The Savannah Music Festival is a week-long event consisting of 100-pluss concerts, and each year it shakes the Spanish moss out of the trees of the sleepy coastal Georgia town. Savannah is one of the few places in the U.S. you can legally stroll the streets with an open container of beer, and festival-goers will have something new for their plastic go-cups this year: the 2018 signature festival beer.
The Savannah Music Festival has once again teamed up with local brewers Southbound Brewing Co. to craft a flagship beer. Meet Rollin’ & Tumblin’ Vol. 2., an update to the two brands’ previous collaboration by the same name (which also spawned the higher ABV spin-off dubbed Rollin’ & Stumblin’ Double IPA).
Vol. 2 takes the same malt base from the original beer but adds a fresh hop lineup of Motueka, Rakau, Wakatu, and Amarillo. The result is a beer that’s an easy-drinking 6 percent ABV with the complexities of stone fruit, citrus and tropical fruits.
“Easy but complex” might be a good way to describe the music offerings at the festival too. Stereophile has described the Savannah Music Festival as “an extremely well-curated mix of jazz, classical, rock and traditional American musical forms.” Entering its eleventh year, the fest looks to impress music fans again March 29 through April 14 with acts that range from the banjo virtuoso couple Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn to Americana songwriter John Moreland to the soul stylings of Lee Fields & The Expressions. New for this year is an all-day fest within a fest headlined by Tedeschi Trucks Band with Jason Isbell and Gillian Welch.
The 2018 signature festival beer will be officially introduced on Saturday, February 17 with a concert by Chapel Hill-based Americana quartet Mipso at the Southbound brewery and tap room. Rollin’ & Tumblin’ Vol. 2 will be served at all of the concerts during the Savannah Music Festival. A limited amount of the beer will also be shipped via local distribution in canned six-packs.
