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Pour Some Barley, Water, Hops and Yeast on Me: Def Leppard Announce New Beer
Jeff Giles
Elysian
We can add Def Leppard to the growing list of artists pursuing some sort of alcohol-related product as a side business — and fans can look forward to sampling the resulting beer during the band's summer tour with Journey.
Billboard reports that the group has teamed up with Seattle-based brewery Elysian to produce a new brew they've dubbed Def Leppard Pale. Set to debut May 23 — shortly after the tour starts — the 6 percent beer is scheduled to be available for purchase "at most stops," as well as an array of bars and restaurants in towns near their shows. Singer Joe Elliott spoke with the trade to vouch for the drink, assuring potential drinkers that "it tastes great" and could be his "new normal to have ... in the fridge."
For Elysian, whose CEO and co-founder Joe Bisacca described the company's aesthetic as "not ballad-y ... not a quiet love song -- it's hardcore rock," collaborating with the members of Def Leppard represented an opportunity to blend two different types of beer. "The best of British beer is the malt body and that beautiful malt balance. And the best thing about American beer is the citrus, piney hops," he pointed out. "So we’ve taken those two aspects, put them together and come up with a beer you can actually drink a few of — 6 percent ABV you can drink all night long."
Of course, it's just about impossible to talk about British beer and hard rock without mentioning Iron Maiden, whose Trooper brew has enjoyed a five-year run of remarkable success — a model Elliott clearly wouldn't mind replicating with Def Leppard Pale. While stressing a wait-and-see approach that will be gauged starting with the response they see during the beer's rollout on tour, he noted that there still seems to be plenty of room in the market.
"Some stage down the road, maybe we’d do a wine," he added. "There's nothing wrong in having merchandise, people have been doing this since before we were born. I don’t see any harm in it at all. There's some good stuff out there – some great rock 'n’ roll wines, and then some where it's like, ‘Mmmm… no thanks.’ We'll wait and see where this goes."
Pour Some Barley, Water, Hops and Yeast on Me: Def Leppard Announce New Beer
Jeff Giles
Elysian
We can add Def Leppard to the growing list of artists pursuing some sort of alcohol-related product as a side business — and fans can look forward to sampling the resulting beer during the band's summer tour with Journey.
Billboard reports that the group has teamed up with Seattle-based brewery Elysian to produce a new brew they've dubbed Def Leppard Pale. Set to debut May 23 — shortly after the tour starts — the 6 percent beer is scheduled to be available for purchase "at most stops," as well as an array of bars and restaurants in towns near their shows. Singer Joe Elliott spoke with the trade to vouch for the drink, assuring potential drinkers that "it tastes great" and could be his "new normal to have ... in the fridge."
For Elysian, whose CEO and co-founder Joe Bisacca described the company's aesthetic as "not ballad-y ... not a quiet love song -- it's hardcore rock," collaborating with the members of Def Leppard represented an opportunity to blend two different types of beer. "The best of British beer is the malt body and that beautiful malt balance. And the best thing about American beer is the citrus, piney hops," he pointed out. "So we’ve taken those two aspects, put them together and come up with a beer you can actually drink a few of — 6 percent ABV you can drink all night long."
Of course, it's just about impossible to talk about British beer and hard rock without mentioning Iron Maiden, whose Trooper brew has enjoyed a five-year run of remarkable success — a model Elliott clearly wouldn't mind replicating with Def Leppard Pale. While stressing a wait-and-see approach that will be gauged starting with the response they see during the beer's rollout on tour, he noted that there still seems to be plenty of room in the market.
"Some stage down the road, maybe we’d do a wine," he added. "There's nothing wrong in having merchandise, people have been doing this since before we were born. I don’t see any harm in it at all. There's some good stuff out there – some great rock 'n’ roll wines, and then some where it's like, ‘Mmmm… no thanks.’ We'll wait and see where this goes."
