We’ve always known rock music and beer mixes well – the amount of beer swigged at music festivals all around the world is testament to that. These days, though, some musicians and bands are getting into the act by making beers themselves – Bruce Dickinson, vocalist of Iron Maiden, for example worked with Robinsons Brewery to create the Iron Maiden Trooper, a golden bitter named after their song inspired by the famous Charge of the Light Brigade. And launched earlier this year was the Queen Bohemian Lager to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Queen’s iconic song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Earlier this year Queen had played in Prague, where they enjoyed the best pilsner beer where it has been produced for centuries, the Bohemian Czech pilsner, and was inspired to come up with a beer of their own. They then partnered with RnR Brew, and the Queen Bohemian Lager was thus born: a hoppy Czech pilsner with an IBU of 33 and ABV of 4.7% making it a refreshing, sessionable beer.
It is made purely with Czech ingredients – soft artesian water, Moravian Czech barley malt and noble Saaz hops – strictly adhering to EU requirements for PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status, as granted to products of special quality and produced within designated areas in this case in the Czech republic (much like champagne is in the Champagne region of France). It is contract brewed in the Czech Republic under license with Bravado International Group.
The pilsner lager was born out of town of Plzeň (Pilsen) in the western half of the Czech Republic – previously part of the of Bohemian Kingdom back in the 1840s – and became known as the Bohemian or Czech pilsner. It is most popularised by Pilsner Urquell, the world’s first pale lager that was originally developed by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll in 1842.
We’re not too sure what the late Freddie Mercury might have thought of the idea for the beer, but he was just as big a fan of beer as his bandmates, as evidenced by the many glasses of beer that graced the top of Mercury’s grand piano for him to quench his thirst with during the many classic Queen concerts played around the world. He would have also recognised the original Queen crest on the label of the bottle, which he himself originally designed while a student at Ealing Art College in London where he earned a diploma in art and graphic design before the days his band grew to become one of the greatest bands of all time.
We believe he might have sung, “Magnifico! Oh! Oh! Oh!”
Queen Bohemian Lager is now available in Singapore, imported and distributed by Eastern Craft Trading.
Queen Bohemian Lager
Maker: Unknown (Contract Brewed)
Style: Czech Pilsner
ABV: 4.7%
Volume: 330ml
