In life, friends knew Mike Sadler as a lover of good beer as much as a good laugh.

Somewhere up above, the former Michigan State punter is smiling now that he is about to have a microbrew named in his honor.

Jagged Mountain Brewery in Denver, co-owned by MSU alum RJ Banat, created a craft beer called “Hey Diddle Diddle” that is named after one of Sadler’s most famous trick plays from his time as a Spartan. The wheat ale will debut at the Colorado Spartan Social on June 1, and the brewery – located a few blocks from Coors Field – will have its official release party June 2.

“Based on everything I know about Mike – a super-funny, witty guy – I think it’s just awesome to have a beer in his name,” said Banat, a Sterling Heights native who graduated from MSU in 1997. “It’s been fun, it’s been a great time. And we feel very privileged and honored to be the guys who were asked to do this.”

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The 10-barrel production run produced 20 kegs and was finished Monday, with 350 bottles coming out of the batch for the MSU alumni event. It will remain on tap at the brewery until it runs out, but there are early discussions of potentially doing a Michigan run if there is interest.

Jagged Mountain plans to donate $1 from every pint of “Hey Diddle Diddle” to the Mike Sadler Foundation, which was created by his mother, Karen, “to develop programs and awards that emphasize the values Michael embraced: academic excellence, athletic achievement, leadership and character strength.”

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Sadler died in a July car accident after attending and coaching at a kicking camp in Wisconsin. He was an All-American on the field and a four-time Academic All-American off it, having punted for the Spartans in their Rose Bowl victory over Stanford on Jan. 1, 2014. The 24-year-old Grand Rapids native earned an undergraduate degree in engineering sciences and a master's degree in public policy and was preparing to enroll in law school at Stanford when he died.

Jagged Mountain Brewery described the beer as an “All-American wheat ale” that Banat called it “very drinkable.” It is brewed with Belgian yeast, along with oranges and apricots. It also has a hint of roses, and the logo on the bottle features Sadler’s No. 3, along with roses on either side of it. It is named after his fake punt run against Iowa in 2013.

Banat said the recipe was an artistic creation by brewer Adam Glaser, to make the beer “as meaningful as possible.” Sadler had dabbled in making his own microbrews, and Glaser and Sadler’s mother, Karen, worked with her son’s friends to find out what type of beers Mike liked to drink and brew. Wheat ales were his favorite, but Sadler also loved a number of beers with fruits in them.

Infusing the rose buds, Banat said, was Glaser’s touch.

“We wanted to make this as memorable as possible,” Banat said. “Mike loved Michigan State. He had a huge role in the year they won the Rose Bowl. We thought it was very important to somehow incorporate Michigan State and his legacy there into the beer.”

About 7,000 alums live in the Denver area, according to the MSU Rocky Mountain Alumni Club. Sadler’s former teammate, Denver Broncos wide receiver Bennie Fowler, and current Spartan offensive line coach Mark Staten will attend the fundraiser event June 1 at the History Colorado Center. That even also will be raising funds for the Mike Sadler Foundation.

Banat’s co-owner in Jagged Mountain Brewery, Randy Stinson, is a Northville native who runs the taproom. He also is a Michigan graduate. But Banat said his partner has been “all-in on this.”

When Karen Sadler and her daughter, Katie, went to the brewery earlier this month to help launch the making of the beer, Stinson jokingly demanded that he get to wear one of the green-and-white “Sadler 3” shirts to wear or else he would show up in his “ugliest Michigan shirt” and with maize and blue facepaint.

He wore the shirt, and he plans to go with Banat to the Colorado Spartan Social as well.

“It’s just cool to kind of see how everyone has come together to make this beer,” Banat said. “We both pay attention to football and basketball, but it’s pretty good natured. And Randy was the first guy, when we brought up the idea of doing the beer, he was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And it’s been great.”

Further proof that Sadler, even posthumously, continues to impact others.

More:Michael Sadler Foundation

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!