Dogfish Head and CREEM Magazine released Boy Howdy!, a 5.5% ABV cream ale named after CREEM’s iconic can mascot, in 6-pack cans across the Mid-Atlantic. The two first brewed a version for a Dogfish festival back in 2024; this is the first wide release. It’s a lighter, corn-and-hop take than most of Dogfish’s usual lineup. Worth filing next to the easier-drinking picks in our best American beers guide.
Cream ale is one of the more overlooked American beer styles: a light, clean, corn-adjunct ale developed in the early-to-mid 20th century by American brewers trying to compete with the crisp lagers being imported from Europe, using ale yeast for faster fermentation while still chasing a lager-like lightness. It’s a style built for easy drinkability rather than showing off hop character or malt complexity, which makes it a logical, unpretentious choice for a beer meant to celebrate rock ‘n’ roll rather than craft beer connoisseurship.
Dogfish Head has built its entire identity around what founder Sam Calagione calls “off-centered” beers, pushing unusual ingredients and techniques into mainstream distribution long before that was common in craft beer. A straightforward cream ale is actually a departure for a brewery best known for high-ABV, ingredient-heavy specialty releases, which is part of what makes this collaboration notable: it’s Dogfish Head deliberately playing it lighter and simpler for the sake of the partnership.
CREEM Magazine, founded in Detroit in 1969, was one of the defining voices of American rock criticism through the 1970s and 80s, and its cartoon mascot Boy Howdy! has remained an enduring piece of music-nerd iconography even decades after the print magazine’s original run ended. Naming the beer directly after that mascot, rather than just slapping the CREEM logo on an existing recipe, leans into that nostalgia specifically rather than a generic music tie-in.
The two brands actually tested this collaboration once before, brewing a smaller batch exclusively for a Dogfish Head festival back in 2024, before committing to this wider 6-pack release across the Mid-Atlantic. That test-then-scale approach mirrors how Shiner and Post Consumer Brands are also handling their own collaborations this year: start regional and limited, then expand only if the response justifies it.
The choice of a cream ale specifically also plays into CREEM’s own working-class Detroit roots; the style has historical ties to the same Rust Belt brewing tradition CREEM emerged from, which arguably makes it a more thoughtful stylistic match than a trendier hazy IPA or pastry stout would have been for a magazine built on authenticity over polish.
Whether Boy Howdy! becomes a recurring annual release or stays a one-off will likely depend on how strongly it performs across its initial Mid-Atlantic markets, following the same wait-and-see approach Dogfish Head and CREEM already used with their smaller 2024 festival test batch.
CREEM’s own history of intersecting with beer and bar culture goes back to its original run, when the magazine’s writers and staff were as known for their bar-adjacent lifestyle as for their music criticism, making a beer collaboration feel more like a natural extension of the brand’s identity than a purely opportunistic licensing deal decades after the fact.
Beyond the beer itself, Dogfish Head has used collaborations like this one as a way to reach audiences who might not otherwise engage with craft beer marketing at all, tapping into CREEM’s dedicated music-fan base as a genuinely different channel than the usual beer festival and taproom crowd.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cream ale?
A light, clean American ale style using corn as an adjunct alongside malted barley, developed to compete with crisp European lagers while still using faster ale fermentation. It’s built for easy, straightforward drinkability rather than bold hop or malt character.
What is CREEM Magazine?
A Detroit-founded rock music magazine from 1969 that was one of the defining voices in American music criticism through the 1970s and 80s, known for its irreverent tone and its cartoon mascot, Boy Howdy!
Where can I buy Boy Howdy!?
It’s releasing in 6-pack cans across the Mid-Atlantic region through Dogfish Head’s existing distribution, following an earlier limited test batch poured at a Dogfish Head festival in 2024.
Is this Dogfish Head’s first magazine collaboration?
It’s the first wide commercial release from the Dogfish Head and CREEM partnership specifically, building on the smaller 2024 festival-only test batch the two first brewed together.
Has Dogfish Head done other magazine or media collaborations?
Dogfish Head has a long history of unusual partnerships beyond typical brewery collaborations, reflecting founder Sam Calagione’s broader approach of pairing beer releases with cultural moments rather than sticking only to other breweries.
Is Boy Howdy! a permanent addition to Dogfish Head’s lineup?
It’s positioned as this year’s release from an ongoing partnership rather than confirmed as a permanent year-round beer, following the same limited-then-expand pattern used for the pair’s original 2024 test batch.
Source: GlobeNewswire →
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We tasted Boy Howdy ourselves: read our full review of Boy Howdy, and see how it stacks up in our picks for the best summer beers.
