BXR ABROAD: The Art of the CollaborationS

They say travel broadens the mind. In our line of work, it brings new ideas to the brewhouse and gives us a pretty good excuse to brew with some of the best in the business.

For us, collabs are about more than putting two names on a can. They’re a chance to share knowledge and see how someone else approaches the same craft.

Bark to the Future | Future Brewing, Sydney

Our inaugural collaboration was born at The Gathering in the Blue Mountains, where a shared appreciation for Future Brewing’s seriously good IPAs quickly turned into plans to brew something together.

Abby and Craig headed to Sydney to brew the first batch at Future, before bringing the collaboration back to Boxer HQ for round two.

The result was Bark To The Future, a Double Dry-Hopped Double Hazy IPA packed with tropical character and a soft, pillowy malt profile. Stone fruit came through in abundance, while the strength remained deceptively well hidden.

The kegs and cans didn’t hang around for long. Bark To The Future is officially sold out. 

Getting to Know the Bega Valley

Next, we turned our attention south to the Bega Valley, where some seriously interesting Australian hops are being grown. Bega is fast becoming one of Australia's most exciting microclimates for hop production, yielding hops with incredible depth and regional character.

This journey led us directly to Ryefield Hops in Bemboka, starting a partnership in the valley that would soon travel much further than our own backyard...

Australian Hops in Manchester | Track Brewing Co, UK

Our latest collaboration took Boxer considerably further from home, for a meeting of minds with Track Brewing Co.

Based in Manchester, Track has built a reputation as one of the UK’s standout modern breweries, with hop-forward beers sitting firmly at the heart of what they do. Safe to say, we had some common ground.

The plan was a classic West Coast Red IPA with one simple requirement. The hop bill would be 100% Australian.

The beer centres on Beedelup, grown by Ryefield Hops in Bemboka, NSW. Beedelup brings resinous pine and punchy citrus to the beer, with underlying stone fruit sitting against the rich, toasted malt character of the Red IPA.

An Australian brewer travelled to Manchester to brew an American beer style with Australian-grown hops. A little complicated geographically. Very good in a pint.

Where to Next?

That’s what we like about collaborations. Working with different brewers and ingredients inevitably takes us somewhere new. Whether exploring the soft saturation of a DDH Hazy or the bitter complexity of a West Coast Red, these projects push the boundaries of what hop-forward brewing can achieve.

For us, it comes down to making great beer with people who care just as much about it as we do.

And we’re just getting started.