When the 24-year-old future founder of Dogfish Head Sam Calagione brewed his first beer, it was called Cherry Brew, made with over-ripe cherries and boasting a name that Calagione has admitted was a “pretty sophomoric reference to losing your virginity.”
His first pour was in his New York apartment. His now-wife and Dogfish co-founder Mariah Calagione was there along with his now-famous actor roommates Ken Marino (“Party Down”) and Joe Lo Truglio (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Reno 911!”). Future talk show host Ricki Lake was also there.
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“As I watched my friends kick back and enjoy something I made, I experienced a sense of pride and accomplishment on a level never felt before,” Calagione wrote in his 2005 book, “Brewing Up a Business.”
According to Dogfish lore, that’s when the newbie brewer stood on a coffee table and announced, “This is what I want to do with my life. I want to open a craft brewery.”
“It was a night to remember,” he recently said, reminiscing about the moment.
In a joint video interview with Delaware Online/The News Journal last week, Marino said he recalled Calagione brewing beer, but not his tabletop speech.
He joked: “Since he was a couple of beers in, it sounded like, ‘Aaaargh aargh aargh aargh brewery!’ We knew the beer was working.”
Marino added, “But Sam really was always reading books about how to start a business, constantly studying and exploring.”
Music + comedy = Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band
Nearly 30 years later, Calagione’s Chelsea neighborhood eureka moment will come alive again as Marino brings a new live music/comedy act to Dogfish Head’s Rehoboth Beach brewpub.
And he won’t be alone. Marino will bring along David Wain, his former castmate on the influential ’90s MTV comedy sketch show “The State,” which also co-starred Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Michael Showalter.
In fact, it was during their time in the third-floor walk-up on Seventh Avenue between 25th and 26th streets in Manhattan that not only did Dogfish Head get its unofficial start, but work first began on “The State.”
“It’s kind of crazy,” Marino said.
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Marino and Wain, who were also behind 2001 cult favorite comedy film “Wet Hot American Summer” and its Netflix spinoff series, are on the road while Hollywood is paralyzed by writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Their live music/comedy show, Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band, will perform at Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats (320 Rehoboth Ave.) Wednesday, July 19, at 9 p.m. The all-ages, two-hour show is free and no tickets are needed.
Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band’s origins were as an informal garage jam session started by Wain during the pandemic. Now a touring act, expect “hilarious antics and diverse musical covers, spanning various genres and eras, including rock, pop, alternative, Motown and hits from the ’60s to the ’90s,” according to a press release announcing the mid-week beach show.
Covers of songs by acts such as The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and The Cranberries are among their repertoire.
And, yes, Calagione will be there.
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“I’m going to sit there and bask in their awesomeness,” said Calagione, joking that he’ll be working as their roadie while the band is in town. “It couldn’t be more of a full-circle moment.”
During their joint interview, Marino asked Calagione if he would be willing to sing a song and Delaware’s king of beers agreed. (We’ll keep the song they discussed a secret to preserve the surprise, but we can report it won’t be a tune from Calagione’s short-lived tongue-in-cheek hip-hop duo Pain Relievaz.)
Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band’s musical performances feature Marino on vocals and Wain on drums along with five others filling out the seven-piece, including guitarist Frank Barrera, who was also in Calagione’s apartment long ago when he brewed his first beer. The band is rounded out by Sweet Teddy P (bass), Jon Spurney (keys/guitar), Jordan Katz (trumpet) and David’s son Henry Wain on saxophone.
Each show comes with special guests, such as when “Weird Al” Yankovic joined them at a couple of their sold-out Los Angeles shows earlier this month. Special guests for Rehoboth will be actress/singer Nadia Quinn (“West Side Story”) and singer Amy Miles.
It’s a busy time in “The State” universe considering their announcement Wednesday of a 30th anniversary “Breakin’ Hearts & Dippin’ Balls Tour” show on Aug. 30 in Denver.
An actual tour, as the name suggests, may follow if there’s enough demand, Marino said.
“If no one shows up, we will refuse to tour,” he joked.
Ken & Sam’s history
The old New York roommates didn’t see their relationship cool off once they moved out.
Marino has been to Delaware many times ― “too many times to count” ― especially in the early days of the brewery.
“I helped Sam paint the original restaurant and the original brewery,” Marino said. “He had just got his first brewing system and it was a run-and-gun, ragtag small operation with him brewing beer 24 hours a day.
In fact, Marino co-starred in an early Dogfish Head commercial directed by their friend and Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band guitarist Barrera. The other stars were Calagione’s dog and a fish, playing with the brewery’s name.
But it was in their New York days when they spent the most time together.
After discussing Calagione’s tabletop beer speech during their interview, the brewer said the only other time a roommate jumped on the coffee table was when Marino was admonishing Calagione and another roommate for being messy.
After knocking everything off the table, Calagione said, Marino hopped on the table and peed on the mess, hoping to highlight their filthy lifestyle.
“He peed on a pile of newspaper and appeared to be a dog,” Calagione said, laughing.
Marino smiled as Calagione recalled the story.
“I cannot confirm nor deny that happened. But I can say my roommates were disgusting and sometimes when you’re trying to make a point, you have to go all in,” said Marino, who co-stars in a film with Eddie Murphy this Christmas called “Candy Cane Lane” and was filming a Shondaland-produced murder mystery Netflix series “The Residence” when the strike struck.
One night only: Limited edition new ’90s brew Red Ale
Adding to the reunion feel Wednesday, Dogfish has brewed an homage to the mid-’90s microbrewery-style Red Ale (5.3% ABV), a popular beer style of that time period. It has “toffee notes from double roasted crystal malt, tempered by select American hops.”
The beer will be available starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the brewpub. There will also be a limited amount of four-packs of 16-ounce cans available next-door at Dogfish Head’s Off-Centered EmPOURium merchandise and beer shop starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday for $16 each. Only about 100 cases were made.
There will also be custom Dogfish Head/Middle-Aged Dad Jam Band T-shirts for sale, along with other goodies at the merchandise table, such as era-appropriate kitsch items like ThighMasters.
The dream of the ’90s will be alive in Rehoboth Beach, if just for one night.
Patricia Talorico contributed to this report. Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and Twitter (@ryancormier).
