We can’t tell you whether you need to worry about the Apocalypse in 2012, but we can say definitively that the Hopocalypse is imminent. Clear room in your fridge; designate your driver; and prepare your tastebuds. On Saturday, Feb. 4th, the End is Beer.

Yes, the Hopocalypse hit the tanks today. Jeff stirred the mash of batch number two as Chris gleefully added the last of four massive hits of hops to the batch number one, and the whole brewery buzzed with an energy that comes from brewing this beer.

This seasonal orange beast boasts a hop arsenal of Magnum, Chinook, Simcoe, Citra, and CTZ and a three-hop dry-hop that will convert all who drink it into hop-heads and send its devotees into the beer rapture with its tantalizing, heady aroma and crisp slap of citrus and pine… Alright, so maybe we’re waxing poetic a little… we get that way about this beer.

The Hopocalypse is one of our favorite brews each year, and this year’s batch will the biggest yet. We are set to brew more of the Hopocalypse than ever before, and for the first time we have brewed what we have christened the Hopocalypse Black Label- a Triple IPA at 12.5% ABV with huge amounts of 5 different hops that will be available on draft and in a limited release of 22oz bottles only at Drake’s Barrel House.

Alex brewed the Black Label just before the New Year filling the mash tun to the hilt, but only filling the boil kettle two-thirds full to reach the level of Plato needed to hit the 12.5% ABV mark. Now the Black Label is tucked safely in its fermenter where it will be for the next month slowly transforming into a dangerously, delicious beer.

The Hopocalypse and the Black Label will burst forth from the brewery with force February 4 to greet all you patiently waiting hop-heads with a special all day release at Drake’s Barrel House. Mark your calendar. The Hopocalypse approaches.