UPCOMING BREWS – THE LATEST FROM HQ

A few months ago we filled you in on some of the beers we had in the pipeline here at BrewDog. But a few months is a long time in brewing, and East Coast Crush, Hazy Jane and our Cloudwater collaboration have (hopefully) reached your glassware already. So it’s time to look to the horizon once more and take a stroll through our brewhouse, sample glass in hand. Exactly what kind of beers will you be able to enjoy as summer moves into autumn on Planet BrewDog?

Let’s open a few hatches and find out! And we begin with an old favourite…

Tactical Nuclear Penguin

The dark side returns – and very soon, in fact. Hitting the shelves and online shop in the second week of August will be our homage to the highs of radical brewing that is Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Our 32% colossus was first released eight years ago; this uber-imperial stout truly is a beer for the dedicated – it comes from our team of dedicated brewers to all of the dedicated fans of mind-blowing craft beer out there. And if that’s you, then you won’t have to wait long to rediscover it.

Hop Shot

Launching alongside Tactical Nuclear Penguin we have a second ice-distilled flavour salvo for you. Packaged in 110ml bottles (as with its stablemate) is the return of our quadruple India Pale Ale. A 100 IBU, 20% ABV juggernaut, Hop Shot is IPA condensed into its purest form – a hop soliloquy. We loaded this beer with enough Centennial, Columbus, Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe to sink a battleship, and then concentrated it even further to give it an enormous intensity.

Small-Batch Releases

The Pilot Kit sitting alongside DogTap has been running white-hot of late, and there are some incredible beers soon to arrive in our BrewDog bars as a result. Look out for Small Batch: Spelt & Honey Saison; a dry, spicy release powered by weizen yeast that will appeal to lovers of both Belgian and German beers alike. Also Small Batch: Cranachan Cream Ale, brewed with raspberries and milk sugars, oats, wheat and Vermont ale yeast for a balance of sweet and tart flavours of summer (and which will be served on Nitro in our bars).

Prototype Challenge 2017

It took a year off in 2016, but we are only a few weeks away from the return of the BrewDog Prototype Challenge! Four different beers, released under plain packaging and encompassing a range of styles – with a public vote across our social channels to determine the winner. Previous editions of the challenge have delivered Jet Black Heart, Hop Fiction, Jack Hammer, Cocoa Psycho and Vagabond Pale Ale – so what are their four potential future stablemates?

Blonde Ale (4.5%, 15 IBU) A continental challenger with its roots firmly at home. German hops, pale malt, honey malt and wheat fermented with a brand new (for us) British ale yeast.

Tangerine Session IPA (4.5%, 40 IBU) Layers of juicy fruit flavours at drinkable strength. New World hops in both kettle and whirlpool, six different malts and the addition of tangerines.

Black Rye IPA (6.5%, 70 IBU) Three twists on India Pale Ale in one. Black malts mingle with rye and are lifted by the classic addition of enormous levels of resinous American C-Hops.

Double IPA (8.5%, 60 IBU) This DIPA is all about the dry-hop. We pushed the pale malt bill to the limit to incorporate colossal levels of Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Amarillo and Columbus.

Nine to Five Wizard

Next up is our third Wildcard release for the year, Nine to Five Wizard. These small-batch brews come with custom artwork and a cavalcade of flavours, and for the autumn months we are clinging onto the sunshine with an India Pale Weizen. Hopped with both US and German varietals, Cascade and Mandarina Bavaria in particular sing with juicy citrus to complement the classic banana and clove aromas from the Weissbier yeast. And it looks awesome thanks to the amazing Yuko Kondo.

Abstrakt AB:23

Our next Abstrakt release isn’t in tank at the moment – it still sits resting in our barrel store. Whilst the current AB:22 goes great guns we already have its successor waiting in the (wooden) wings. Abstrakt AB:23 will be a bourbon barrel-aged American Barley Wine, currently expected to top out at over 11% ABV and with a body to buttress the enormous hopload of Magnum, Simcoe, Mosaic and Ahtanum deployed in its creation. This is going to be something special.

Slot Machine

Another heir apparent waiting patiently is the final seasonal release for 2017, on track to break cover in late September (as Electric India bows out for another year). Rounding off the quartet is a brand new beer, Slot Machine. A 5.2% ABV red rye IPA in the tradition of Interstellar and Albino Squid Assassin this particular brew uses the relatively new hop Callista on top of Mangum and Amarillo and with rye and crystal malt featuring in the grain bill it will be perfect for autumn.

Homicidal Puppet Help Desk

Finally, we end on a high note. Riffing on the theme of rye a little longer, around the start of October we’ll be unveiling a hugely complex beer – Homicidal Puppet Help Desk. We love brewing with rye and decided to unleash its full potential with an imperial rye ale that we are currently ageing in rye whiskey barrels. Not dry-hopped, the beer will be well into double-digit ABV range and is an unapologetic celebration of the power wielded by this small, but mighty, grain.

So, how does all of that grab you? Let us know in the comments below which of these beers you will be making a play for when they appear, and as ever if there are any other styles you would love our brewhouse team to create then let us know too. You never know what may happen!