Dogfish Head's American Beauty

Dogfish Head does some cool stuff. They brew unusual beers, extreme beers, and even ancient ales. One of the other cool things they do is make beer inspired by music (all of which have been delicious, though I have not had Faithfull Ale so don't let me speak for that one yet). The latest of these gems is American Beauty, a beer tribute to the Grateful Dead. DFH reached out to the community to see which special ingredient would be used that reminded people of the Dead and their shows. After sifting through what I assume was mostly a stack of suggestions of illicit drugs, they decided on granola. Weird suggestion, but it worked.

American Beauty is an Imperial pale ale (not to be confused for an IPA) and pours a crystal clear with an eggshell head. The nose is pretty bizarre; it smells of semi sweet malts and a bowl of cereal. Forward flavors are very fruity as well some fresh pine and citrus hops. I can see where some people are mistaking this for an IPA as the hops are very present. It transitions into a nice, biscuit and malt finish. The flavors imparted by the granola are subtle but enjoyable (I am assuming the caused this biscuit flavor). This beer once again shows DFH's success with thinking outside the box.