Coronado, CA – It’s half mermaid, half bear, and entirely fantastic. MerBear Rye IPA, the new love child of SoCal icon Coronado Brewing and NorCal heavyweight Bear Republic, is set to hit shelves mid-February. The friendship began a few years back when president Rick Chapman and Brewmaster and COO Richard “Ricardo” Norgrove, of Coronado and Bear Republic respectively, met for beers at a local San Diego beer bar where they discussed the idea of the two creating something special. Two years, and countless collaborative visits later, MerBear was born.
“We have always respected the team and loved drinking their beers,” said Brandon Richards, vice president of sales and marketing. “We’ve built a solid relationship with Bear Republic and enjoy working with each other any chance we get,” continued Richards. “This is something I can see developing into more collaborations in the future.”
“It was fun putting our heads together for the MerBear collaboration, and we look forward to seeing how the MerBear project evolves in the future,” said Bear Republic Head Brewer Rob Kent.
By land and by sea, MerBear Rye IPA is a unique union of styles. Amarillo, Hallertau Blanc, Centennial, and Equinox hops lend to the beer’s pungent, fruity character that ends on a spicy, malty caramel backbone. Rarely seen, yet never ignored, it’s an unforgettably full-bodied ale, carefully crafted for those particularly audacious craft beer drinkers.
Coronado Brewing MerBear Rye IPA Specs:
- Style: Rye India Pale Ale
- ABV: 7.5%
- Bitterness: 45 IBU
- Package: 22 ounce bottles, draft
- Release: February 2016
- Malts: 2-row, Wheat, Biscuit
- Hops: Amarillo, Hallertau Blanc, Centennial, and Equinox
- Distribution: MerBear Rye IPA will be available in 16 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin. It will also go to New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Japan.
About Coronado Brewing Company:
In 1996, when craft beer was still a foreign term and San Diego County was home to only a handful of breweries, the Chapman brothers Ron and Rick opened a brewpub in their hometown of Coronado. Today CBC stays true to their San Diego roots, brewing abundantly hoppy West Coast-style ales, which are available today in nineteen US states and ten countries. In addition to the long-established pub in Coronado, the company opened a tasting room inside their newly built San Diego production facility in early 2013, and a tasting room and restaurant in Imperial Beach, California in 2014. Coronado Brewing Company was honored in 2014 with one of the brewing industry’s most prestigious awards-World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster for a Mid-size Brewing Company.
About Bear Republic Brewing Company:
Bear Republic beers are brewed and aged following our time tested and proven methods. We hand select only the choicest ingredients for each batch. The specialty grains and hops used by Bear Republic have been chosen for their unique characteristics. The recipes and their final formulations were developed over a period of several years. Those wonderful home brewing sessions and the lessons learned from trial and error have established the solid foundations for each recipe’s commercial equivalents. It’s our goal to continually develop new recipes using our time tested brewing methods. We work hard at fostering a sense of loyalty and tradition from eras gone by. The team at Bear Republic is driven to bring you fresh, never-filtered, hand-crafted beer.