MORGANNA: The Kissing Bandit
When we began brewing a foeder fermented sour in 2020, we knew it was going to have a big personality and we needed a name to match – enter Morganna. Known as ‘The Kissing Bandit’ and ‘baseball’s unofficial mascot’, Morganna Roberts ‘stole’ kisses from nearly 40 major-leaguers. We have always loved this brave and hilarious woman and wanted to tell her story in a way that matched our reverence and respect for her.
Pale gold in colour and boasting a big haze, this zippy brew was fermented with our house ale yeast, lactobacillus and brettanomyces (Morganna kissed George Brett – twice!) and dry hopped with Galaxy, Vic Secret and Motueka. Morganna explodes with notes of juicy ripe apricot, sweet guava, and puckering lemon zest.
Morganna Roberts was an entertainer, billed as “Morganna the Wild One” when appearing as a dancer in the 1980s. Morganna’s passion was to entertain and thus only kissed on the cheek, the players were in on the laugh, but management had no sense of humour – she was arrested 19 times during baseball games!
Her on-field career, and her career as the ‘Kissing Bandit’, began in August, 1969 when she rushed onto the field at Crosley Field and kissed Pete Rose. She was prompted by a friend who “dirty-double-dared me to do it. Where I’m from, you don’t turn down a dirty-double-dare… at least, not when you’re a teenager.” By 1990, she had kissed 37 Major League Baseball players, 12 National Basketball Association players, and dozens of minor league baseball, basketball, and hockey players, plus various umpires, managers, and owners, and, on one occasion, The San Diego Chicken 🐓
Morganna was also known as “the grand dame of baseball” and insisted: “I’m not a sex symbol. I’m a comedienne. I make folks smile. I make them laugh – and that makes my day. What are we here for, if not that?”
We couldn’t agree more – this one is for you, Morganna!