U.S. craft beer pioneer Dogfish Head has joined forces with Belgium’s historic Brouwerij Rodenbach to release Vibrant P’Ocean, a 4.7%-ABV blended sour ale.
This is the first collaboration beer in Rodenbach’s 200-year history.
“As America’s number-one brewer of sour beers, we at Dogfish are absolutely honored to be the first to collaborate and create a beer in partnership with Rodenbach, the world’s most well-respected maker of sour beers,” says Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head. “I’m proud to say that our teams contributed equally on every creative facet of this beer – from the brainstorm to the brew to calibrating the vibrant, red hue of the beer though specific grain and fruit blends. We really took our time and focused on creating a mouth-puckeringly magical drinking experience.”
Vibrant P’Ocean is a ruby-colored beer with tart, dry flavors of jammy berries and floral lemon, the companies say. To create this trans-oceanic libation, the breweries combined two base beers: one developed by Rodenbach and the other by Dogfish Head.
Rodenbach’s portion — a two-year, foeder-aged sour from its standing oak casks — was brewed in Belgium before making its 3,400-mile voyage to Milton, Delaware. There, it was blended with Dogfish Head’s portion, a kettle sour brewed with pilsner malt, malted wheat, elderberry, elderflower, sliced lemons and Belgian fleur-de-sel.
Vibrant P’Ocean will be available nationwide in 6-packs of 12-oz. cans starting in late January. Dogfish Head recently unveiled their full 2020 beer release schedule.
The breweries are also exploring a future, limited release of Vibrant P’Ocean that will be available in Belgium.
“Our relationship with Dogfish Head blossomed over a few good sour beers and Vibrant P’Ocean captures all that we hoped for in this collaboration,” says Rudi Ghequire, master brewer of Rodenbach. “It signifies the vibrancy and mutual respect of our beers and two cultures coming together, inspired by the ocean which connects us. The result is an innovative and refreshing sour beer that captures Dogfish Head’s history of creativity, while staying true to the Rodenbach brand and its oak-aging process which gives Rodenbach its distinctive character.”
