Tom Jones scored the first of 16 No. 1 songs in the U.K. with “It’s Not Unusual” in 1965. The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records in 1969. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the epic album Déjà vu and The 5th Dimension won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards with the classic Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In in 1970. Tears for Fears released the single “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” in 1985. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Paul McCartney in 1997. Indeed, March 11 has seen some musical high notes including, we think, Craft Beer Crosscut 3.11.17: A Flight of Music.
Abita Purple Haze
4.2% ABV, 13 IBU
You’re making music, but you aren’t tripping, so that new ditto looper pedal you bought on eBay just isn’t working how you thought it would. No worries; there’s a solution for that, and it’s Abita‘s Purple Haze. An American wheat with pureed raspberries, it’s light and a more universally legal version of the taboo alternative. Your ditto looper may still sound a bit off and colors may appear all to realistic, but not hallucinating has its upsides, too.
Ninkasi Helles Belles
5.3% ABV, 28 IBU
Helles is German for bright. Think pilsner with more bready malt character and in this case with GR Hallertau Herkules, GR Hallertauer Mittelfrueh and US Hallertau hops giving the beer horns. Enjoy Ninkasi‘s amped pilsner cousin then head to Jazzbones tonight and rock out to AC/DC all-female cover band Hell’s Belles!
Dogfish Head Beer To Drink Music To 2017
6.8% ABV
It’s the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love, and to celebrate Dogfish Head drew inspiration from the sights, sounds and experiences of 1967 California to brew the Official Beer of Record Store Day, a tropical blonde ale called Beer To Drink Music To ’17. This tropical mash up prominently features hibiscus flowers, inspired by the unofficial theme song of the 1967 movement — “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” — and kiwi juice, an ideal flavor complement grown in California, the epi-center of the Summer of Love. Tune in, turn on and drop into strong citrus fruit aromas, hints of grapefruit and floral notes and a crisp, dry finish.
Dogfish Head Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew
9% ABV, 38 IBU
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis’ album, Bitches Brew, Dogfish Head took a stab at making a beer as complex as the album that shares its name. If you’re looking to get a little weird quickly on your keyboard or if you’re expecting a few of your closest horn, standup bass, and timpani playing friends to drop by for a little improvisation, then you’ll dig this, cat.
Three Magnets Art Chantry Imperial Bitter
8.2% ABV, 40 IBU
Three Magnets Brewing Co. honors Olympia’s notable indie music scene with craft beers named after, and brewed by, key players in Olympia’s indie music scene, such as band 764-HERO, prolific graphic artist Art Chantry, YoYo Records, and Diana Arens, former producer of the radio show Free Things Are Cool at KAOS Olympia Community Radio and audio engineer at Dub Narcotic and YoYo Records. For today’s beer flight we chose to highlight the former art director at The Rocket, the bible of Seattle’s music scene of the ’80s and ’90s. Caramel and earthy notes cut and paste the front and middle of the tongue before a wave on bitterness is stapled to a telephone pole.