It seems like Dogfish Head is cranking out the big bottles lately, but our favorites here are always the music series brews. We have covered Bitches Brew as well as Hell Hound On My Ale in the past, but I think there might be a new favorite – American Beauty. American Beauty, if you couldn’t tell from the label, is a collaboration between Dogfish Head and the Grateful Dead and the title of one of the Dead’s greatest albums. If you don’t know of the Dead, I don’t have time to give you a history lesson. Suffice to say they are an integral part of the American rock legacy.
Given the huge grassroots following of both these brands here in the States, Dogfish Head reached out to Dead Fans as well as their own and had them suggest an ingredient for the beer while offering a story about the Grateful Dead in conjunction. Granola (sourced locally from Eugene, Oregon) was the decided ingredient to play with the American hops used in the beer, along with a nice tale from Dead Head, Thomas Butler who wrote in that “granola was the main course in millions of parking lot meals, and [he and his father] both agreed it would be a sweet and toasty complement to the pale ale’s all-American hops and barley.”
I haven’t had much Dogfish Head in a while due to the need to explore new beers. Being a nerd on untappd, it felt good to have this as the first beer back. American Beauty is a proper brew loaded with everything you could want in an American Pale. Bold hop flavor complimented by great mouth feel makes for a dangerously drinkable 9% beer. Great job with this one Dogfish Head; we’re already looking forward to see what is next in the music series.
-Brian