Wow! We were overwhelmed by suggestions for the final ingredient of American Beauty, our counterculture collaboration with Grateful Dead. Throughout December, we received more than 1,500 suggestions.

Here at the brewery, we narrowed the list down to 5. We read your stories and thought about how well the ingredients would work in the context of an American Pale Ale. We also had to make sure everything would be kosher with federal regulators (sorry … all you folks who suggested 'magic' mushrooms).

We've passed the finalists along to the Grateful Dead team and should have a decision soon. If possible, we'd love to invite the fan who suggested the final ingredient to our coastal Delaware brewpub to help us with the test batch.

American Beauty is expected to hit taps and shelves throughout our 27-state distribution network in October 2013.Stay tuned for details!