Dogfish Head Craft Brewery celebrates expansion with unique collaboration

Late last year, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Founder and President Sam Calagione and his 180 co-workers celebrated the brewery’s 18-month expansion by inviting musician Julianna Barwick to perform in the new cathedral-like 200-barrel (bbl.) brewhouse. This June, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery will release Rosabi, a well-hopped Imperial Pale Ale brewed with Julianna. An exclusive run of 1,000 cases of six 750ml bottles will be packaged with a 10-in. record of original songs that Julianna composed using sounds from Dogfish Head’s expanded brewery.

Julianna, who builds ecstatic choirs by looping and layering her voice, was enamored with the brewery. Remarking on the symphony of sounds that surrounded them – the hum of a grain belt, the firing of a pneumatic valve, the drone of the whirlpool – Sam challenged Julianna to compose an album tracing the creation of a beer. To do so, Dogfish gave Julianna recordings of its new equipment at work – from brewing, through fermentation, filtration and bottling – and she layered those sounds into four new songs.

“I just love Julianna’s sonic palette,” Calagione said. “Her layered style reminds me of the art of brewing. Her songs are beautiful but completely unconventional, just as our beer recipes are completely nontraditional. But in the end, they are both distinct and find an adventurous community of enthusiasts.”

The four-song mini-album will be available in a limited edition of 1,000, sold only in sealed cases of six 750ml bottles of the 8 percent ABV Rosabi. The vivid rose hue of Rosabi comes from a combination of Munich and Caramel malts and a touch of red rice from Julianna’s home state of Louisiana. Citrusy Simcoe and Centennial feed Julianna’s love of hops, and the star of the show is her go-to ingredient: wasabi. The Japanese root adds bittering and herbal notes similar to hops, with its subtle heat creeping in after the kick of carbonation.

For the complete details, be sure to read the entire story on the Dogfish Head blog.