Vocation, one of the UK’s largest and fastest growing independent breweries, is celebrating seven years of its flagship beer Life & Death with three new brews. While the original Life & Death is still brewed to its original recipe, the three new beers imagine what Life & Death could have been like if it was changed to the extreme.
The three new brews are available now via Vocation’s online shop at www.vocationbrewery.com in 440ml cans. The beers will also be available through independent retailers, in the on-trade in both keg and cask formats, and to Vocation’s export business. They include:
Life & Death Session Edition (3.5% abv), which contains Vocation’s Classic IPA hopped with Citra and Mosaic, brewed to a more sessionable abv, without sacrificing its West Coast character. The beer provides fruit-forward flavours with a bite of citrus zest, followed by a moreish, lingering bitterness.
Life & Death Hazy Edition (6.5% abv), using the original recipe, shrouded in a thick New England fog to soften its bristlier West Coast features. It is a rounded, softer Life & Death, brewed with flaked wheat, jumbo oats, and more Citra hops for a juicy aroma, fleshy tropical and stone fruits flavour, and a silky finish.
Life & Death Gold Edition (7.4% abv), which consists of Vocation’s Classic IPA hopped with Citra and Mosaic, brewed with even more malts to produce an amped-up abv, more body and an even punchier resinous finish. The fruit-forward flavours of the Classic Life & Death have been dialled up to produce a bigger bite of pithy West Coast citrus, followed by a long, lingering, malty bitterness.
The new beer launches have been supported by The Festival of Life & Death, an online marketing campaign running for seven days, to celebrate the 7th birthday of Life & Death. The Festival featured daily webshop promotions and a huge Life & Death Birthday Giveaway.
Matt Howgate, Innovation Brewer at Vocation Brewery, says: “We pride ourselves on the fact that our original Life & Death is still brewed to its original recipe, the recipe that got us going and propelled us into big-time brewing.
“We are delighted to now be launching our three new Life & Death special edition beers, which visualise what our flagship Life & Death IPA could have been like if it was changed to the extreme.
“Our three new brews offer a beer for all occasions, whether drinkers are looking for a lower abv beer which still delivers on flavour (Life & Death Session Edition); a hazy, softer version with a silky finish (Life & Death Hazy Edition); or an amped-up abv version with a long, lingering, malty bitterness (Life & Death Gold Edition). We can’t wait for consumers to try these and to let us know what they think of them.”
Vocation Brewery is an independent craft brewery based in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, founded in 2015 by John Hickling, with just himself, a rebuilt chicken shed and a dog for company. Today the brewery employs 60 staff and a further 60 across three on-trade venues in Hebden Bridge, Leeds and Manchester – brewing and selling over 14 million pints in 2021. They’ve come a long way, but it’s still their vocation.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Vocation Brewery has just won a number of awards for its beers at the European Beer Challenge 2022. Naughty & Nice won Double Gold; Hop, Skip & Juice won Gold; Smash & Grab won Silver; and Life & Death won Bronze. For more information on the awards, visit: europeanbeerchallenge.org.
- Vocation’s core range comprises:
- Life & Death (6.5% abv): a ballsy, US style IPA with flavours of tropical and citrus fruits, with a lingering bitterness set against a smooth malty backbone
- Hop, Skip & Juice (5.7% abv): a tropical pale ale with heavy doses of citrussy Simcoe to get lips hopping.
- Bread & Butter (3.9% abv): a dry, hopped pale ale using layers of US hops set against a backbone of British malts. What this beer lacks in strength, it makes up for in character.
- Heart & Soul (4.4% abv): a session IPA with an intense fruit-salad character that comes from generous additions of US West Coast hops. Notes of passionfruit, gooseberry, pineapple and mango.
- For more information about Vocation, please visit vocationbrewery.com.
Press relase from Vocation Brewery
For further information or photography please contact Jo Grobel at Exact PR at jogrobel@exactpr.co.uk