Do not adjust your sets. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Rick Astley is opening a bar with Mikkeller, the legendary Danish craft brewers. Set to open in an as-yet-undisclosed location in Shoreditch, London on 19th October 2018 – the launch party is going to feature some live music from Rick, and you’re all invited.
This may seem like a random pairing but they’ve actually already brewed a beer together – Northern Hop Lager was released in April 2017.
Drinking Astley's Northern Hop Lager, waiting for the man himself to throw down an after party set. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/Ko4OVvZ73t
— Cloudwater Brew Co (@cloudwaterbrew) May 8, 2017
The initial project started with a rumour that Rick Astley lived in Amager, Copenhagen. Founder of Mikkeller, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø had posters of Rick Astley on his wall in his childhood home when he was a kid – so when he thought Rick was living locally, he reached out to see if they could brew a beer together.
Bjergsø later found out that Rick Astley lived in London, and despite being married to a Dane, had never lived in Amager. However, Rick’s wife, who is also his manager, arranged a Skype meeting between the two and the collaboration fell into place.
“If someone 30 years ago had told me that I would one day meet Rick Astley in Belgium and brew a brew with him, I probably would have laughed at them.” – Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, Mikkeller Founder
You can read the full story of how their Northern Hop Lager came about in Mikkeller’s blog post here.
Fast-forward to 10th August, 2018 and the pair have just announced the UK’s first Mikkeller bar, opening in Shoreditch, London this October.
We’re big fans of Mikkeller’s beer – and having visited the bar in San Francisco, we’re excited about the prospect of having a Mikkeller bar a little closer to home.
For more details, follow Mikkeller on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Also, click here.