We knew it was cool – but who knew that the "loudest band on earth" would ever be nominated for "best design on earth". Keep your fingers crossed, the award ceremony is being held at London International Wine Fair on Tuesday 21st of May 2013.

It is probably the coolest bag-in-box ever made. To find out where to buy, go to Retailers 

British rock legends Iron Maiden have teamed up with Cheshire family brewers Robinsons to create a new beer, "Trooper". 

Real ale fan and history aficionado Bruce Dickinson, Maiden's vocalist, played a major role in developing the unique flavour of the beer, entailing ongoing visits to Robinson’s brewery in Stockport. Dickinson's on-stage Union Jack flag-waving military character is an iconic element of the band's live concerts and "The Trooper", written by bassist Steve Harris, is one of Maiden's most popular songs and one of the highlights of any Maiden show.

Announcing the partnership, Oliver Robinson, Managing Director of Robinsons, said: "This collaboration - between two huge British success stories - makes for an ideal and natural match; Bruce Dickinson loves his real ale, and Robinsons Brewery is one of Britain’s most established and respected independent family-owned brewers."

And Bruce Dickinson added: "I'm a lifelong fan of traditional English ale; I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when we were asked to create our own beer. I have to say that I was very nervous: Robinsons are the only people I have had to audition for in 30 years. Their magic has been to create the alchemical wedding of flavour and texture that is Trooper. I love it."

Iron Maiden, who continue their Maiden England World Tour this summer - including an historic return to the Download Festival, Donington Park, headlining for a record fifth time - have been at the forefront of heavy rock worldwide for more than three decades. Maiden are one of Britain’s most influential and revered bands, with close to 90 million album sales, more than 2,000 live performances in 58 countries and 15 studio albums described by critics as being of "unerring quality and power", including the most recent - The Final Frontier - which is their biggest ever chart success attaining No.1 positions in over 28 countries including the UK. 

Robinsons has been brewing award-winning beers from its Unicorn Brewery in Stockport for 175 years. Best known for its legendary ‘Old Tom’ strong ale, which was voted ‘World’s Best Beer’ by the international Beers of the World publication, it is Robinsons’ younger ales (Dizzy Blonde and ‘build a rocket boys!’ beer; produced in partnership with Manchester band Elbow) that have lately been causing a stir in the beer world and introducing future ale drinking generations to Robinsons. 

Oliver Robinson said: "Trooper is a premium British ale with true depth of character and flavour. For more than thirty years, the unmistakable icon of Eddie, the band’s instantly-recognisable mascot, has adorned every album cover, T-shirt and poster - so it is fitting that Eddie will now adorn the cask pump clip and take centre stage on the bottle label of Trooper. 

“Not only do Iron Maiden genuinely enjoy a good pint of cask ale, but so do many of their fans - and they have an important part to play in our customer base. This partnership works for both of us. Music and beer are great treats for the senses in their own right, but the combination is very powerful. Authentic collaborations such as this are invaluable not only to our company but to the industry as a whole, because it shows that the world of real ale is more than just manufacturing, it is liquid artistry by the people who brew it - and for the people who drink it.”

Fans of both Iron Maiden and real ale can sign up to get news and updates on Trooper Premium British Beer from ironmaidenbeer.com, where bottles will be available to purchase by both UK and overseas customers from May 2013.

Sweden Rock Festival celebrates 20 years as a festival this year and the line up is amazing, check out the line-up!

Visit the Sweden Rock webpage www.swedenrock.com
Brands For Fans pressrelese (In Swedish)

”We work with a strong focus on finding the right partner to collaborate with in each market. It’s important that our partners understand the strength and potential in the products, and realize that it’s the fans who are our customers”, says Sari H. Wilholm, Brands For Fans.

The Motörhead drinks portfolio consists of:
Motörhead Vödka Motörhead Shiraz (bottle)
Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz Bag-in-Box
Motörhead Shiraz Rosé
Motörhead Bastards Lager
For more information: www.motorhead-drinks-shop.com

About Motörhead
Grammy Award-winners Motörhead consist of Lemmy Kilmister (bass and vocals), Phil Campbell (guitars) and Mikkey Dee (drums). The band was formed in 1975, and have released 21 studio albums. The Wörld is Yours, the latest album from the band, was released in February 2011.
For more information: www.imotorhead.com

About Brands for Fans
Brands for Fans are an importer and distributor, specialised in launching, selling and marketing drinks connected to bands, artists and high profile brands. Within Brands for Fans there is a passionate interest in music, popular culture and a huge experience in the wine and spirits business. The Brands for Fans drinks portfolio also holds the Slayer Reign In Blood wine, with more product launches to be expected during the year.

Please contact Brands For Fans for more information:
info@brandsforfans.se

Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz Bag-in-Box is made from the same grape that has already become a hit among fans. Just like the bottled wine, Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz comes from South Eastern Australia and has a deep red colour with aromas of blackberry and black currant. It is a wine full of flavour with a good spiciness, which has been shown to fit both Motörhead’s fans and others who want a wine with attitude and a unique consigner.

“Can you decorate your rock’n’roll table with something better? No, I would not believe so,” says Mikkey Dee. Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz Bag-in-Box is THE obvious choice for any rock and roll soiree.

Sacrifice can be ordered at Systembolaget or at Motörhead Drinks Shop

Read more about Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz.

That one of the worlds biggest hard rock bands would release it’s own wine is remarkable. That Slayer, widely considered one of the worlds hardest and non-compromising metal acts, now have a Cabernet Sauvignon of their own - the Reign In Blood Red - on the market is nothing short of unique. Available at Swedens Systembolaget since late spring, the band have got a lot of attention for the high quality red wine. When the band visited Sweden to headline the Gothenburg based Metaltown Festival this summer, we met up with their charismatic vocalist and bass-player, Tom Araya, to discuss great wine moments and the bands approach to wines. 

Considering the amount of artists releasing wines recently; Why do you think musicians are embracing and have discovered wines and drinks?

I don’t think they have discovered them! Hahaha! Seriously, I think musicians have always been drinking and sharing a good wine. It is, I hate to say this, another form of vice. A good wine has many qualities, I think. If drunk moderately it is healthy, and good for your heart. Musicians have always had wine around them, but noone has really got into the tastes of wine. Growing up, my dad drank a lot of wine, so I got a taste for, and learned how to enjoy it. He spoke a lot about flavors and differences in tastes of wine. Also our manager Rick Sales is a big wine drinker, he goes to a lot of wine tasting classes and he’s taught me about the qualities of wine. I don’t know why musicians drink wine though. I know Amadeus Mozart, the classical composer drank a lot of wine, and I guess that’s where the connection started, hahaha!

What did you think of your Cabernet Sauvignon when you tried it?

When I heard the idea of a Slayer wine, I tasted the wines they suggested for us. To be honest, I was a bit sceptical at first before I tasted it, but once I tried it, I thought “you know what, this is actually really good. A really fruity and round type of flavour for a red wine.” It’s very flavorful and tasted awesome!

It’s been well received in Sweden…

That’s cool, but you know, I think it’s a good wine. I got a bottle for my brother who’s a big wine taster and he loved it. He gave it thumbs up, and he tastes a lot of wines. When they asked if I’d like to try it I was skeptical at first, but it smelled good and when I drank it there was none of the bitter, strong taste and dry mouth feel you can get from bad wines. I’m glad it’s got a favorable response, as it’s a good wine.

Have you had any major wine moment, in the way one could experience listening to a great album or going to a great concert?

Well, one moment would be, when we got to taste this wine for the first time. I didn’t know what to expect really, and felt “oh, really..?” It was none of this ‘let’s take a bottle of whatever, stick a label on it and call it our wine’, but a really good wine on it’s own. Apart from that, I can’t really say I have had a ‘wine moment’. You know… I did have wine-moments but I don’t recall them. There was a time when I put away a lot of wine, but I don’t remember those. I don’t know if you could consider them wine moments though… hahaha!

The wine you released is an American Cabernet Sauvignon. You’re from Chile, so would you be looking at putting out more wine and from Chile?

I hope so. Our manager will go out and buy wines from Chile and send me a couple of bottles. Through him, I’ve tried some chilean wines, which I have liked a lot. I got asked about bottling some Chilean wines, but when they asked what wines I’d like to have, the only Chilean wine I could think of was the Black Cat, the Gato Negro. They asked if I’d tried the Concho Y Toro, and I said sure, I have. I like them a lot. We’re thinking about doing something with them, and that would be awesome… Chile produces some great wines, and I’d love to have something from there as a future Slayer-wine. They’ve got some amazing white wines, which would be cool to do something with.

Speaking of white wine - Have you got any favorites?

I tasted a few good white wines, and I like the Pinot Grigio from Chile. I was asked to come up with a quote for some wines in Chili; there was a guy holding up a rack of ribs and a bottle of wine, and I suggested “Are you chilin’ or grillin’”. Not sure if they’re going to use it though… They could go with “brown bag or glass?!” hahaha!

Have you been considering any other drinks to launch?

If we would do anything more, it would evolve around the drinks we enjoy as a band. Schnaps is one, tequila and vodka others.  We’re fans of Sambuca as well! We’re not big on our whiskies, though I personally enjoy a Crown Royal. Kerry is really into the Jägermeister thing, so he kind of sponsors them…. he might suggest a Slayer - Jägermeister collaboration. A Slayermeister, though I’m not sure how you’d get that. But right now we’re focussing on the wine.

Will this be available in the US or other countries?

Yeah, I can definitely see that happen. I wouldn’t know about the logistics of how to get something like that to work, but there’s been a great response as it’s such a good wine. The key is making sure that it’s a good wine, and I think it would do great in the states. I think there are serious wine drinkers who would be surprised about the quality of the wine. Maybe they’ll discover the band after tasting the wine, hahaha! Having met the folks behind Brands for Fans, we saw that they are proper wine people and know what they’re talking about. It’s a good product and it feels good to have a bottle of wine that isn’t just a label on some bland bottle, but a well produced Cabernet Sauvignon.

Time flies, and we leave Tom and the band to prepare to completely pulverize the 20.000 strong audience in Gothenburg. The show is magic and both audience and reviews wax lyrical of the bands performance afterwards. With a wine to match the musical strength of the band we will keep that experience with us for a long time to come.

Check also out Slayers cool merch under "merch"...

You can buy Slayer Reign In Blood Red wine here:

Slayer Drink Shop (Europe)
Systembolaget (Swedish customer)

For beer customers in Sweden>>

For Vödka customers in Sweden>>

Read about the Motörhead Phönes here>>
Buy the beer for Europe here>>
See if the beer is available in your store in Sweden here>>

For you who not only like the Slayer, but also want to fry your steak, get yourself a cool blood spattered Reign In Blood apron, to protect your Slayer shirt with. And the wine is obviously best ingested from the custom designed Slayer glasses.

- I'm not surprised, Motörhead Bastards Lager is an awesome beer that is easy to like, says Mikkey Dee of Motörhead.

The beer is a lager with attitude that is perfect accompanying food and in its own majesty, appreciated by many whether you are a dedicated fan or not. Fr.om 2nd of October you can buy Motörhead Bastards Beer at Systembolaget shops.

- Motörhead Bastards Beer is a fresh beer with a good character of light malt. Easy to drink but with an hardrock edge, says Yvonne Wener, Brands For Fans.

If you can't find it - demand it from Systembolaget!

Read more at Motörheaddrinks.com