90s Calling: Hanson Hits the Craft Circuit with Mmmhops

 

“Think there’s a beer story here for you?”

It was a weekday in mid-April, coming up on 9:00 p.m., and I had replied to a press release about a music festival in Oklahoma. I’m not normally in the habit of responding to out-of-state missives (being a Boston Correspondent and all), but the music in question was Hanson (yes, they’re still making music). Not only that–they’re making beer.

, 90s Calling: Hanson Hits the Craft Circuit with MmmhopsTo provide a bit of backstory, I have been a fan (ranging from obsessed to mildly fond) of the brothers since their massively catchy single first hit the airwaves back in 1996. I never took it to the tattoo level like some Fansons (yes, that was a term), but I created my fair share of magazine clipping collages and attended as many shows as my suburban Maryland location provided.

, 90s Calling: Hanson Hits the Craft Circuit with MmmhopsTime passed, and we all grew up; I went to college in Florida and moved to Boston, they wore TOMS before they were cool, started their own music label, got married, cranked out babies, fundraised for kids in Africa and continued to produce studio albums (nine and counting). After seventeen years of playing their Christmas album during the holidays, I finally met Taylor Hanson at the House of Blues last August (13-year-old me would have died).

I’ve occasionally been abashed–but never ashamed–to say I’m a Hanson fan. They’ve shown a remarkable dedication to music and their roots. While Radiohead refuses to play the song that put them on the map, you can hear “Mmmbop” cheerfully sung at any Hanson show; typically toward the end, and typically acoustic.

When the Tulsa trio announced they were working with Mustang Brewing in Oklahoma City to produce Mmmhops as their flagship, I was delighted. (Beer! Wordplay! Pop culture!). But now that I’ve actually had the beer, I am slightly bummed. It’s a well-balanced, slightly toasty pale ale–and since it comes from Hanson, it probably won’t get a fair shake. Which is too bad, because they’re doing good things for the industry. HopJam–the Oklahoma music festival that Hanson ran alongside Craft Beer Week last month–brought together 14 breweries from across the state, and gave local musicians the spotlight.

As Taylor explains in a Grubstreet article, there’s a certain similarity between nanobreweries and musicians who are just starting out: “We just all feel there’s this kinship between what we’ve been doing the last ten years, starting our own little label, and so many other breweries kind of fighting the fight in their own way. They’re going out there saying, ‘Hey, here’s my new beer, I don’t necessarily have a huge amount of capital, but I have this thing I’m really excited about.'”

Hanson are not the only musicians making business moves on the brewing front. Turns out there’s a diverse list of bands all getting in on the action, from alternative rockers Elbow to metal band Mastodon, folk/punk singer Frank Turner and I-don’t-know-quite-how-to-classify-him Kid Rock. There’s also a rich history of brews inspired by musicians, including 21st Amendment‘s Back in Black IPA, Abita Brewery‘s Purple Haze, and Wilco Tango Foxtrot from Lagunitas.

Time will tell whether these releases are one-hit wonders, but I’m hoping the brothers continue to bring attention to craft brewing in the Midwest–and their work.

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