Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Launches Grateful Dead Themed Beer
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery has teamed up with the Grateful Dead to launch a new collaborative beer called American Beauty.
The Delaware-based brewery worked with surviving members and stakeholders with the band to create an appropriate flavor for the San Francisco icons. They chose to make an Imperial Pale Ale, which the company said captures the spirit of the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of touring and recording.
The brewery and the band are both well-known for having a huge following and directly interacting with them, so for American Beauty, they wanted suggestions from the people.
More than 1,500 fans suggested ingredients to add to the recipe for the beer, with the winning entry coming from Thomas Butler, a chemist by day and home brewer by night. He suggested granola, citing that it was the main course in millions of parking lot meals and acts as “a sweet and toasty complement to the barley and the hops.” Dogfish searched far and wide for the perfect granola and decided on an organic mix from Grizzlies in Eugene, Ore.
American Beauty will be available in limited quantities on draft and in 750-ml bottles throughout Dogfish Head’s 27-state distribution network, including several locations in the Bay Area. To celebrate the release, American Beauty will be debuted at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael tonight with special menu items and a free intimate performance from owner and Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh starting at 8:30pm.
