Dogfish Head Announce Grateful Dead Collaboration Brew

Dogfish Head and “Dead Heads” will unite in October of next year as the Delaware-based brewing company have announce a collaboration with the legendary rock band, the Grateful Dead. With a brew that both sides are calling American Beauty, both the brewery and band have decided on a strong pale ale with all-American hops and barely.

There’s one caveat, however, which leaves the final recipe currently incomplete: the band is reaching out to fans to suggest a special final ingredient, along with a Grateful Dead-inspired story to go along with it.

“Grateful Dead Productions is extremely pleased to be partnering with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery on the American Beauty pale ale. We’ve looked for a long while for the perfect brewery to team up with for a Grateful Dead-inspired brew, and feel we’ve finally found the right fit. Aside from Dogfish’s history with music-themed brews, we love their beer, and think it’s the best around. Plus, these are really good people and are the type of folks we want to work with,” says David Lemieux, legacy manager for Grateful Dead.

“Best around”? We at mAltIntel tend to concur.

“The feedback the band got from Dead Heads was always an important factor in their shows,” says Dogfish Founder and President Sam Calagione. “And at Dogfish, we’ve always thought of our pub regulars and brewery tour guests as an informal focus group, so we’re sending a shout out to all those Dead Heads and Dogfish Heads by making them a driving force behind this beer.”

Suggestions for American Beauty’s final ingredient will be taken online in December, and if cementing yourself with Grateful Dead and Dogfish Head lore isn’t good enough, the brewery and band hope to invite the fan who suggests the ingredient to Dogfish’s coastal Delaware brewpub in the spring to help brew a test batch! So dust off those vinyls, confer with your fellow Dead Heads (even if they happen to be your parents), and get those creative juices flowing.