This Friday, Jagjaguwar unveils SABLE, fABLE, the deeply anticipated fifth LP from Bon Iver. That same day, Virginia’s Ocelot Brewing will release fABLE LAGER, a light lager made in collaboration with Justin Vernon and his long-running project. Due west in Kentucky, meanwhile, our friends Gravely Brewing will debut their own Bon Iver collaboration, a dark cream ale called Sable. The two beers are opposite sides of the same coin, both drawing from the American brewing tradition and each informed uniquely by the album’s bifurcated structure.
SABLE, fABLE opens with a suite of three solemn and subtly flourished songs. “It kind of runs the gamut from accepting anxiety to accepting guilt to accepting hope,” Vernon has said of the triptych’s arc. These are heavy songs, and thus they came to be released as SABLE, – a word used to describe the blackest of blacks and often associated with mourning. Gravely’s Sable matches that stygian mood. Loosely inspired by McSorely’s Dark, the 5.2% cream ale is darkened with Weyermann’s Carafa Special, which lends rich character but is debittered for a smooth flavor. It’s lightened in body, though not visage, by the addition of corn, an ingredient now integral to the nearly 200-year-old style.
The nine songs that compose fABLE need no lightening. Following SABLE, closer “AWARDS SEASON,” the dam breaks on the album’s second half, and we’re awash with clarity and joy. “Oh the vibrance! Sun in my eyes,” Vernon beams on “Short Story.” As he told the New York Times’ Popcast recently, fABLE is “windows down, sunshine, everything is peaceful love, I love you.” fABLE LAGER is fittingly luminous. A riff on our Brightside lager, the 4.7% beer starts with the finest Weyermann grains – mostly the German maltster’s slightly sweet pilsner malt. Upon this foundation, we add two all-American adjuncts: flaked corn and toasted rice flakes. Later, German hops animate the light lager with an essence of lemon, herbs, orange citrus, and mild spice. The end result is effervescent, refreshing, and eminently crushable. And what could be more Wisconsin than a German-American hybrid?
We recommend pairing Sable and fABLE LAGER with a SABLE, fABLE jam session – and, trust us, this album brings the jams. Jams that amalgamate drum machines and pedal steel, Sunday service and sexy time, the dark and the light. Jams that have somehow led to us making beer with one of the defining voices of the last three decades.
SABLE, fABLE is out April 11 on Jagjaguwar.
Sable and fABLE LAGER will be available exclusively at their respective breweries on April 11. While supplies last, purchases come with a 32-page zine featuring behind-the-scenes photos and illustrations of Bon Iver designed by his longtime collaborator Eric Timothy Carlson.
Gravely Brewing is a music brewery in Louisville that opened its doors in 2017 and has been hosting live shows and crafting clean lagers ever since.
Founded by Adrien and Laura Widman almost a decade ago, Ocelot celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday, April 12. fABLE LAGER follows collaborations with Protomartyr, Sheer Mag, Superchunk, Eleanor Friedberger, The Clientele, Mary Timony, of Montreal, Bad Moves, Palehound, Fucked Up, Lily Seabird, Slumberland Records, and Merge Records.
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