BEERS FOR 2015

We often update you with what is in our tanks, but this blog post is a little bit more long-term. We’re going to look further down the road and give you the rundown on some planned beers for 2015. This is not an exhaustive list by any means – there’ll also be a few surprises thrown into the mix – but this post will give you a good overview of what you should be looking forward to pouring into your favourite goblet over the next few months.

Vagabond Pale Ale

Release Date: 01/03/2015

We start with a truly ground-breaking brew. Vagabond Pale Ale will be out in just a couple of weeks, and is set to push the boundaries of what gluten-free beers are all about. As you would expect by that, we mean full-on flavour – orange, pine, grapefruit and caramel – everything a beer born of the Pacific Coast should encompass. Only with zero gluten. Irrepressible from the start, Vagabond is proof that the focal point of these beers should be flavour, not simply hiding behind an ideal.

Stereo Wolf stout

Release Date: March

Sadly, Brixton Porter is being discontinued. Please don’t be too sad however, as we are looking to replace it pretty quickly. To that end we are already working on a prototype – Stereo Wolf stout. This inky abyss of a beer is currently fermenting away in tank, and will be a hopped-up badass loaded with attitude and American hops. A wolf in wolf’s clothing. This prototype batch will be hitting our bars and online shop in early March.

The 2015 Seasonal Program

Release Date: February

For the first time in our admittedly short history, we will have four seasonal beers! Until the end of March our acclaimed Alice Porter will be making a welcome comeback, from April to June our session india saison called Electric India will be available, Hop Fiction Pale Ale (a spin on last year’s Hop Fiction IPA prototype) will take the helm from July to September, with Alt Amber being available from October to December.

These will be available in bottle and on tap, with Alice Porter launching before the end of February. We realise that Alice Porter should have launched on 1st January 2015, but then we just decided to do the seasonal program on the 6th of January. So please don’t be mad at us. Or be mad at us if you want. We don’t really care.

Paradox Compass Box

Release Date: March

We're not too far away from the arrival of the latest iteration of our Paradox series, aged in Compass Box whisky barrels. The bold, dark flavours of Paradox have married beautifully with the Great King Street blend, to produce an imperial stout laden with the familiar coffee, chocolate and brandy character, yet augmented by zesty notes of fragrant orange. This one is going to be something truly special.

Un-named Concept IPA

Release Date: March

Our first small batch beer of 2015 will be an as yet un-named IPA. IPA is pretty much our favourite beer style and with this one we wanted to throw precedent and balance completely out of the window. We wanted to take IPA back to its 18th century roots whilst using the latest technology, hops and techniques to create an amped-up IPA inspired by yesteryear, but built for the future.

When it came to the original IPAs, the stronger, the paler, the drier the better. So we wanted to create a huge base (of just under 9%) but make it as pale and as dry as we could. We then took this base which looks reminiscent of a mass market lager and hopped the living daylights out of it at every single stage of the process to create the purest of lupulin hits for the most extreme hop junkies.

Watch out for this beer in March. As always with small batch, we will work with an illustrator or artist to create a bespoke label which is as unique as the beer itself.

Hinterland

Bashah photo by Robert Gale

Release Date: May

Our second small batch beer of 2015 will be Hinterland; an imperial milk and oatmeal vanilla stout. Long time BrewDog collaborator Johanna Basford is already working on a suitably awesome label for it, which may or may not feature a Jackalope. If you don’t know what a Jackalope is, they are big bunnies with antlers who love bourbon…

IPA is Dead 2015

Release Date: May

Here’s a milestone. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the release of the IPA is Dead series, and we haven’t even got close to exhausting all the different hop options (hoptions?) that are out there. So, our four-piece showcase is set to return in late spring, and will once again feature the most interesting and cutting edge hops that we can get our hands on. This time out, IPA is Dead 2015 will consist of… Ella (Australia), Mandarina Bavaria (Germany), Pioneer (England) and Chinook (USA).

Beatnik Brewing Collective: The Bounty Hunter

Release Date: May

Also in the metaphorical brewing pipeline is the outcome of the first Beatnik Brewing Collective brewday; the beer designed, voted upon and collaboratively-brewed by our legion of Equity Punks. As detailed yesterday, that beer is destined to be very special – a 6.5% single-hopped coconut and cacao milk stout, named (also by our EFP’s) The Bounty Hunter. As we mentioned previously, this beer will only be available to our shareholders – or those who befriend a shareholder, maybe…

Finally – as if all that wasn’t enough to get your juices flowing, in April we will have our long-awaited canning line in operation, and almost immediately afterwards you can look forward to the bastard that is Jack Hammer in 330ml cans. We are pretty excited about that too. Oh yes.

Be. More. BrewDog.