New Zealand’s Behemoth Brewing will release one final Donald Trump-themed beer before dumping the series that gained them worldwide attention.
After nigh on five years of semi-regular releases that parodied America’s 45th President, where they’ve at times felt the fervent wrath of Trump supporters, Behemoth founder and head brewer Andrew Childs said there’s a personal sense of vindication from him not being re-elected but more a feeling of relief and that he’s ready to move on.
“We’ve got one last one that’s a couple of days away from being packaged that’s a sayonara to the series and then I’m very much looking forward to moving on and it being done,” Andrew said, who wasn’t giving much away about the name or the style of the release, other than to say “it will have hops in it – that’s what I’ll give away”.
Behemoth, that trades under the name Chur in Australia due to a trademark conflict, first brewed the Dump the Trump American IPA in 2016 when Trump gained the Republican Presidential Candidacy nomination, and have released it off and on since through his Presidency. They stopped for a time when he was elected “because it wasn’t funny anymore” while a 2018 release was met with pro-Trump groups bombarding Behemoth’s Facebook page with negative reviews.
One last batch of Dump the Trump was released before the current election which has seen a spike in sales as people on both sides of the Tasman toasted Joe Biden’s victory with it on social media.
“There’s been an insane amount of people drinking it over the last few days. It’s been quite mind-blowing actually,” Andrew said.
Behemoth’s catalogue of Trump-themed releases has included many variations over the years, including the ImPEACHment Sour Ale that pre-empted Trump’s own impeachment trial that was initiated at the end of 2019. There’s also been the likes of the Collusion American Hopped Russian Imperial Stout and Tiny Hands, Uge Hops DIPA.
“For a while there we felt like ‘screw it, let’s throw everything at this until the election and until we see him voted out’. Thankfully that appears to have happened now,” Andrew said.
“Who knows what idiotic things will happen between now and until he leaves office but we will enjoy this moment.”
With almost 250 unique releases since starting the brewery seven years ago, including 80 in just this year alone where they’ve averaged two new beers a week, Andrew said the Trump series had been somewhat of a distraction to what the multi-award winning brewery is all about.
“We are about so much more than an anti-Trump brand that we sometimes get brandished as. I guess it’s just something that’s caught people’s attention. It will be nice to get back to being known for what we do best.”
Behemoth recently opened their crowd-funded taproom Churly’s on the famous Auckland strip called Dominion Road.
“It’s going really well too. We’re building our garden bar to be ready for Summer and everyone’s enjoying the beer and the food and the atmosphere.
“I’m looking forward to finishing off the year and really getting cranking again with new beers in the New Year.”
For years Andrew has had a regular page in our Beer & Brewer magazine’s HomeBrewer section where he introduces our readers to one of his new releases and provides both the All Grain and the Extract DIY recipes. In our Summer edition, out in early December, Andrew showcases his Here Comes a Shower Beer Session IPA (4.2%) to brew at home. Head here to subscribe.
