Bell’s Brewery looks to the stars with ‘The Planets Series’

There’s something about summer and space. Maybe it’s the longer evenings that stretch into night as you share a couple of craft beers with friends around a fire. Or maybe the sci-fi summer reading that some of the Craft Brewing Business crew launches into when the weather warms up. Either way, we’re happy to see Bell’s Brewery stepping into the final frontier as it readies “The Planets Series” launch this summer.

The Planets Series will feature seven different beers, each inspired by a different piece of music from the composer Gustav Holst, the Bell’s Brewery blog reported. Each beer will be limited and released both in six-packs and on draft according to the arrangement of Holst’s composition across all areas the company distributes to.

The first Planet beer will be released this August with each successive entry debuting about every two months after. The final beer is scheduled for release in July 2015.

“Our two most successful brands come from a couple of my great literary references. This time, I took inspiration from a great piece of music,” said Larry Bell, Bell’s President and Founder.

“This piece, being in seven movements, gives us a lot of freedom to innovate and create,” he added.

Holst conceived the idea for “The Planets” in 1913 with the first complete performance occurring in 1920. Each movement is named after a different planet and its corresponding astrological character

The Planets Series lineup

“Mars, The Bringer of War” – Double IPA

“Venus, The Bringer of Peace” – A Blonde Ale brewed with honey, apricot, vanilla and cardamom

“Mercury, The Winged Messenger” – A Belgian Single

“Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity” – A malt forward Brown Ale

“Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age” – A Bourbon Barrel-aged Barleywine

“Uranus, The Magician” – Black Double IPA

“Neptune, The Mystic” – A beer inspired by Dr. Bell’s Medicinal Stout, one of Larry Bell’s homebrews that also helped inspire Eccentric Ale