Do we have a bumper crop of beers for you! From overhauling the design of our single-hopped lager series, through rebrewing some returning favourites, to developing several brand new concepts, our brewery team have been hard at work fitting in small batch beers alongside keeping all our core range brews in stock. Here's the scoop on all our upcoming releases! 

RELEASING NEXT WEEK

The first four beers are expected to release imminently - keep an eye on our social channels for more info!

Khimaira - 6.3% Heller Bock

We first released Chimera, an India Pale Lager, as part of our Studio range in 2016. In 2019, we made it a draft-exclusive, with each keg-only release featuring multiple additions of a single hop variety. It's been a series that has given us some of our favourite beers over the last few months. Galaxy, Hallertauer Blanc, Mosaic and Taiheke have all featured, with a particularly triumphant Mandarina Bavaria release possibly taking the top spot.

Now, with hand-bottling as our only option for packaging 250L studio brews, we've decided to give the concept an overhaul. Introducing: Khimaira.

Now at an elevated 6.3% ABV, this strong, pale lager is being released in bottle for the first time ever. We've reworked the design, inspired by classic European lagers. This first edition of our rebranded heller bock features Kazbek, a Czech hop with intense notes of spice and citrus. It brings an intriguing and complex herbal aroma to our lager, capping off rich toasty malt, a hint of warming alcohol, and a slap of pithy bitterness.

Expect more iterations of Khimaira in future - we're looking forward to trying out new hops, as well as bringing back some of our favourite previous editions.

Gun-Toting Nano-Penguin- 5.2% Peach Pale Ale

We recently ran a World Cup of beer concepts, and the winner was Gun-Toting Nano-Penguin; a peach west coast IPA. However, with a peach pale ale from our Draft Picks series already in tank, it made sense to hijack our own existing beer release with the winning concept - and the final public vote we ran confirmed this.

Gun-Toting Nano-Penguin is a bright, juicy and dry 5.2% American pale ale. Brewed with barley malt, wheat and muscovado sugar, hopped with Galaxy and infused with peach extract, it's well-balanced and rounded. Each ingredient places its own subtle stamp on the flavour profile - comforting caramel and biscuit, a hint of muscovado depth, a snappy citrus bitterness, and a juicy ripe fruit flavour.

Big Dumb Object- 8.3% Chocolate Rye Black IPA

Originally brewed in January 2019 as part of our Spectrum series, Big Dumb Object blends Centennial, Mandarina Bavaria, Chinook and Galaxy with chocolate rye, crystal rye, and a touch of carafa malt. Hop additions every ten minutes throughout a ninety-minute boil add layer upon layer of bitterness, with all four hops added again at whirlpool for flavour and yet more resin. This year's edition weighs in at an imposing 8.3% ABV.

Up-front, aromas of pitchwood and burnt pine dominate. Digging deeper reveals tinder smoke and charred lime. Hefty flavours of roast, resin, and redcurrant beat a tattoo across the palate, before the resinous, almost savoury hop character drives into the finish. On the malt side, there's dark chocolate, spice, and the merest hint of sweetness, with the alcohol providing more body.

Sugar Shack Moose Attack!- 6.5% Maple Wheat Beer

A rebrew plucked from our back catalogue, Sugar Shack Moose Attack! is mellow, sweet, and malt-forward. This is the antidote to hop fatigue; featuring a toasty grain profile, a softly spicy yeast character, and a warming maple flavour that develops in the glass. A simple, summery beer, with a pillowy texture and a light finish.

RELEASING IN THREE WEEKS

The next three beers should drop the week of 25th May - our 6th birthday week.

Unfinished Symphony- 7.5% Mixed Culture Oat Wine

To put it mildly, we're a bit excited about this one. We've been hanging on to it for a little while now, and we're releasing it to coincide with our 6th birthday.

Unfinished Symphony is the first wild beer we have ever released. Refermented in a red wine barrel with a mixed culture of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus, this 7.5% oat wine now belongs to the bugs. We gave it structure, and they give it a flavour profile that will never be truly complete, as over time the yeast and bacteria will continue to act on this ever-changing beer. An Unfinished Symphony, if you will.

On the nose, it’s funky up front. Brett-derived barnyard character is interlaced with hints of lemongrass and lime zest. On the palate, flavours of juicy pineapple, ripe peach, and tangerine peel sing out, supported by smooth, silky oats and a soft, bright acidity. Carbonated naturally in the bottle, it’s light and delicately sparkling.

It’s not just the beer that’s unfinished though - we’re turning the design over to you. This customisable label is a (nearly) blank canvas, to be decorated any way you choose. Illustrate it, write on it, compose a very short symphony... whatever you like. Share your creation with us, and we might reward you with yet more beer!

Our next Unfinished beer is already in barrel; right now, microbes are working their magic on a Biere de Garde, which we hope to release late this year or in early 2021. 

Nightmare of Cake 2020 Edition- 7.5% Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dessert Stout

Last year, to mark our 5th birthday, we released a ridiculous pastry stout. We wanted to see what would happen if we threw everything we had in our stores at one big stout - and Nightmare of Cake was born. So, naturally, we decided to brew it again.

The 2020 edition of Nightmare of Cake has been aged in bourbon barrels, adding huge aromas of vanilla, almond and marzipan into the mix. Big, chewy, sweet and warming, with notes of caffé latte, coconut, milk chocolate, toasted marshmallow, soft fruit and more. It might be Drygate's birthday, but this beer is our present to you.

Anachronous- 7.5% Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cherry Scotch Ale

A wee heavy, brewed with Morello cherries, and aged in bourbon barrels; Anachronous shares much of its DNA with the Old Fashioned cocktail. This big, smooth, boozy Scotch Ale is sweet, warming, fruity and full-bodied, with almond bourbon barrel character accentuating the cherry notes in the beer. Toasted oak and vanilla character rounds out the flavour profile.

RELEASING IN JUNE

These two beers should be ready to rock in about a month...

Rorschach 2020 Edition

The latest in our annual series of category-defying strong ales, Rorschach 2020 Edition is open to interpretation.

We've brewed up a beer that we're not going to explain to you. We're going to sit quietly, and if you want to tell us what you experience, that's great. If you'd rather just sit and enjoy it, well that's great too.

BA Arrakis

No, it's not a Mr T comeback special, it's the return of our Belgian quad Arrakis, this time aged in port barrels. We found aromas of fig, toast, red wine, dark fruit, dates, toffee, liquorice, and spice, followed by sweet and complex flavours of oak, spiced orange, and currants. Finishing light and warm, it's balanced with soft tannins. 

RELEASE DATE TBC

The next few beers have been added to the schedule but their launch date is currently TBC. We'll aim to drop them alongside other releases, and keep you posted on social channels.

Name TBC - 2.8% Table Beer

So new we don't have an image yet... We're brewing up a new series of low ABV table beers. These half-strength beers will feature a different blend of hops (plus maybe herbs and/or fruit) every time. We'll have more on this project as it develops. 

Double Disco, Fourteen Peaks, Double Orinoco, Podcast and Duplication

The last batches of the twists on our core range beers were a big hit, so we've squeezed them back into the brew schedule, and you can expect to see Double Disco and Double Orinoco returning to the online shop alongside some of our new releases, and more stock of Fourteen Peaks arriving soon. We're also brewing another batch of Podcast - our vegan milkshake IPA - and a new batch of Duplication, a hazy IPA from our Spectrum series.

Well, there you have it! A whole raft of beer to enjoy during lockdown, available exclusively on our online shop. Stay tuned for more info on our upcoming releases, and keep an eye on our social channels for details on launch dates!

Team Drygate x