Milwaukee Brewers pitch a new beer (an IPA) to MillerCoors

It begins like a dad joke: Three Brewers walk into a brewery. They take a short tour. They smell some hops. They try some brews. 

It happened Monday. Brewers first baseman Eric Thames, pitcher Corey Knebel and reliever Oliver Drake visited MillerCoors to help create a signature beer for Miller Park.

Thames, a beer lover, led the charge. Knebel, a homebrewer who is pretty happy with the German pilsner he created before the season started, could be considered the ringer. Drake, new to the team and Milwaukee but familiar with Massachusetts brewery tours, came along for the ride.

The three players took a private tour of the brewery, skipping the Girl in the Moon video but adding hard toe covers to their shoes and safety vests to their day-off clothing. 

From there, they landed in the MillerCoors' Flying Hippo innovation room. Escorted to a table of small cups filled with hops — from Denali hops with pineapple notes to experimental hops No. 438 that smell of grapefruit. Is it safe to say that No. 438 was a slam dunk among baseball players?

"I offered to give $20 to Corey if he ate a little shot of it," Thames said.

Thames likes "heavy beers," the kind he described as those you could only drink two of but with taste and heft to them.

"I'm an IPA fan," said Thames, who name-checked Stone Brewing's White IPA as one of his favorites. He also recently tried and enjoyed New Glarus Moon Man, which is technically a pale ale.

The table held two containers of the malts, already in the mix, that could handle any of the hops that the players chose, said Troy Rysewyk, manager of beverage technology and innovation at MillerCoors.

The beer is left in the hands of Greg Walter, MillerCoors pilot brewer. There are already a few things everyone knows will happen with the style. It will be a juicy IPA, and it will likely top off at 7% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Don't expect it on your store shelves or even the Local Brews stand at Miller Park. When the beer is finished and kegged, the 10 to 20 barrels of yet-to-be-named limited-edition beer will be shared with fans at a special Miller Park theme night. Think some game night in August. Fans will be able to purchase a ticket for the game that includes a chance to taste the beer that maybe wasn't brewed by those Brewers but heavily influenced by them.

The three players were excited at the prospect of making the beer. For Drake, it was bragging rights because "not many people get a chance to say they brewed a beer." For Thames, it promised to take his "taste buds on an adventure."

But for Knebel, it was business as usual working with a team. There was one difference he noted when asked about the Brewers' current spot in the standings: "I've never been in first place before."