Double Vision Brewing are taking fresh hop season to a new level, with a triple treat of collectible, glow-in-the-dark cans, designed to be drunk in a specific order and preferably while reading the companion comic strip.
In recent years, DVB have two produced two classic horror character-driven beers (eg Count Dracula and Van Helsing) but this year they’re extending the narrative.
It’s also a way of acknowledging the individual hop farms that deliver the key ingredient, says Double Vision co-founder Warren Drahota.
“It is super important for us to take the partnership with the hop farmers to the next level because let’s face it, these are businesses who get us the delicious aromas and flavours we hop heads all adore so much.
“If it weren’t for their hard work and fast-moving programmes, our industry would be missing a vital cornerstone.”
Each DVB can is numbered 1 to 3 and are created to be consumed in order, and each features hops from a different farm.
“We have alternated from a bright NZ IPA to a Hazy NZ IPA and back to traditional again. This gives the drinker some variety … but also emphasises the importance of the style matching the hop selection.
“The strategy for the last two years was to have both cans come out and cross-promote each other on the shelf, but when we were thinking about how to improve this year, we knew we had to consider adding to the lineup. With two already in the pipeline for April, we got the crazy idea to put one out a month ahead for March.”
The first beer “Outbreak 24” primes the rest of the sequence.
“We wanted to do something like a Night of the Living Dead character. As we have found out from other breweries’ dramas, we don’t use the ‘Z’ word as somehow that has a trademark attached to it.
“We then landed on The Undead. What would the start of the story be, then? Well, we suppose an outbreak of fresh hops was going to be the event to trigger the story. That’s how we got to Outbreak 24.”
The Undead is the second beer in the series — the curse of the hazy, perhaps? — and like every good horror they needed a hero to step in, so Hop Hunter comes in to save the day.
As Drahota notes, Double Vision have a preference for bright, clean beers, so this last one is the “cure” … a bright beer to banish the hazy so drinkers “can see clearly again”.
“A beer by the brewers for the masses; a cure, a solution… the Hop Hunter!”
