Dank Juice Returns for 2024...And It Has Brought Its Even Danker Cousin!

First conceived back in 2018, Dank Juice was brewed to do exactly what it said on the tin – be deliciously dank, boozy and oily, with ‘down & dirty’ hops. Smooth, slick and thick with a chewiness that came from adding huge doses of hops that epitomise the style. Even though the beer has changed over the years, that concept hasn’t and it continues to be the inspiration for the beer. In 2023 we brewed the dankest version yet, thanks to a huge triple dry-hop that was made possible by our centrifuge. However, being UnBarred and as per tradition, we wanted to push ourselves even more this year.  On 9th January 2024, Dank Day, we launched this year's Dank Juice alongside Danker Juice - an amped up version thanks to yet another technique. But before we go into that, let’s have a look at this year's Dank.

Dank Juice holds a very special place in the heart of many. From its conception in 2018, each release has seen more and more followers jump aboard and join the journey of its evolution. However, Dank Juice really speaks to Jordan and the brewers. ‘Dank Juice represents my journey of understanding biotransformation. The interaction of active yeast and dry hops being added to the fermenter’ Jordan says. ‘I remember the first time; I had a big stainless steel bowl full of the dankest hop combo I could muster. The beer was in high krausen and when I opened the FV I found a current of beer flowing and churning. It was a risk but, it was time to throw them in and get the lid back down ASAP. As soon as the hops hit the beer a volcano erupted, and beer was spraying in every direction as I tightened up the tri clamp. I had to clean the ceiling with a mop that day but I left feeling confident something magical was going to come from it! Active yeast pulls such wonderful flavours and aroma from hops. More stone fruit and in this case more sticky icky!’. There is a real buzz in the air each time the brew day comes along, and even more so when it comes to tasting. Everyone crowds around, throwing out their tasting notes with excitement. Shouts of ‘So much mango!’ and ‘I’m getting gooseberry’ fill the brewery - you can really feel the excitement.

People who follow our blog will be no stranger to the fact that we had a centrifuge installed at the end of 2022, and that we’ve been working hard perfecting our processes to bring you even tastier beer. In the case of Dank Juice, and for the first time last year, it allowed us to use even more hops. We’re able to extract even more of those beautiful dank notes and the sticky, ripe stone fruits that we all want in a beer like this, but with no astringency, and cutting a tonne of the hop burn back so as to not overwhelm the palette. ‘Thanks to the centrifuge we can spin those hops out before they make the beer too bitter. We want all the juice and nothing but the juice’ Jordan adds. Essentially, Dank Juice is the most refined you’ll taste yet, without compromising on flavour. This year was very much the same, but taking all that knowledge and time perfecting the centrifuge and throwing it at the beer. We’re definitely not shy to admit that we always keep on learning and, if you’ve been lucky enough to try every iteration of Dank Juice, you’ll have tasted that journey all the way through. 2024’s version has been triple dry-hopped with Cashmere, Chinook, Citra and Mosaic for aromas of grassy dankness, stone fruit, citrus and pine that completely fill up your senses. Beautifully ripe Papaya, stone fruit, gooseberry and subtle melon coats the mouth, followed by a lingering herbal dankness. Technically we think this is one of the best yet, and we were giddy with child-like anticipation to release it. However, for the first time ever, Dank Juice didn’t launch all on its own…

Enter Danker Juice. Nope, not a German inspired variant, but the original beer made even danker. You might wonder how that could be, after all we’ve already used a huge triple dry-hop and all the new processes we’ve learnt over the last year. How can it be danker? One word - terpenes. But what are they? Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that you’ll find in lots of plants. They create the characteristic aroma associated with the plant, such as pine, lavender, rosemary and mint. Now, as we’re trying to take a dank beer and make it danker, it stands to reason that we’re using hemp terpenes in Danker Juice. These are the compounds that give hemp, or cannabis, its signature aroma. That dankness. It may or may not be a surprise to you that hops are very closely related to cannabis, hence why Dank Juice was born in the first place. The ability to derive that aroma from using big amounts of specific hops was the whole modus operandi, and the idea here with Danker Juice was to build on that concept using these terpenes for an extra depth to the beer. The base is slightly bigger, coming in at 7.420 ABV (if you know, you know!) to support the extra oomph and the result is exactly what you’d expect. Huge dank notes, supported by stone fruit and tonnes of mango and a lingering sticky, herbal finish.

We’re always excited to push boundaries in as many ways possible using new ideas, concepts and processes - after all, we are UnBarred! We think we’ve hit the nail on the head with this years dual dank release, but what do you reckon?!