MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The way the Twins played last summer, a lot of fans were reaching for a drink.

Now that the season’s over, the guys who work at Target Field are enjoying a special treat — a baseball-inspired beer.

Although a novice, Matt Semke, a member of the Twins production team, is big into brewing. As he watched the grounds crew shut down the park for the winter, he had a question about the tall plants growing on Target Plaza.

“In passing,” he said, “I asked my co-worker ‘What’s going to happen with the hops?’”

A couple hours later, he received an email offering him the buds to brew at home.

“They picked out almost a full paper bag full,” he said. “Once it was dried out, it was about three ounces of hops, which isn’t a full hoppy amount for a five-gallon batch.”

Because of where the hops were grown, Semke brewed up a special name.

“It’s Reverse The Curse Ale,” he said. “I’m just hoping to get the team on the right track here — anything I can do to support them.”

Stemke used a Scottish yeast and some caramel steeping grains with a pilsner malt. Those, mixed with the Mount Hood and Willamette hops grown on Target Plaza, give the brew a refreshing English Ale flavor.

“I’m very happy with it,” he said. “I hope they agree to give me the hops every year. It’s a really fun thing to do.”

There were only enough hops for this one small batch and it won’t be sold at Target Field.