photo courtesy of Sam Calagione
Sam Calagione
ICYMI, April is Beer Month, and all around the Triangle breweries are hosting tap takeovers and beer dinners, launching new brews and generally geeking out over all things craft beer. We’ve got a wealth of local talent (who we’ll be highlighting throughout the month), but first, one of the most legendary names in the craft beer scene is coming to Raleigh: Sam Calagione, who, along with his wife, Mariah, founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware.
Tonight, Friday, April 6, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, you can meet and chat with Sam and Mariah while sampling more than twenty Dogfish Head brews on tap at Raleigh Beer Garden, including new releases like Dragons & YumYums, a vibrant, pink-hued, tropical-fruit-forward IPA developed in collaboration with The Flaming Lips. The beer stars ingredients—warrior hops, dragonfruit, and yumberries—that could’ve been ripped from the lyrics of a Flaming Lips song, as Calagione says in the video below. So it’s not surprising that the collaboration and ingredients inspired frontman Wayne Coyne to pen two original songs starring dragonfruit and yumberries as characters in tunes "The Story of Yum Yum and Dragon" and "Pouring Beer in Your Ear."
You’ll also find classics like Flesh & Blood, an American IPA brewed with real citrus, including lemon flesh, orange peel, and blood orange juice; Namaste White, a spicy citrus-forward Belgian white ale with notes of orange and lemongrass; and Lupu-Luau, a coconut-y IPA that’s made with toasted coconut and dehydrated coconut water, all of which are now available in cans, too.
The event is free to attend (attendees are responsible for paying for food and beverage); for more information, check out Raleigh Beer Garden's Facebook invite.
