Another year and another 808 Day passes celebrating the world’s most influential drum machine, and this years festivities saw the 808 relaunched in a brand new format.

It’s been 38 years since Roland turned the world of music upside down with the TR-808 drum machine on August 8th of 1980. It pioneered entirely new sounds in electronic music, it laid the foundations for the next generation of hip-hop, and it redefined what we consider an instrument. Now in 2018 Roland are redefining the instrument once again – as a beer.

Filmmakers Origin Workshop have teamed up with beat loving brewers Mondo Brewing Company from the UK, Devilcraft from Japan, and Melvin Brewing from the US for an international collaboration bringing together bass, beats, and beer. Together their talents have culminated in The Origin Workshop BR-808, a special collaboration beer that honours the enduring sounds and cultural legacy of the TR-808 and the seismic shift it created in music.

Roland say of the musically inspired beer: “It’s a taste of the future, a brew defined by the legendary kick drum of the 808. Its been developed to recreate that deep sub-bass low end, delivering a solid Japanese kick that resonates through the America IPA flavours.”

They describe the beer as having tropical, citrus aromas using mikan orange peel and flavours from the generous rise of Citra and Amarillo hops the Origin Workshop BR-808 provides a refined taste. In respect of their international collaboration the brewers haven’t added any caramel malt, instead using light British pale malt and Cara pils for a refreshing and tasty 7% brew.

It’s unclear how you might acquire any of this musical beer for yourself so you can taste their proud creation and feel the bass flow through your body. So just in case it remains near impossible to get a sip of this iconic beer why not celebrate the legendary drum machine by playing with an 808 in your browser instead.