Duff Beer, the fictional beverage brand immortalized on “The Simpsons” TV show, is set to hit the actual market in Chile, Germany, and Australia by early next year.
For decades, beer brewers across the world have sought to manufacture and sell the iconic beverage consumed by Homer Simpson throughout the show’s 26 years only to be shut down when they were discovered by
21st Century Fox lawyers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Although the sales are starting small in only a few countries, Jeffrey Godsick, the president of the media company’s consumer products division, imagines that Duff will be a worldwide phenomenon in the future, according to The Journal. 21st Century Fox also has been consulting with a brewmaster to perfect the Duff Beer flavor and intends to market the brand with no obvious nods to the show, instead leaving it as an inside joke with “Simpsons” fans.
Brewers in Chile, Germany, and Australia have been covertly manufacturing and selling Duff Beers for years, and because 21st Century Fox could not entirely stamp them out under intellectual property complaints, the company
decided to officially brew its own, according to the Daily Mail.
“Once you see enough piracy, you are faced with two choices,” Godsick said, according to the U.K. newspaper. “One is deciding to fight it, and the other is deciding to go out [into the market] with it.”
The new officially licensed Duff Beer has been described as offering a hunt of fruity flavors with a “caramel aromatic to it,” according to the Daily Mail.
This upscale taste may come as a shock to show fans, due to Duff’s reputation on air as being a cheap product.
“Duff is inspired by the brand that’s in the show, but it begins and ends at that,” Godsick said. “It’s a completely stand-alone brand . . . you will not see any characters from the show involved in the marketing in any way.”
In the U.S., Duff Beer is only currently offered in Universal’s theme parks in Los Angeles and Orlando, though that may change in the future.