(Courtesy Mikkeller)

He may have been a ‘one hit wonder’ in the US, but Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ was a number #1 in 25 countries. And not only has he sold 40 million records worldwide, he’s opened his second project with Danish microbrewer Mikkeller…

Mikkeller’s founder, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, met his childhood idol, Rick Astley a few years ago when they collaborated on Astley’s Northern Hop Lager together and an eventual partnership was born.

In 2018 the brewing and pop legends opened a craft beer bar in London’s trendy Shoreditch district.

That project, which featured Mikkeller’s distinctive line of beers took off big-time in London. And now Mikkeller and Astley have teamed up again on another venue that unlike their Shoreditch bar will brew beer in-house.

On October 26 Mikkeller Exmouth Market opened its doors as pop-up operation complete with 20 taps of fresh beer as well as an extensive bottle menu.  But once entirely finished the two-floor location will feature a full designer bar and craft beer-focused restaurant, as well as its own brewery that can produce 7.5 hectoliters of beer at a time.

“I’m really excited for the opening of the new Mikkeller Bar in Exmouth Market. It’s a great space and it’s so cool that there will be brewing on-site, too” says Astley. “Mikkel and his crew only do things the right way, and I love being a small part of that and working on fantastic beers and the London bars together.”

Mikkeller Exmouth Market is being designed by Danish design agency Femmes Régionales, who also did the bar in Shoreditch. The new space embraces a raw, brewer-friendly industrial feel tempered by a cozy design elements, and a strong sense of the Mikkeller DNA.

And its opening coincides with the launch of Rick Astley’s new album Best Of Me and the release of Bjergsø and Astley’s third collaboration, Astley’s Amber Ale.

Mikkeller’s newest brewpub, its first in the UK, joins WarPigs in Copenhagen, which Mikkeller owns together with American brewer Three Floyds, as the company’s second in Europe.

Mikkeller also has a US brewpub at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows, home to the New York Met, as well as another brewing operation in San Diego.