Beer: Motörhead Röad Crew
Brewery: Ale Asylum (Madison, WI)
Style: Pale Ale – American
5% ABV / 0 IBU

There are two versions of Motörhead Röad Crew—this is the American “domestic” version first unveiled in 2020 to mark the 40th anniversary of Motörhead’s seminal Ace of Spades album. Both are fully sanctioned versions, with support from Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, the surviving members of the band’s final line-up. If Lemmy were still alive, the only way he’d let any of this touch his lips would be during a global Jack Daniels shortage, but cheers to everyone here for keeping the Motörhead legacy raging on.

You should totally buy this if you are a metalhead for reasons other than the beer itself. Thanks to Brew Pipeline and the band’s merchandising arm, this beer has a distribution footprint covering all 50 states and across the world. It’s pretty much ubiquitous. The can art with the Motörhead logo will look particularly handsome on a shelf. As someone who made a special pilgrimage to visit a Motörhead themed bar in Santiago, Chile just to knock back a pint next to a fresco of Snaggletooth, I’m willing to judge that book by the cover. And it’s also worth pointing out that drinking one of these is essentially a charitable act—part of the proceeds go to Live Nation’s fund to support touring and venue crews throughout pandemic-related disruptions.

But—and this is a big BUT—you really have to like Citra hops to party down with Motörhead Röad Crew. It smells a lot like Lemon Pledge and it tastes like lemon and honeysuckle. It’s basically a beer version of chamomile tea, which is pleasant enough but probably not what you expected from a Motörhead beer. At 5% ABV, it definitely goes down the gullet easily, but the pale ale character is completely enveloped and subsumed by the aggressively citrus-y notes. At room temperature, as the Brits prefer, it’s no more appealing. To quote St. Lemmy, the chase is better than the catch.

For more info on Ale Asylum, please head here.