A long time ago, in a brewery far, far away... actually, not that far away. Newbold Coleorton, Leicestershire, to be precise. But what Damian at Emperor's Brewery has been building there is, in the most literal sense, the stuff of legend.
Emperor's make Imperial Stouts and Porters. Nothing else. Everything black, everything over 10%, much of it barrel-aged, and — if Untappd's ratings are anything to go by — among the finest examples of the style anywhere on the planet
This one was a little different from the way we normally work.
Damian had made a bold decision. Recognising that demand for his beers was outgrowing what could be produced at home in Leicestershire, he moved a significant portion of production to a contract brewery in Sweden — creating, for the first time, a real volume of premium imperial stout available for the export market.
The liquid was there. The quality was unquestionable. But the importer relationships to move it at pace? That was where we came in.
We got to work quickly, drawing on our European network to generate excitement around the brand. The response was immediate — strong commitments came in from partners in Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany, all of whom took a significant chunk of stock. Some came back for more within just two months.
Our favourite moment came courtesy of our Swiss importer, who went fully all-in on the Star Wars theme and hosted a "May the 4th" event with a bright pink Darth Vader front and centre. A very good time was had by all.
Our relationship with Damian and Emperor's has only grown stronger since. Whatever step they take next, we will be there flying the Emperor's flag proudly
When we scaled up production in Sweden, we had a lot of very good imperial stout and not enough importers to move it. The Craft Agent changed that quickly. Within months our beers were flying across Europe — and one of our Swiss importers even threw a May the 4th event with a pink Darth Vader. This was always going to be a day long remembered. The Craft Agent are the allies the Empire needed.
Damian, Emperor's Brewery
