Opeth are the latest band to launch a signature beer. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Opeth brewed up XXV Anniversary Imperial Stout, which is limited to just 1,700 bottles.

The band's brew takes on the characteristics of the Swedish veterans' music; heavy, dark and rich. Imperial stouts may be the most intensely flavored category in the world of suds. Not for the weak of tongue, Opeth's Imperial Stout comes in at a hefty 9.2 percent alcohol content and boasts undertones of rich chocolate, cinder toffee and coffee.

Frontman Mikael Akerfeldt spoke about Opeth's Imperial Stout and it's home brewery, Northern Monk:

Even if we're musicians firstly, we're beer drinkers secondly. Kind of. Let me rephrase: We love beer. We love good beer. We've turned into culinary connoisseurs of late. Not too much snobbery, however. We just love good food and drinks. So when we were approached by the fantastic Northern Monk brewery to do a Opeth signature beer, we simply could not turn it down. But believe me, we've turned down zillions of offers to do alcoholic beverages with the Opeth logo on it.
Northern Monk are great. They have great ideas and make great beer. They even invited Fredrik [Åkesson, guitar] and Axe [Martin Axenrot, drums] down to the brewery for a walkthrough of their premises in Leeds. Needless to say, they got both of them drunk, but we also managed to get our own brand of signature beer down to a tee. And Axe and Fredrik know their beer, from years of over-indulging. And now it's ready. One is a top-of-the-line Imperial stout that can be matured up to about 25 years. We'll also have a lovely pale ale out in early 2016.
I know we're not the first band to do our own beer, and not the last.
All I know is that it's a top-quality beer and I will certainly enjoy having my own little stash in the cooler for Christmas. Cheers! (Clonk!)

Northern Monk Brew Co. founder Russell Bisset comments, "We're big metal fans at Northern Monk and Opeth is often the soundtrack to our brewing. When the opportunity to work with the band came up, we jumped at the chance. Opeth have been taking the same progressive and quality-driven approach to music that we have to beer for the past 25 years and it was great to work with them. Our aim was to make one of the most bold and forward-thinking brewery and band collaborations ever. We got together at the brewery tap room and tasted our range of beers with them and together came up with a couple of recipes."

XXV Anniversary Imperial Stout is now available at £12 a bottle. Opeth's beer endeavors won't stop there, as a pale ale is scheduled for a 2016 release. To grab a bottle, click here.

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