Independent Scottish craft brewer, BrewDog, has officially released the much-anticipated first batches of wild and sour beers from its spontaneous fermentation facility, Overworks, as it continues to push the boundaries of what beer can be, inspiring new drinkers and mobilising the craft beer revolution.
Launched in April last year, Overworks is BrewDog’s standalone state-of-the-art sour beer facility, an ambitious project designed to redefine the wild beer category.
The first ten beers, which include Cosmic Crush Raspberry, a Scottish sour ale fermented with raspberries aged in red wine barrels, and Aplomb Bomb, a Scottish sour ale fermented with plum and vanilla, aged in foeders, represent months of hard work by the brewing team, experimenting with the brewing process and flavour combinations.
Sour and wild beers are typically recognised as some of the oldest beer styles, associated with traditional methods originating from Belgian brewers. Their refreshing yet tart character is achieved by introducing wild yeast into the brewing process, which results in an intentional acidity.
Overworks will utilise these traditional techniques but with the classic BrewDog twist, blending traditional ingredients such as cherry and raspberry, with more unique flavour combinations such as blueberry and lavender, and rosehip and roses.
All ten beers are now available in bottle and on draft in BrewDog’s 36 UK bars, and will also be released to a select number of independent bottle shops and bars across the UK from 16 February.
Overworks will continue to release more beers throughout the year, including a number of exclusive collaborations with the likes of Deya, The Bruery and Speciation, as well as creating small-batch cocktail-inspired sours and spontaneous fermentation releases later in 2019.
The ten Overworks are all Scottish sour ale beers bar Funk V Punk, which is an India Pale Ale fermented with Brettanomyces aged in foeders.
The other nine are as follows:
Cosmic Crush Tropical - fermented with mango, pineapple, guava, papaya, aged in wine barrels
Cosmic Crush Cherry - fermented with cherries aged in red wine barrels
Cosmic Crush Quince - fermented with quince aged in foeders
Cosmic Crush Raspberry - fermented with raspberries aged in red wine barrels
Panavision Pink - fermented with rosehips & roses aged in foeders
Gooseberry Fool - fermented with gooseberry & elderflower aged in foeders
Bedrock Red - fermented with redcurrants and lemon verbena
Aplomb Bomb - fermented with plum & vanilla aged in foeders
Electric Blue - fermented with blueberries & lavender aged in foeders
Richard Kilcullen, Brewmaster at BrewDog Overworks, commented, “Since launching this ambitious project, we’ve been working tirelessly to take the traditional sour beer to exciting new heights, with bold, brave flavour combinations that must be tasted to be believed. BrewDog has always pushed the boundaries of what beer can be, and this first batch of sour beers epitomises that ambition.
'We’re obsessed with big flavours that will challenge people’s palates and conceptions. We couldn’t be more excited to release these incredible beers and can’t wait to open up our world of sour beer to more people than ever before.”
Kilcullen continued, “The future of Overworks is wildly exciting, with so much creative potential for us. We can’t wait to release more amazing beers, work with other awesome brewers and to continue to welcome more new beer fans into the bold world of sours. This first batch of ten is just the start in a long journey welcoming thousands more new beer fans into the BrewDog fold.”