Dogfish Head Reprises American Beauty Pale Ale for National Record Store Day
For this year’s National Record Store Day Dogfish Head brewery turned to one of their favorite collaborators – the Grateful Dead. Now in their fifth year as the Official Beer of Record Store Day, Dogfish Head is bringing back the fan-favorite American Beauty pale ale. They’re also turning up the volume with the creation of Sage & Spirit, a limited edition 10-track vinyl album that will release on Record Store Day (Saturday, April 13).
“The enjoyment of a beautiful beer alongside an amazing album is an exponentially awesome experience, and we at Dogfish, take every opportunity we can get to weave together the art of brewing and our love of music,” says Dogfish Head founder & CEO Sam Calagione. “We’ve always been inspired by the Grateful Dead’s creativity, collaborative nature and most of all music, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them again for the re-release of American Beauty and our Record Store Day release.”
Brewed to 6.5% to commemorate the year the Grateful Dead was formed (1965), American Beauty is an all-American pale ale infused with granola and succulent wildflower honey. First concocted back in 2012, American Beauty is now available year round in 6-packs, 12-oz bottles with red, white and blue packaging featuring the band’s iconic ‘dancing bears.’
Featuring a handpicked collection of Grateful Dead melodies, Sage & Spirit was curated by the band’s audiovisual archivist and legacy manager, David Lemieux. After combing through the band’s expansive discography, Lemieux selected the following tracks to appear on this collaborative Record Store Day release: “Sugar Magnolia,” “Eyes Of The World,” “Lost Sailor,” “Saint Of Circumstance,” “High Time,” “Unbroken Chain,” “If I Had The World To Give” and “Sage and Spirit.” Also featured on the album are recordings of “Jack Straw” and “Brown-Eyed Women” from the band’s European tour in 1972. The perfect accompaniment to a pint of indie-brewed American Beauty, copies of Sage & Spirit will be sold, starting on Record Store Day, Apr. 13, at independent record stores around the country.
The brewery is also bringing back Dragons & YumYums – our collaboration with The Flaming Lips. Shipping nationwide just in time for Record Store Day, this intensely tropical yet subtly bitter pale ale is brewed with a combination of dragon fruit, yumberry, passion fruit, pear juice and black carrot juice for an explosion of fruit in every sip. Part of the Off-Centered Art Series, Dragons & YumYums (6.5%) is making its comeback in 6-pack 12 oz. bottles with a playful and vibrant new look from artist Michael Hacker.
Rounding out the Record Store Day celebrations is a yet another melodic music collaboration, Wood-Aged Bitches Brew. Available year round in 6-pack 12-oz bottles, this gustatory tribute was originally brewed to honor the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis’ legendary 1970 jazz-fusion record. Bitches Brew is a blend of three threads of an imperial stout and one thread of Tej, a native African honey beer, this time aged in American oak and Palo Santo wood tanks.
