Iron Maiden and Robinsons Brewery (Stockport, England) have officially announced that TROOPER Sun and Steel Saké Lager will land in the U.S. in October 2019.

Arriving as the sixth release in Iron Maiden and Robinsons Brewery’s collaborative TROOPER Series and Iron Maiden’s first Lager, TROOPER Sun and Steel is a double-fermented Lager inspired by “a meeting between [Iron Maiden vocalist and beer connoisseur Bruce Dickinson] and longtime friend George Yusa, owner of the 300-year-old, family-run Okunomatsu Sake Brewery in Fukushima, Japan.”  The idea to brew a saké-influenced beer was then turned over to Robinsons Brewery where they created Sun and Steel with an initial fermentation with lager yeast followed by a secondary fermentation with authentic Japanese saké yeast (so authentic that its use required “permission from the Japanese government”).  This complex approach to Sun and Steel (4.8% ABV) yielded “a delicate, subtle fruit flavor infused into a pilsner-style beer – equal parts refreshing, invigorating and flavorful.”

“This has been such an exciting project,” Bruce Dickinson commented. “I had a crazy idea to try and make a sake-infused lager, and over two and a half years later, here we are! I know Martyn and the team at Robinsons have had to become mad scientists to make this work, but the end result is a really unique hybrid beer that tastes fantastic. TROOPER fans have been asking for a lager, and here it is. I bet you would never have guessed we would do it like this though!”

TROOPER Sun and Steel will officially launch in the U.S. in October. You can expect to find this new TROOPER release available in 4-packs of 16 oz. cans and on draft at craft beer-friendly establishments located in Alabama, Florida and all other areas of the U.S. serviced by Artisanal Imports.  Prost!

Vital Information for TROOPER Sun and Steel from Iron Maiden & Robinsons Brewery

Release – TROOPER Series; launching in the U.S. in October 2019
Style – Pilsner
ABV – 4.8%
Treatment – Primary fermentation with lager yeast and secondary fermentation with authentic Japanese saké yeast
Fun Fact #1 – “The beer takes its name from the Iron Maiden song ‘Sun and Steel’ that appears on their 1983 album Piece of Mind, which was, in turn, inspired by the life of Japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi.”
Fun Fact #2 – Sun and Steel “serves as a thank-you to all the fans who came out for the North American leg of Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast tour, which concludes in the U.S. on September 25th in San Antonio, Texas.”
Availability – 4-packs of 16 oz. cans & draft
Distribution – Nationwide