup Kicks Off Today, and Beer is Involved
Last year, I hatched a brilliant plan to propose a little side wager on the Vedder Cup, but then, in true Mariners fashion, I completely blew the timing and was late to the game. Swing and a miss. As any lifelong Mariners or Padres fan knows, “There’s always next year.” Well, this is next year.
The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres are about to face off in the second-ever Vedder Cup. The Washington Beer Blog and the San Diego Beer News put a little skin in the game this year. We are not talking about a bet involving money or even pride. Oh no, something much more precious is at stake. If the Mariners win the Vedder Cup this year, I’ll receive some can’t-get-it-here beer from San Diego. If the Padres win the Vedder Cup, I’ll send some can’t-get-it-there beer down south. (Above: Brandon Hernandez and I at Dogleg Brewing in Vista, CA.)
Sorry, San Diego. He’s ours
The Vedder Cup, and its guitar-themed trophy designed by Eddie Vedder himself, is awarded to the winner of the seasonal series between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres. Eddie is a man claimed by two cities, and being the gracious rock god that he is, he reciprocates — designing a guitar-shaped trophy and letting both fan bases argue over who he really belongs to. (He’s ours, San Diego. Sorry.) There’s a charitable angle to the whole thing, so it’s a friendly rivalry.
Last year, Seattle won the inaugural Vedder Cup. The 2026 Vedder Cup games kick off in San Diego on April 14th with a three-game series. It concludes when the Padres visit Seattle for the final three games, starting May 15th. In the event the two teams split the series, they’ve established rules to break the tie.
Freaky similarities between the cities and the people
It ain’t the weather, so what is it? The most obvious similarity is that Seattle and San Diego boast amazing, world-renowned craft beer cultures, with dozens of breweries and a populace that enthusiastically supports them. The San Diego Beer News and the Washington Beer Blog kind of do the same thing in different places.
The San Diego Beer News was founded and is operated by Brandon Hernandez. I flatter myself when I say that I am Seattle’s version of Brandon, and Brandon is San Diego’s version of me. The similarities are a bit freaky, actually. Our careers in beer writing have paralleled each other. And then there is the baseball thing.
Brandon is a hardcore Padres fan whose second-favorite team is the Mariners. I guess rooting for one team with a long history of coming up short isn’t enough. I get it. Me? I am a hardcore Mariners fan — with a tattoo to prove it, in case anyone doubted my commitment or questioned my judgment — who roots for the Padres when the Mariners aren’t involved. We are, in short, the same unhinged person, the same kind of long-suffering, self-flagellating baseball fan, living in different zip codes.
This year, whether you bleed Mariners blue or Padres brown and gold, you’ve got a little something extra to cheer for. There’s beer on the line. Delicious, out-of-market beer. No pressure, boys — but don’t f*** it up!
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