Audio intercept, Milton, Delaware: a power chord, a can crack, and somebody yelling “45 years.”
Dogfish Head is releasing Jett Black Lager, a limited collaboration with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett. The beer marks the 45th anniversaries of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ albums ‘Bad Reputation’ and ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll,’ and it arrives first as a mail-order kit, not a six-pack on the shelf.
What is Jett Black Lager?
Per the Dogfish Head press release dated Oct. 19, 2026, Jett Black Lager is brewed with barley malt, flaked maize and flaked rice. The tasting notes are the brewery’s, not ours: Dogfish describes “aromas of honey, herbs and black pepper, alongside smooth flavors of sweet breadcrust and light toast,” and calls it “a jet-black-colored brew (get it?) that’s as easy-drinking, crisp and clean-finishing as your favorite light beer.”
A dark lager built on maize and rice is an unusual pairing on paper, since those adjuncts usually show up in pale, light-bodied beers. The Bureau has not tasted it, so we will let the color-versus-crispness question wait for a can.
About that ABV
The press release does not list an alcohol content. A Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission label registration, posted on BoozeReports, shows the beer at 4.4% ABV, registered by The Boston Beer Company and approved Sept. 24, 2026. That figure comes from the label filing, not from Dogfish’s announcement, and the final can is what counts.
How to get a Jett Black Lager kit
The kit goes on sale nationwide through Give Them Beer on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 9 a.m. Pacific (noon Eastern). The release lists:
- Price: $45 per kit, shipping included, while supplies last
- Limit: one kit per person
- Contents: four 12-oz cans of Jett Black Lager, a co-branded pin pack, a studded pleather can cooler and a heart-shaped guitar-pick bottle opener, in a commemorative box
- Restocks: Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Tuesday, Nov. 10, also at 9 a.m. Pacific
If you would rather show up in person, Dogfish says additional four-packs of the beer, plus limited collaboration merchandise, reach its coastal Delaware locations on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The Record Store Day tie-in
Dogfish suggests ordering by Nov. 10 so the kit arrives before RSD Black Friday on Friday, Nov. 27. That day, per the release, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ 45th-anniversary album, ‘I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll: The Shadow Album,’ is among the new vinyl at independent record stores.
This is familiar ground for the Milton brewery. The Bureau has logged its Galaxie 500 collaboration for Record Store Day, another music-themed Record Store Day beer and the Golden Record contest. The release adds past work with The Flaming Lips, the Miles Davis estate, Deltron 3030 and the Grateful Dead.
In their own words
Founder Sam Calagione called it “a full-circle moment,” saying, “Joan Jett was my first-ever concert, and you know what they say, ‘you never forget your first.'” Jett said, “I’ve always believed in doing things your own way, and Dogfish Head has that same spirit,” and that she is “looking forward to raising a glass of Jett Black Lager to 45 years of ‘I Love Rock ‘N Roll’ and ‘Bad Reputation.'”
MyBeerBuzz, which first previewed the beer in August, also carried the full announcement. For another Dogfish beer with a backstory, see our take on Midas Touch.
Jett Black Lager FAQ
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