How a Colorado State basketball fan-favorite landed his own beer at a Fort Collins brewery

This story of a basketball player and his custom beer begins, of course, with Rollerblading.

One of the favorite down-time activities for Joe Palmer and his girlfriend is to cruise Fort Collins on inline skates.

In early spring, they were wheeling around Old Town when Palmer’s phone pinged with a direct message.

“'Did I just see Joe Palmer on roller blades in Old Town?’ I showed my girlfriend like ‘that’s random,’” said Palmer, who became a fan-favorite in his two seasons on the Colorado State men’s basketball team.

The message was from someone who worked at Hello Brew Co., the unique Fort Collins brewery in an old house on Linden Street. They started talking because there was an idea brewing behind the scenes.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The spotting of Palmer Rollerblading happily coincided with a bar-top conversation at the brewery.

“We were just talking with other CSU fans at the bar, and we were like, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we did (a player beer)?’ and we started with Joe,” said owner Christine Luckasen.

The same way fans gravitated toward Palmer on the court (which led to CSU doing a headband night for the player affectionately called “Headband Joe”) is what drew owners Luckasen and Ryan Maliski to Palmer. They attend tons of CSU sporting events and, like many others, were Palmer fans.

Then the DM hit his inbox.

Palmer enthusiastically recalls the initial conversations.

“'How would you like a beer named after you?' I’m like, ‘Why not, right? Sure!’” Palmer said. “Sign me up!”

While college athletes can now monetize their name, image and likeness rights (NIL), there are rules preventing them signing deals with certain things. Alcohol is one, even for a 21-and-up player in brewery-crazed Fort Collins.

The timing ended up perfect — Palmer’s college playing career ended in March, opening the door for him to work with the brewery. He earns some money from the collaboration.

He sat down with Luckasen and Maliski for what turned into a multiple-hourlong first conversation. He shared his basketball journey from Division III star jumping up to a key role player on an NCAA Tournament team in Division I. They talked about the types of beers he likes to get a feel for what would fit with his custom beer.

A true Midwesterner, he’s a Leinenkugel fan and likes other lighter beers. So, they went to work on a summer beer.

All Hello Brew creations are one-time beers and they’re all first names. So, “Joe” is described by Hello Brew as “a crushable 5.2% lemon ginger wheat.”

It was unveiled Saturday on Palmer’s graduation weekend. He was at the brewery signing headbands, stickers and beers for hours as Hello Brew was flooded with CSU athletics players, coaches and fans. Many were new to the brewery, this unique collaboration bringing together new sets of people.

“This just happened, more or less, and it’s because of Joe being down,” Maliski said. “For us, it’s wild to see this out-there concept like an at-the-bar conversation turn into a sticker sheet on graduation day.”

Hello Brew’s logo for the beer, which includes custom drawings of Palmer, was designed by Kiah Storm, and the photography session with Austin Lammers to unveil the beer led to an Instagram reveal that the owners say is their most-liked post ever.

Palmer, who says he will continue his playing career overseas as a pro, was awed by the offer and support at the brewery.

“Fort Collins has been very, very, very good to me,” he said.

It was fortuitous timing to go Rollerblading.

“I guess, go rollerblading in Old Town and you might get a beer deal,” Palmer said with a laugh.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: How CSU basketball player Joe Palmer got a custom beer at Hello Brew