Here’s the press release from Moogfest about the new beer created for the festival by Wicked Weed Brewing:
Wicked Weed Brewing teamed up with Moog Music to create a beer especially for this year’s newly reimagined Moogfest 2014, a five-day festival celebrating the intersection of music, art, innovation and technology.
Wicked Weed owners and brothers, Luke and Walt Dickinson, jumped at the opportunity to put their creative heads together to create a beer that reflected the convergent spirit of Moogfest and its home city, Asheville. After an initial brainstorming meeting, Walt and Luke visited the Moog Factory to take a tour, talk to the staff and get further inspiration. Seeing the way Moog instruments are built by hand, much as their beer is handcrafted, was a start.
“We were inspired by the dichotomy that is Moog Music, a technologically savvy company that takes the time to put its product together by hand,” commented Walt. “We wanted to create a beer that represented two very different things coming together, much like Moog’s analog meets digital philosophy.”
The brothers also wanted to make sure the beer honored the spirit of Moogfest’s namesake, Moog Music founder and former Asheville resident, Bob Moog, whom, as they found out, had been a big chocolate lover.
“The goal was to create a beer that was blond in color but tasted like chocolate,” said Luke. “We thought the juxtaposition of light colored beer and chocolate flavor represented well the two sides of Moog and would also make for a really interesting beer.”
Additionally, Moog Music arranged to get the Wicked Weed “several synthesizers-worth” of the untreated wood trim used that’s used in manufacturing to age the beer on. The result is an 8.4% ABV Chocolate IPA. The beer uses local French Broad Chocolate Factory Peruvian cocoa nibs in combination with citrus forward hops and is aged on wood.
“The Moogfest Chocolate IPA will drink like a Double IPA,” comments Luke. “With upfront citrusy hop flavors, smooth chocolate notes will be rounded out by a warming alcohol finish. We wanted to create something unique that highlights the Moog experience. This beer is for drinking while listening to music — experiential beer for experiential music.”
The release party for the Moogfest 2014 beer will be at Wicked Weed Brewing on Tuesday, April 22ndth from 6:00 – 10:00 pm. The beer will be on tap at the brewery throughout Moogfest and will also be available at select music venues during Moogfest.
About Moogfest:
Since 2004, Moogfest has been a gathering for the musicians that worked closely with Bob and his instruments. In 2014, Moogfest is amplifying its vision and becoming a 5-Day event dedicated to the synthesis of technology, art and music. Moogfest honors the inventiveness of Bob Moog and the legacy of the analog synth with an experimental line up of daytime conference programming and landmark nightly performances. Moogfest takes place April 23-27th, 2014 in downtown Asheville, NC. For tickets and more information visit www.moogfest.com.
About Moog Music:
Moog Music is the leading producer of analog synthesizers in the world. The company and its customers carry on the legacy of its founder, electronic musical instrument pioneer, Dr. Bob Moog. The company hosts Moogfest, a five-day festival celebrating the intersection of music and technology in honor of Moog’s innovative spirit. All of Moog’s instruments are hand built in its factory on the edge of downtown Asheville, NC. Learn more at www.moogmusic.com.
About Wicked Weed Brewing:
Wicked Weed Brewing is an Asheville, North Carolina based brewpub that always hosts 20+ beers on tap including hop forward, west coast style ales, open fermented belgians, and barrel aged sour beers. Opened in December 2012, Wicked Weed is striving towards becoming the largest producer of barrel aged beers in the Southeastern US. Wicked Weed Brewing was awarded a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for 100% Brettanomyces Serenity Farmhouse Ale in 2013. Most recently, Wicked Weed began small scale statewide distribution to major metropolitans in North Carolina. Learn more at www.wickedweedbrewing.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WickedWeedBrewing.
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