Metallica and Stone Brewing have announced they are releasing a beer collaboration in Australia.

Members of Metallica and the leadership of Stone participated at every step alongside their brewing team to create a pilsner called Enter The Night.

According to a statement: “From Metallica’s Bay Area HQ and the brewery HQ in San Diego, to many beers backstage at shows, the spirit of collaboration was powerful. Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Stone co-founder Greg Koch even enjoyed multiple occasions at Lars’ home ‘discussing’ (industry-speak for ‘drinking’) beers. After all, there was only one chance to get this right, and anything less than an incredible result was not an option.”

“The amount of ideals and outlooks that Metallica and Stone Brewing share are endless,” added Ulrich. “I’m always blown away about how similar our paths forward have been. Our view of the worlds that we each inhabit, of creativity and process, and sense of place in relation to our peers and ‘The Man’ are almost identical. This collaboration is beyond effortless and pure, and we can’t wait to share this incredible beverage with everyone out there.”

“I remember seeing Metallica on the cover of a magazine just after the Black Album was released,” recalled Koch. “On the cover was a quote that resonated with me to this day: ‘Metallica didn’t go to number one, number one came to them.’

“I loved what that meant. Do it your way and never compromise your art. If you’re great at what you do people will come. I view that simple quote as one of the founding philosophical elements of Stone Brewing.”

So how does it taste? According to the statement: “Aside from its intense drinkability, craft enthusiasts will note Enter Night’s remarkable flavour and aroma which artfully combine the beauty of a traditional Northern German Pilsner with Arrogant Consortia’s [a Stone Brewing label] modern overtones of aggression. The resulting genre-defying pilsner is hop forward with sound bitterness on the finish.”

The beer will gain full US distribution in the first quarter 2019, and its global domination will roll out this spring covering Europe, Australia, China and beyond.