Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale

Review Date 5/16/2025 By John Staradumsky

  Style:  American Pale Ale   Brewery: Dogfish Head   Country: USA   State: Delaware   $ Per OZ: $.14 (B), $.30 (D)   ABV: 5.3%

So, I have been seeing all of these check ins on Untappd of Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale by Dogfish Head and I thought to myself, “Self, I gotta try that!”. Now,  am not a Deadhead by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love beer, and I do love Dogfish Head, and that was enough to get me looking for this beer. Then, what ho! I noticed it was on tap at Taco Mac, and as I arrived there on a Monday night, it was the first beer that I ordered.

Dogfish Head says:

Behold, the ultimate collaboration of off-centeredness and musical exploration ... Dogfish Head x Grateful Dead!! As beer geeks with a music problem, we couldn’t resist teaming back up with this legendary band to continue our long, strange trip together with a brand-NEW beer, Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale!

….this pale ale is brewed with Kernza® grains, granola and heaps of good karma for a refreshing, light-bodied beer that will leave you with nothin’ left to do but smile, smile, smile. The addition of El Dorado and Azacca hops brings waves of tropical pineapple, mango, and passion fruit notes for a vibrant tapestry of alluring aromas and flavors that just keeps truckin’ sip after refreshing sip.

OK, so first question was Kernza, what the hell is that? A quick Bing search reveals on Wikipedia it is a trademarked variety of wheat. The addition of granola is interesting, too, though that is mainly oats, and adding oats to your juicy pale ale/IPA/double IPA is of course nothing new.

Dogfish Head Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale has an alcohol content of 5.3% by volume and I paid $6.80 for a 23-ounce mug at Taco Mac. Total Wine sells it here in Georgia for $9.99 a six-pack of cans. Both of these prices are quite reasonable these days methinks.

My mug of Dogfish Head Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale arrived a hazy orange color with a tight white cap of foam and a nose of juicy orange and lightly tropical pineapple. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body and immediately gets to the tropical: papaya, passion fruit, mango and a hint of pineapple to my taste. Citrusy orange and tangerine chime in, and the granola adds a pasty smoothness. A subtle but balancing piney bitterness wraps up the whole affair quite nicely.

Nothing about Dogfish Head Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale jumps the shark, but it’s a tasty juicy hazy pale ale at a very fair price. I enjoyed it with Sweet Ginger Sesame Wings and a few of my son’s fried pickles.