Iron Maiden launch new saké infused lager Sun and Steel
Iron Maiden are launching their first lager in the Trooper range - the saké infused Sun and Steel.
Described by the band as ‘one of the most complex beers that Robinsons Brewery have ever produced’, the 4.8% Sun and Steel is a double fermented lager created with authentic Japanese saké yeast.
Just like all the other beers in the Trooper range, Sun and Steel – titled after the 1983 ‘Piece of Mind' track of the same name – is a collaboration between Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks.
They formulated the idea in 2016 when they both met Maiden aficionado George Yusa, who is the owner of the 300-year-old, family run Okunomatsu Saké Brewery in Fukushima.
In May 2017, Yusa personally delivered a sample of the saké yeast to Bruce at Iron Maiden’s sold-out show at London’s The O2 on the Book of Souls World Tour.
Bruce took the sample to Robinson’s Brewery in Stockport, and, having been given the green light from the Japanese government to brew it, they have been working on their new alcoholic beverage ever since.
Bruce comments: “This has been such an exciting project. 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!”
Sun and Steel is the sixth beer in the Trooper range and it will be available to imbibe in the UK from Monday 6th May, which is the sixth anniversary of the launch of the original Trooper beer.
Described as having ‘a subtle fruit flavour infused into a pilsner style lager’, Sun and Steel is known as a hybrid beer as it contains two yeasts - a lager yeast for the initial fermentation followed by a saké yeast for a second fermentation.
Following the rapturously received European leg in 2018, Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast World tour hits North America in the summer and Latin America in the autumn.