As part of a beer reconnaissance mission to The Netherlands and Belgium, we're taking part in an extreme brewing collaboration with Dutch Brouwerij De Molen of Bodegraven, The Netherlands, on October 21, 2010.

The collaboration brew, Bat Out Of Hell, will be brewed jointly by Flying Dog SVP of Brewing Operations Matt Brophy and De Molen brewmaster Menno Olivier. The recipe was born from the satanic mystique of De Molen’s award-winning stout Hell and Damnation and Flying Dog’s complex and mysterious Gonzo Imperial Porter.

An extreme stout, Bat Out Of Hell will combine the dark malt backbone of Hell and Damnation with the intense American hops in Gonzo.

We originally brewed Gonzo Imperial Porter as a tribute to longtime friend of the brewery Dr. Hunter S. Thompson upon his death in 2005. The Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman (who also illustrates Flying Dog’s labels) had this to say after Thompson’s death:

“If you wonder if he's gone to Heaven or Hell, rest assured he will check out them both, find out which one Richard Milhous Nixon went to — and go there.”

It is rumored that a swarm of bats encircle our brew house every time they brew a batch of Gonzo Imperial Porter.

We hope this collaboration will result in many more spontaneous and supernatural signs that will include (but not limited to) swarming bats, smoke, cracked earth, splitting trees, and inverted lightning — all symbols of Thompson’s approval from beyond reality (most likely, somewhere around Hell and/or Damnation).

Bat Out Of Hell will only be available in Europe beginning in late December. There will only be seven hectoliters brewed, 225 liters of which will be aged in oak barrels. The 475 remaining liters will be packaged in 750 ml bottles.