Earthbound 2020 will see the return of past favorites, and more cans

January 5, 2020 Jordan Palmer Beer, Year In Beer Comments Off

The resurgence of Cherokee Street in south St. Louis has been fun to watch. It’s been fascinating to watch the eclectic mix of small businesses, artists, bars, restaurants, and even craft beer, meld together as they all work hard to create a community. Some businesses make it, some don’t.

One business that appears to be thriving on Cherokee Street is Earthbound Beer. Its burnt red brick building, housing its 2-year-old taproom and brewery on top of the now famous Earthbound Beer Caves, with the legendary stories they tell, has been wowing their legions of loyal fans with what they’ve affectionally called weird beer.

We asked the Earthbound chief guru Stuart Keating for a preview of what he and his team have in their plans for the future.

What We Can Expect

“New beers, even more events, new merch, a birthday party for Elvis, a revamped food menu, a patio overhaul, all sorts of cool stuff,” said Keating.

The start of the year will mark the return of two old favorite. I last saw Divine Hag, back in February of 2017. The Scottish Ale at 8.9% ABV is back right now. Also scheduled to return in 2020 is Earthbound’s popular fruit beer Jeff Goldplum. Keating will only say it’s making a comeback in a BIG way!

Another big beer to checkout is called Immaculate Confection, Earthbound’s first pastry stout. This big 13% ABV beer is thick, made with jaggery, mahlab, and aged on coconut and chocolate.

This beer, and along with Dead Druid King are available now, but in very limited quantities.

“We have lots of new beers planned, including canned seasonal fruited goses, special bomber releases of our fruited braggots, both honey and barley high-ABV co-fermentations,” said Keating.

Also, look for some exciting barrel releases scattered throughout the year.

Canned Collab Planned

One of Earthbound’s biggest releases of 2019 is returning in 2020, but in cans.

ILLiXiR, a 4.5% blonde ale made with blueberries, is simultaneously crisp and crushable, much like the decade-plus of music released by iLLPHONICS.

iLLPHONICS approached the brewery about producing a collaboration beer, and they quickly hit upon a session-able beer with a bold flavor profile, a crisp finish, and a gorgeous purple color.

“The name and the color of the beer allude to the mythology we started with our album, Purple Piano Society, and even more specifically, the song Merlin,” said Kevin Koehler, of iLLPHONICS.

“We’re super into wizardry and rap, so this was an awesome opportunity for us,” said Keating.

Look for this release in early 2020.