DryHop Brewers Honors Grateful Dead With New Beer
Jed is still contemplating that famed return to Tennessee, but truth be told he should be on his way up to 3155 N. Broadway in Chicago, and soon. As the eve of the Grateful Dead’s return to Soldier Field approaches, DryHop Brewers is honoring the most famous and legendary jam band of all time with a special, Dead-inspired beer concocted by brewmaster Brant Dubovick. StealYour Face, styled as a Haight-Ashbury farmhouse ale, is a 6.7% farmhouse brewed with citrus and coconut. The beer’s name comes from the Dead’s 1974-recorded, and 1976-released live album by that name, and the beer’s “Haight-Ashbury” description references, of course, the San Francisco hippie mecca which was once the Dead’s official home.
When I’m not drinking IPA’s or dark beers, I can’t think of a style I love more than farmhouses. They’re a pleasing hazy-yellow or straw color, are light without being watery, are fruity without being cloyingly sweet, and, when done well, are enticingly biting. Several prime examples of the style are Boulevard’s Tank 7, Lost Abbey’s Red Barn Ale, and Ommegang’s Hennepin. DryHop pretty much nails it with every release, and I’m sure their farmhouse ode to the Dead is on par with the aforementioned brews, if not superior.
Wednesday, July 1, is Steal Your Face’s release date, two days in advance of Friday’s Dead show at Soldier Field. It will be available through the weekend till it’s gone and, in fact, will be DryHop’s Growler Saturday special. That day, 32 oz. cans will be available for $5, and 64 oz. growler fills will be $7. Such a crisp, summer, Dead-inspired brew will be perfect for Dead post-mortem festivities and for reveling in the Fourth of July celebration. Jerry would be proud.
So, cheers, Deadheads and beer lovers. Here’s hoping that you get to try the Steal Your face this week and weekend. Till then, your scribe needs sleep. If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.
