Dogfish Head and Kodak have partnered on SuperEIGHT, a mid-octane beer with taste, class, and a twist: it can also develop your film!
It’s not every day you get to talk about two of your favorite topics — filmmaking and booze. But with the collaboration between Dogfish Head brewery and film giant Kodak, you can get the best of both worlds.
Now, you have the option to choose whether you are going to drink a SuperEIGHT, the new sour German-style wheat beer, or use it to develop film.
Exactly how does this work? First, check out this quick short Kodak developed with SuperEIGHT.
A Brief History
You might be wondering how this collaboration came to be. Well, it all started during a chance conversation. Dogfish founder & CEO Sam Calagione first learned about this process while on a Kodak podcast. He learned that if the pH of a beer is low enough, it could develop Kodak Super 8 film.
Calagione took that challenge, creating SuperEIGHT. Here’s what he has to say about the project, and new brew.
About SuperEIGHT
SuperEIGHT, a clever play on the Super 8 Kodak film, is a beer brewed with eight extraordinary ingredients: prickly pear, mango, boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry, elderberry, kiwi juices, and toasted quinoa. With some Hawaiian sea salt tossed in the mix, the beer develops into a 5.3% ABV Gose.
The beer was designed to be high in vitamin C, with an acidic punch, making it ideal for film development.
Calagione went on to say the following:
Developing Film with SuperEIGHT
Dogfish Head and Kodak are committed to making a film using SuperEIGHT — to be released later this year. If you’re interested in trying the beer, and processing some film with it yourself, Kodak has provided the following recipe.
Equipment & Ingredients
- Heat sustainable container (pot, beaker, etc)
- Stove/hot plate
- Thermometer
- Rubber gloves
- 3 buckets
- Dark room
- Timer
- Drying rack
- 17 fl oz (500 mL) SuperEIGHT beer
- 1/2 oz (12g) Vitamin C
- 1 3/4 oz (50g) Baking Soda
- Kodak Rapid Fixer
- Kodak Indicator Stop Bath
Directions for Developing with Super EIGHT
Add SuperEIGHT beer to your container.
- Heat on stovetop to 90-degrees Fahrenheit (32-degrees Celsius). Pour hot liquid in a two-gallon (7.5 liter) bucket.
- Add 1/2 oz (12g) vitamin C and stir vigorously.
- Add 1 3/4 oz (50g) baking soda while continuing to stir.
- Let liquid settle.
- In dark room, turn off the lights.
- Remove the exposed film out of the cartridge and place film into the bucket.
- With your gloved hand, agitate continually for 15 minutes.
- Transfer the film from the bucket to the stop bath for 30-seconds to 1 minute.
- Transfer the film from the stop bath to the fixer for 3–4 minutes.
- Turn the lights on.
- Wash film in cool water.
- Hang film to dry.
Congratulations, you just brewed your batch of film!
Dogfish SuperEIGHT will be available in 12 oz. cans in April.
So, next time you’re caught with a case of beer in the grip truck, tell them “Dude, it’s actually for processing.”
Whether you’re processing your film or your buzz is up to you.
All images via Dogfish Head/Kodak.