HOP FICTION

When is the first day of Spring? Well, officially this year it falls on March 20th but everyone at BrewDog HQ has a different date pencilled in on their calendars. "March 2nd – Hop Fiction Launch Day". The weather is turning up at the corners, signalling the long, shimmering Scottish summer will soon be with us. First though is Spring; five seasons in one day, and the perfect beer with which to enjoy it/console yourself with – Hop Fiction is out now.

You can buy Hop Fiction in 330ml cans here

You can buy Hop Fiction in 660ml bottles here

Yes, the end of the first week in March is a time heaven-sent for a zesty pale ale – and we have the second of our 2017 seasonal releases arriving right on time. Following on from our dark, roasty continental-inspired lager Zeitgeist we have a blast of light in the form of our golden, hop-forward US-inspired pale ale. Hop Fiction is a tropical lift to blow away the cobwebs – and one in which we deploy some cutting-edge brewhouse know-how.

With the intention of getting as much hop flavour into the beer we have deployed early and late-hopping techniques with our Spring seasonal. Most of our beers have the hops added into the boil (what would be the ‘middle’ in that last sentence) and then late as dry-hops – but Hop Fiction is different. We added the hops into the mash and whirlpool instead, with the generous BrewDog-standard levels of dry-hopping performed as per usual at the end of the process.

We do this to minimise the hop oils lost during the vigorous boil, to attempt to keep the aromas and flavours intact as much as possible. When paired with a baseline of extra pale malt you have a beer with the backbone of a session pale but the hopload of a double IPA – and a surge of freshly cut grass, citrus peel, resin and tropical fruit is the result. With its overload of pine and stone fruit, Hop Fiction is the perfect – and real – start to Spring you have all been waiting for.

As with Zeitgeist we have packaged Hop Fiction in 330ml cans and 660ml bottles. These bombers are a perfect size to share, and the cans ideal for transporting and cooling faster. We are also launching on draft as well of course – and you can find Hop Fiction pouring from the taps of our UK Bars from 6pm tonight, Thursday March 2nd. As ever, if you get a chance to sample it, leave your tasting notes in the comments below!