Rock 'n' Roll Beers

In the CAMRA Beer Guide 2024, Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden wrote the intro for this latest edition. Dickinson has long been a supporter of CAMRA and real ale in general, his most famous claim to fame in brewing circles was when he collaborated with Robinsons in 2013, when they produced Trooper (4.7%) which was named after Iron Maiden's 1983 hit, the bottle label design even bears the same artwork as the original single. The beer has since become hugely successful, winning a slew of awards and spawning a range of beers under the Trooper banner from the likes of Trooper IPA (4.3%) to special releases such as Trooper Fear of the Dark (4.5%), Trooper Sun & Steel (4.8%) and Trooper 666 (6.6%) to name but a few. 

Although the likes of Trooper (4.7%) is the most well-known example of a UK based brewery dabbling with the music industry, there have been over examples over the years.  For instance, the band Elbow have done a number of collaborations with breweries, including the likes of Build a Rocket Boys (4%) with Robinsons in 2011, and latterly Charge (4.2%) with Marstons in 2014 respectively. The same year, Wychwood collaborated with Status Quo, to produce Piledriver (4.3%), which was named after their classic 1972 album. Meanwhile, in 2015, New Order teamed up with Moorhouse to produce Stray Dog (4.2%), named after a track from their new album Music Complete, perhaps an unusual form of promotion. Occasionally, bands have gone out their way to produce a range of beers, such as when Madness teamed up with Portobello Brewery Co. to produce several beers under the name Madness Brewing Co., producing a range of beers inspired their songs and albums, such as Lovestruck (4.4%) a ruby ale named after their 1999 hit single, Night Boat (4.6%) a porter named after their catchy instrumental 'Night Boat to Cairo', Absolutely (4.2%) a pale ale named after their iconic 1980 album of the same name and Gladness (4.2%), a lager which is derived from a lyric from their lesser known song 'Madness'. Moreover, Signature Brew set up their brewery with unique business concept of producing high quality beers for live music events, they have also frequently collaborated with bands, closely involving them in the development process. Such as Nice Time (3.9%) with The Skints in 2017, which was successful enough that the band took the beer on tour later that year, subsequently in 2018 they produced Mogwai Beer Satan (5.2%), with Mogwai, a wry take on the band’s seminal 16-minute track ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’, and more recently in 2020, Bell’s End (5.2%) a Christmas themed brew developed with The Darkness inspired by a lyric from the band's festive hit 'Christmas Time - Don't Let the Bell's End'. Understandably, the brewery has gained plaudits for their inventive efforts, including SIBA Business of the Year 2018 for instance. 

Occasionally, there are breweries out there who have named a number of their beers after hit songs. Liverpool based brewery Rock the Boat have named some of their beers after a number of 60's songs, including the likes of Waterloo Sunset (4.2%), Yellow Submarine (3.9%) and Sittin' on the Dock (3.5%). Meanwhile, Hartlepool based brewer Crafty Monkey, have named all their releases from iconic songs and groups that have inspired them. Their very first release New Era (4.7%) in 2018, was derived from the song Dawning of a New Era by The Specials, due to the symbolism of the subject matter. Since then, they have trawled around their record collection of 1980's era songs for further inspiration, with beers like Cemetery Gates (4.8%), a smoked porter named after the Smiths hit 1986 release of (nearly) the same name; New Gold Dream (4.1%) which was named after The Simple Minds album; and in late 2022, they even released a Christmas themed beer named Fairytale of New York (5%) a plum porter inspired the Pogues iconic Christmas hit from 1987. Occasionally, brewers have even gone to the lengths of producing a pun induced titles of famous songs, for instance last year Thames Side Brewery based in Henley-on-Thames released Don't Fear the Neipa (5%), a New England style IPA named the song 'Don't Fear the Reaper' by southern rockers Blue Oyster Cult. Or, the instance when stateside brewer Fulton Brewery named their release Sweet Child of Vine (6.4%), an English style IPA after Guns & Roses iconic anthem 'Sweet Child of Mine'. 

Around the world, a number of bands and artists have teamed up with breweries including the likes of Queen, Kiss, Frank Turner, The Rifles, Elbow, Super Furry Animals and Elbow, there's enough examples to fill up a decent roster for a typical episode of 'Later with Jools Holland'. Yet, aside from the likes of Trooper (4.7%) which is widely sold in supermarkets and shops around the UK, you will seldom find these types of beers on the shelves, and they are typically hard to come by, as the instances of breweries colloborating with bands is comparatively small, and they tend to be a limited release basis. However if you happen to find one of these beers in a pub, beer festival or bottle shop, why not take a copy and add it to your growing record collection of rock 'n' roll beers.