Usually when people talk about metal's effect on beer, it's in the context of discussing canning versus bottling. And while some of you out there are surely turned on by "under lid gassing" and "seam calibration," there's another metal influencing the brews we drink that most will find much more interesting than aluminum. All around the country, brewers are finding inspiration from and collaborating with legendary metal musicians – and the results are often exceptional, reports Ethan Fixell for FoodAndWine.com.

Of all breweries with obvious metal ties, Three Floyds Brewing of Munster, Indiana, is arguably the largest and most visible, having collaborated with over a dozen bands for metal-themed beers. Their first, a Doppelbock called "The Creeper," was brewed with post-metal band Pelican in honor of their 10th anniversary, granting the band a percentage of the beer's sales: "Generally way more than record companies give them," says Three Floyds Co-Founder Nick Floyd with a laugh.

But the brewery's most commercially successful collaboration thus far is an Imperial IPA called Permanent Funeral, made with grindcore band Pig Destroyer. "Usually we can only make [these band beers] for a year, contractually speaking," explains 3F Head Brewer Chris Boggess. "That beer turned out so good that they wanted to keep it going. Permanent Funeral is going to be a permanent fixture in our lineup." The beer is a liquid manifestation of the relentless aggression put forth by Pig Destroyer, showing just how directly the music inspires Boggess and Floyd when developing recipes for bands.  

Not all beer/metal collaborations are as genuine or organic, though. Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motorhead, and KISS have all recently marketed beers – and if the reviews at Ratebeer.com are any indication, beer flavor and quality were hardly a priority for any of the hard rock legends.

"I always get a little nervous when so many bands are paying brewers to make beers for them," says metal guitarist and Surly Brewing's Director of Brewing Operations, Todd Haug. "A [brewery's] collaboration with a band [should be] a personal thing, not just, 'Instead of making t-shirts for us, make beer!'" That’s why Haug defends Nick Floyd’s approach so vocally: "He works with the bands on what they want. He's not a merchandiser of metal beers—he's actually creating with the bands, and that's the way it should be done."

Read the full report at FoodAndWine.com.

(Photo - The Brewtography Project)