Trash talk erupted Thursday between the mayors of the two cities battling in Saturday’s NFL divisional playoff game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots — and it wasn’t about football.

It was about beer.

A traditional, friendly wager between mayors over the second-round game turned a little ugly when Boston Mayor Tom Menino disrespected Colorado’s beer culture and ignited a social-media firestorm.

Menino called Colorado beer weak and touted Boston- based Sam Adams and Harpoon, according to The Boston Globe.

“We have the best. . . . Colorado Rocky beer? Uck,” Menino told a Globe reporter.

The slam followed Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s suggestion that the mayor of the losing city pay up with a local brew. Hancock didn’t leave the slight unchallenged.

“First of all, we are the microbrew capital of the nation. Some of the best beer in the world is brewed here in Colorado,” Hancock said. “The moment Sam Adams sells more beer than Coors, then he can come talk to me. Otherwise, he needs to stay in Boston and not talk about our beer.”

Colorado boasts more than 120 craft brewers, is home to the headquarters for the Brewers Association and hosts the annual Great American Beer Festival, the largest such event in the country.

If Colorado and Massachusetts faced off in the brew house rather than on the gridiron, history shows Pats fans would be left crying in their less-prestigious beers.

Colorado breweries have won 491 gold medals over the course of the three-decade-old Great American Beer Festival. Massachusetts brewers? Just 94.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a former brewery owner, said Menino may be one of the nation’s best mayors, but “obviously he hasn’t had enough time to learn about Colorado beer.”

Some of Colorado’s brewers were less diplomatic.

Dave Chichura of Oskar Blues, which sells plenty of beer in Boston, talked a little trash of his own.

“The (Boston mayor’s) statement shows how little they know about beer out on the East Coast, given the fact they haven’t really discovered hops yet,” said Chichura, the head brewer.

So after a day of interstate beer bravado, what did the mayors actually wager on Saturday’s battle?

One hint: It’s not fermented.

Should New England lose, Menino promised Hancock a lobster dinner and to clothe his city’s famed statue of Paul Revere in Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s jersey.

For his part, Hancock promised Menino a steak dinner and to wear a Patriots jersey to a public event.

Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com.

Denver Post reporters Tim Hoover and Eric Gorski contributed to this report.