Brooklyn Brewery is expanding its core portfolio with the nationwide launch of the award-winning Fonio Rising Pale Ale, following its successful limited release in 2024, where it earned Brewbound’s Best New Product of the Year award.
Fonio Rising Pale Ale is a crisp, dry pale ale bursting with tropical passionfruit and citrus flavors, according to the brewery. Brewed with a blend of two-row pale malt and fonio, and dry-hopped with Strata and Citra, the beer makes an ideal pairing for grilled seafood, spicy dishes, mango salsa, Yassa chicken and fish tacos.
“In my 35 years of brewing, I’ve never seen an ingredient or innovation excite beer drinkers and other brewers quite like this. Backed by 5,000 years of cultivation, fonio grows in near-desert conditions without chemicals, tilling, or irrigation, while supporting thousands of smallholder farmers. It’s an incredible grain that makes incredible beer—fonio’s got everything,” explains Brooklyn Brewery’s James Beard award-winning brewmaster Garrett Oliver in a news release. “With Fonio Rising Pale Ale joining our core lineup, African-grown fonio is finally reaching the mainstream—not just as a sustainable and socially impactful crop, but as an ingredient that makes great tasting beer. It gives this pale ale a tropical lilt that’s really delicious.”
To celebrate Fonio Rising Pale Ale, Brooklyn Brewery is partnering with African Chop House – a cultural organization that brings people together through African food, music and conversation – for a series of events throughout 2025 spotlighting African culture and craft. The Brewery is also launching the Brew a Beer with Brooklyn Brewery contest, offering one winner the chance to help craft a unique fonio-based beer alongside Oliver and his team, according to the brewery.
Fonio Rising Pale Ale will be sold in 6PK of 12oz cans and on draft, available across the United States starting in late February.
