Via Billboard: This summer, Def Leppard are teaming up with Journey for a massive co-headlining tour that kicks off May 21 and runs through Oct. 7. But that’s not the only collaboration the hard rock titans are embarking on in 2018: The Sheffield rockers have teamed up with Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Company to craft Def Leppard Pale (6% ABV), a brand new brew that will make its debut on May 23 (the second date of their tour) and be available at most stops on their tour, as well as select bars and restaurants.
“It tastes great – that’s the most important thing I can tell you,” singer Joe Elliott tells Billboard. “I would pass on doing an interview about this if I didn’t like it. That to me is the most important thing.”
In fact, Elliott likes it enough that he could see it becoming “the new normal to have it in the fridge,” but hardly for vanity’s sake. “We’re not going to drink it just because we put our name on it,” he says, laughing. “I don’t walk around wearing our fucking t-shirt.”
When the opportunity to work with the British heavy metal icons presented itself, Elysian Brewing Company jumped at the chance. “For our brand, our ethos is guitar, bass and drums,” Elysian CEO and co-founder Joe Bisacca tells Billboard. “It’s not ballad-y, it’s not a quiet love song — it’s hardcore rock.”
Hammered out over the course of numerous emails, Skype calls and some FedEx-ed samples that led to tweaks — “It’s like a song – you can’t rush it,” Elliott says — Def Leppard Pale reflects both the band and the brewery.
“We had the idea here that the beer should celebrate something of the band and something of us,” Bisacca says. “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. So we’ve taken those two aspects, put them together and come up with a beer you can actually drink a few of — 6% ABV you can drink all night long.”
Read the full story on Billboard.com HERE