Brewing Concept - Dark Side of the Moon in beers

[aeonderdonk]

I’ve set my sights high for my 2012 brewing goals. I’m dubbing the year a concept year in that I will be creating 10 different beers in a collection called Donk Side of the Moon (I call my brewery Wonderdonk). Each brew will map to a song from the classic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, hopefully the styles will represent the lyrics and theme of each song but that in itself may be a pretty daunting task. The preliminary list of songs->beers (and reasons) is:

Speak to Me – Dry Hopped Pale Ale (start of life, clean simple beer)

Breath – Hefeweissen (also fresh, light, spring of your life)

On the Run – IPA (crazy, hectic, wild)

Time – Raspberry Wheat (life is short, don’t let it pass you by, make it sweet)

Great Gig in the Sky – Dunkelweiss (keeping the wheat theme, bigger, more complex than the others)

Money – Belgian Golden (complex and

Us and Them – Summer Ale (something a bit more mellow)

Any Colour You Like – Amber Ale (just a different colour from the rest?)

Brain Damage – Nut Brown Ale (leading up to death, also going insane/nuts)

Eclipse – Stout (the black end)

For those beer and Pink Floyd enthusiasts out there, help me refine this list and offer up why you think the style is right for the song. Everyone interprets the songs/album differently and I would love to hear your opinions.

 

[dmckean44]

It would be cool to put a large speaker next to the carboy as it ferments and play each corresponding song on repeat for each beer.

I'd do:

Speak to Me - Porter
Breath - Saison
On the Run - Fruity IPA
Time - Malt Liquor
Breath (reprise) - another Saison
Great Gig in the Sky - Old Ale
Money - Lager
Us and Them - Milk Stout
Any Colour You Like - Kölsch
Brain Damage - Orange Wheat
Eclipse - Imperial Stout

 

[Azurecybe]

Hell yes. Subscribed.

Perhaps each should be mapped to a specific English style instead?

 

[Airborneguy]

Huge Pink Floyd fanatic here.

This is tough...

The only ones that leap out at me are:

1. Eclipse: Stout, RIS... gotta be black.
2. Brain Damage: Something STRONG... Barleywine
3. Money: I'd go with a Boddington's clone.
4. Beathe: Mild

Personally, I'd try to stick with English beers for obvious reasons.

 

[cval]

well, speak to me -> breath are pretty well chainned to eachother so i'd say porter->stout

same thing with brain damage -> eclipse, so probably ordinary bitter -> extra special bitter

i'm sorry to say i skip on the run 4 out 5 times, though i do play the rest of the album

edit: come to think about it, any colour you like also ties in with brain damage, so ordinary -> standard -> extra special

you do know wish you were here only has 5 tracks, right? that's an easier task. Can't help but wonder if the BJCP styles match 1:1 with the wall

 

[keatz85]

I think you're a genius!

 

[builderguy]

Hell yes. Subscribed.

Perhaps each should be mapped to a specific English style instead?

Hmmm....I like the tie-in to English Styles...but are there enough?

Barleywine
Stout
IPA
ESB
Brown
Porter

Nevermind...of course there are...it's England for God's Sake!

 

[aeonderdonk]

hmmmmm british styles eh? I've never really tried my hand at many british beers, maybe this is my opportunity.

 

[ksbrain]

I thought I was a big Floyd fan (I like meddle thru atom heart mother best, including the soundtracks) but what is Wonderdonk? All I could find via Google was a bike in movie theater. Maybe a Piper reference?

Oh, by the way love the concept, but I'm not creative enough at the moment to help with the beer ideas.

 

[solo103]

For money I would do a Amber ale with edible gold flake. Lol

 

[aeonderdonk]

I thought I was a big Floyd fan (I like meddle thru atom heart mother best, including the soundtracks) but what is Wonderdonk? All I could find via Google was a bike in movie theater. Maybe a Piper reference?

Oh, by the way love the concept, but I'm not creative enough at the moment to help with the beer ideas.

Wonderdonk is just my last name with a W in front of it and it's what I call my brewery, no floyd reference.

 

[Mongrel]

I'd go for more of a Pink anthology. Comfortably Numb begs for a beer. And you could also do The Thin Eis, and Run Like Helles from The Wall.

Comfortably Numb and Brain Damage should be big beers with the latter being much bigger

 

[Phunhog]

Personally I would call the IPA "Money" because so many breweries' flagship (money) beer is their IPA. Great concept....but if you are really creative you will throw some Wizard of Oz teasers in...

 

[aeonderdonk]

I'd go for more of a Pink anthology. Comfortably Numb begs for a beer. And you could also do The Thin Eis, and Run Like Helles from The Wall.

Comfortably Numb and Brain Damage should be big beers with the latter being much bigger

This might be easier to pull off.

 

[Zamial]

This screams epic drinking game to me...

 

[ksbrain]

At one point, I actually made a beer called, "Careful With Those Hops Eugene." Obviously an IPA.

I also have one now called, "Let There Be More Lite." My low cal beer.

Looking through the catalog of songs, I come up with a few others. Mainly weak. For example, "See Emily Drink." There has to be something based on Echoes, but I still can't figure it out...

Unfortunately none of DSOTM jumps out at me for beer names.

Long live Floyd Beer project!

 

[Airborneguy]

To me, Echoes would have to have some weird ingredients. That song has a lot going on, which just screams 'dump weird stuff in this fermenter now!'

 

[OldWorld]

Try making a modest gravity Saison for the summer ale...The Saison yeast makes great beer in the 90 degree range...At 80 it works...at 90 the yeast creates the flavors of a real classic saison. Even lower gravity 5.0 abv will be astoundingly dry and crisp.

I love Saison yeast.