Tap Handle #720: Crying Eagle - Hop Blooded IPA

Size:  12"
Rarity:  less than 10 seen
Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

Here comes another tap from friend of the Museum Morgan C. and Crying Eagle. This one represents a collaboration between the brewery and the legendary rock band Foreigner, with the name being a play on the title of one of the bands songs, "Hot Blooded". It features a large hop at the top of the tap, with blood vessels sticking out of it as if the hop were a heart. Those blood vessels extend into the lower part of the tap, where hops and hop leaves are sculpted in bas relief. A sign in the middle of the tap bears the name of the brewery and the beer variety. Like the previous Crying Eagle tap I profiled, Pistol Bridge, this tap is also fairly new and I haven't seen another.

Foreigner is an English-American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran English musician and ex-Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones, and fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band's name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American. They are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million records in the US. The band's debut, Foreigner, was released in February 1977 and sold more than four million copies in the United States, staying in the Top 20 for a year with such hits as "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". Their second album, Double Vision (released in June 1978), co-produced by Keith Olsen, topped their previous, selling five million records and spawned hits in "Hot Blooded", the title track "Double Vision" and "Blue Morning, Blue Day". Album number three, Head Games (September 1979), co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, which was referred to by Gramm as their "grainiest" album, was also successful because of the thunderous "Dirty White Boy" and another title track hit "Head Games". The next album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, engineered by Dave Wittman (currently with Trans-Siberian Orchestra). 4 (released in July 1981) contained the hits "Urgent" (which includes the famous Junior Walker sax solo), "Waiting for a Girl Like You", "Juke Box Hero" and "Break it Up". Before releasing albums of his own, Thomas Dolby played synthesizers on 4 (he contributed the signature synth sound on "Urgent" and played the intro to "Waiting for a Girl Like You"). Their next album, Agent Provocateur, co-produced by Alex Sadkin, was released successfully in December 1984 and gave them their first and only No. 1 hit in 1985 (in the US, UK, Australia, Norway, Sweden, etc.), "I Want to Know What Love Is", a ballad backed by Jennifer Holliday and the New Jersey Mass Choir. The song was their biggest U.S. hit.

Foreigner information courtesy of Wikipedia.

For more about Crying Eagle Brewing, see this post.

Click through to read more about Crying Eagle's Hop Blooded IPA and to see more photos of this hot blooded tap...

Originally brewed in collaboration with the legendary rock band Foreigner, Hop Blooded is finally bringing its haze to the stage. When Foreigner’s national tour brought them through Southwest Louisiana, a pit stop at Crying Eagle topped the list for band members Michael Bluestein and Bruce Watson, both craft brew aficionados. Foreigner worked with Crying Eagle to create a beer that reflected the band’s impetuous personality. This juicy, hop-forward brew showcases a blend of American hops with a tropical cocktail of candied pineapple, orange, mango, and stone-fruit. 

Ratebeer:  3.09 out of 5

Beer Advocate:  3.78 out of 5 (very good)