21st Amendment Adds Blood Orange Brew Free! or Die IPA to Year-Round Lineup

Imagine you’re at a summer concert to catch your favorite band and they start playing the opening strains of that one song you know and love, but then suddenly turn a corner and embark on a 15- minute mind-blowing riff. The song’s backbone is there and recognizable, but this new twist takes you to an unexpected space. This is the artistry behind Blood Orange Brew Free! or Die IPA, 21st Amendment Brewery’s newest year-round release.

Building off the foundation of the brewery’s original west coast IPA, Brew Free! or Die, this Blood Orange rendition captures everything that’s wonderful about that beer – including the malt structure and balanced bitterness coming at you with two pounds per barrel of dry hops with Citra, Mosaic and Chinook. But right when you think this IPA couldn’t get any better, there is the added mouthfeel of refreshing orange citrus thanks to the infusion of real blood orange puree.

“We had resisted coming out with another fruit beer for a while now, but the fact is, we helped pioneer this style when we first started brewing Hell or High Watermelon Wheat almost 17 years ago at our San Francisco brewpub, and we do it really well,” said Nico Freccia, 21A co-founder. “We ultimately decided to have a little fun with our flagship IPA because we knew we could do it right.”

Making its nationwide debut this March, Blood Orange Brew Free! showcases the perfect marriage of fruit and IPA proving once more that sometimes, real fruit just makes things better.

“We’ve been developing this recipe for almost a year,” said Shaun O’Sullivan, 21A Brewmaster and co-founder. “Blood oranges were a totally new ingredient for us, and it was a lot of fun to play around with different approaches of where to add it into the process, and how much.”

The result? A tangy, thirst-quenching, IPA with distinct flavors.

“We want craft beer drinkers to understand that while this is a new and totally different beer, it has a great lineage, but when you crack open that can and get that first whiff of blood orange and hops… Oh man, it’s a thing of beauty.” added O’Sullivan.

Coming in at 7 percent ABV, don’t let the fruit fool you. Blood Orange Brew Free! has a pronounced hop flavor and great malt backbone.

“While we captured the essence and aroma of blood orange, the beer undergoes a lot of late hopping,” explained O’Sullivan. “Just to give you an example, at the end of the boil we add over 30 pounds of Citra hops into the whirlpool. In layman’s terms, that’s a LOT of fricking hops!”

Six packs and draft will be available in all 21A distribution markets this March. Unlike the brewery’s popular Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, this beer will be available year-round.

“Blood Orange Brew Free! is an ‘every occasion’ beer. It’s a summer afternoon beer, it’s a night out beer, it’s a great beer with food. Once you taste it you will understand,” added Freccia.

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