Sacramento Republic FC has an official beer with a local brewery. Here’s where to find it

Nine matches into the 2024 USL season, Sacramento Republic FC remains undefeated and leads the league’s Western Conference. The team’s only hat trick, though, has come at the craft beer bar.

Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse’s newest beer, Hat Trick, is a hazy IPA created in collaboration with the city’s USL soccer team.

Republic FC’s logo is plastered on 19.2-ounce cans of the 7% ABV beer, available at Heart Health Park as well as Nugget Markets and scattered convenience stores around the Sacramento region. It’s also on tap at the popular Southside Park beer-and-barbecue joint.

Hat Trick, a soccer or hockey term for three goals by one player in a single match, surprisingly drinkable despite a relatively high level of alcohol. Co-owner and brewmaster Peter Hoey crafted the easy sipper with notes of guava, berries and lychee as an approachable option for warm summer nights, he said.

“It’s a very popular style. It’s what we can do really well,” Hoey said. “It’s a great intro beer, great intro style for people who are not super into craft beer because of (its) low bitterness and high flavor.”

You won’t find TVs screening the latest Kings or Giants games, but Urban Roots has become a sports bar in a way. That’s largely thanks to co-owner Rob Archie, a former Woodland basketball star who played collegiately at San Diego State and professionally in Italy.

Archie’s connections helped Urban Roots collaborate with then-Kings head coach Dave Joerger for a 2019 video blog, and the brewery has hosted team legends Matt Barnes, Jason Williams and Mike Bibby for live recordings of Barnes’ “All The Smoke” podcast with co-host Stephen Jackson.

Hoey, meanwhile, has been a Republic FC season-ticket holder for years with his family, and began drinking his own beer at Heart Health Park two years ago. Urban Roots receives field-side advertising at Republic FC games as part of the Hat Trick partnership, and hosted a watch party for the team’s May 2 win over Monterey Bay FC.

“My two loves are soccer and beer, so it was a natural fit,” Hoey said.

Hat Trick may be the most widely-distributed Republic FC drink to date, but it’s not the only one. Nitty’s Cider in East Sacramento debuted a gummy bear-inspired cider called Briggs Bears earlier this year in collaboration with Republic FC manager Mark Briggs.

Jackrabbit Brewing had an IPA called The Bear and The Hare at Heart Health Park and in its taproom in 2022. The West Sacramento brewery helped found Republic FC’s Blood Sweat & Beers Council that same year, which eventually turned into a 14-tap craft beer and cider bar at the stadium.

Those 19.2-ounce Hat Trick cans cost $15 at Republic FC games, but retail for $5 at grocery stores. The hazy IPA will be especially prominent during the team’s two beerfests this season, the first on June 15 and the second on Aug. 24.

What I’m Eating

The cozy atmosphere at KB’s Thai Hut, Katherine Chanhthathep and Thouie Bounmy’s halal Thai/Laotian restaurant near Sacramento’s southern border, can lull you into a noodle-induced fog. But there’s plenty of low-key heat as well, waiting to kick your taste buds upon request.

Bamboo-covered walls and orange puffballs hanging from the ceiling surround KB’s mellow dining room, where small plastic water cups are painted silver and dishes are named after Chanhthathep’s many nieces and nephews.

I threw in a late order for Nicka’s nam khao ($13) as an afterthought. It ended up being our table’s favorite dish. A crispy, crunchy Laotian rice salad meant to be scooped into lettuce cups, it shone thanks to fermented beef chunks (pork is typically used at non-halal restaurants) that cut through the conciliatory backdrop.

Loi’s pad lo-lay crazy noodles ($13) were more familiar. Egg noodles stir-fried with red bell peppers, onions broccoli and Chinese broccoli were smothered in a sumptuous garlic-chili-soy sauce along with chicken, beef or shrimp. Two out of five on KB’s heat scale was plenty strong for me without completely overshadowing other components of the dish.

I was excited to try Pung’s pho Lao ($13), a regional variation that’s often sweeter than the Vietnamese noodle soups. While I enjoyed the garlicky beef meatballs, hefty shrimp and full bowl of noodles, the mild, opaque broth needed lots of condiment add-ins to take on a full flavor.

KB’s Thai Hut

Address: 8055 Elk Grove Florin Road, Suite F, Sacramento.

Hours: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 3:30-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, closed Monday.

Phone: (916) 681-8286

Website: https://www.instagram.com/kbs_thai_hut/

Drinks: Tea, lemonade, sodas and housemade concoctions with condensed milk or dragonfruit.

Vegetarian options: Many.

Noise level: Quiet.

Outdoor seating: None.

Openings & Closings

▪ Citizen Capitol Craft House opened Friday at 1201 J St., Suite 111 in downtown Sacramento where Loyal Legion previously stood. Owned by the parent company to Hoptology Beer Lab & Kitchen in midtown, the California fine dining restaurant whips up entrees such as smoked Wagyu beef brisket or pan-seared steelhead trout with quinoa and broccolini.

▪ Licked, a North Oak Park ice cream shop from the owners of Strapping Store, also opened Friday at 3400 Broadway in Conscious Creamery’s former space. Stop by for a scoop of Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream from Madison, Wisconsin, including a few dairy-free options.

▪ Curry Up Now has closed its last Sacramento-area location in midtown’s Ice Blocks development, the restaurant’s Facebook page shows. The San Francisco-based, fast-casual Indian fusion concept opened that restaurant at 1610 R St., Suite 130 in 2020, and later expanded to an Elk Grove location and a Local Kitchens food hall stand in Roseville.