Portland’s Agalloch are billed to headline Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly on Saturday, April 10, 2027, and the Auditory Frequencies desk is pairing the band’s third album, Ashes Against the Grain, with four beers that fit its darker, more electric turn. These are our editorial pairings, not an official or licensed collaboration, and none of the beers named here have been announced as fest pours.
The Philly hook, and why Ashes Against the Grain
- Date: Saturday, April 10, 2027, at The Fillmore Philadelphia, 29 E. Allen St., in Fishtown. The show is 21+.
- Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern / 1:30 p.m. Pacific, as reported in our Decibel Metal and Beer Fest Philly 2027 preview. Set times have not been posted on Decibel’s pages.
- Headliner: Agalloch, billed by Decibel as the band’s first Philadelphia show in 13 years. That billing comes from the organizers; we have not audited it show by show. Agalloch’s official live page, fetched Nov. 13, does not yet list the April 10, 2027, Fillmore date. Upcoming dates it does list are June 4–6, 2027, in Toronto and Sept. 12, 2027, in Istanbul.
- Beer program: Presented by 3 Floyds Brewing of Indiana, with additional announced pourers still to name specific beers. No fest beers or ABVs have been announced.
Agalloch formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1995, released five studio albums, split in 2016, and reformed in 2023 with original members John Haughm, Don Anderson, and Jason William Walton, plus Hunter Ginn on drums for live shows. No new studio album has been released since The Serpent & the Sphere in 2014. A remixed and remastered Marrow of the Spirit is due in December 2026; the official discography page notes that Bandcamp lists Dec. 4, while some press reports of the announcement gave Dec. 11.
Ashes Against the Grain was released Aug. 8, 2006, on The End Records, and it turned 20 on Aug. 8, 2026. The official album page describes a heavier, more direct record that turned toward electric guitars, with less of the acoustic material that defined 2002’s The Mantle, the band’s widely cited post-black-metal landmark, later reissued as a 2024 Eisenwald deluxe edition. Ashes Against the Grain closes with the three-part “Our Fortress Is Burning…” suite, and it was the first Agalloch album with a dedicated drummer, Chris Greene, who played on all but two tracks. Eisenwald released a deluxe reissue of Ashes Against the Grain on Aug. 29, 2025. The official live page lists full-album performances in 2025, including May 16 at the Hollywood Palladium, May 17 at The Warfield in San Francisco, and Aug. 16 at Revolution Hall in Portland. Nature, winter, loss, and the landscape of the Pacific Northwest run through the band’s work, which is why the beers below stay with that region, plus one seasonal nod to the fest’s beer presenter.
Four beers for Ashes Against the Grain
3 Floyds is presenting the Philly beer program, but the fest has not named pours, so do not treat any of the following as a confirmed Fillmore beer. We rechecked each brewery’s official page on Nov. 13.
- Breakside Wanderlust IPA (6.5% ABV, 64 IBU, India Pale Ale / Golden IPA, Portland / Milwaukie, Oregon): Breakside lists it as year-round and describes a golden IPA made with five hops — Amarillo, Cascade, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Summit — with intense grapefruit and dank notes and a crisp finish. It is the bright, cutting counterpoint to a record that still leaves room for melody inside the heavier guitars.
- pFriem Czech Dark Lager (5.3% ABV, 25 IBU, Czech-style dark lager, Hood River, Oregon): pFriem lists it as a fall seasonal and describes a beer that is “wonderfully complex, delivering notes of toffee and dates, with a kiss of roasted malts and milk chocolate.” That darker, wintry malt character is the mid-album mood of Ashes Against the Grain in a glass.
- Fort George Cavatica Stout (8.8% ABV, American Double Stout, Astoria, Oregon): Fort George calls it “a strapping American Double Stout with a sweet undertow and addictive hint of roasty goodness,” and the brewer’s notes describe a house stout that is “mighty, bold, and black as night.” The official beer page does not list an IBU. Oregon direct shipping of 4-packs and cases is offered from the same page. This is the closer for Ashes Against the Grain, the beer for the “Our Fortress Is Burning…” suite.
- 3 Floyds Alpha Klaus (7.3% ABV, 67 IBU, Christmas Porter, Munster, Indiana): 3 Floyds lists it as available October–December and describes “Alpha King’s festive cousin,” a big American Christmas porter brewed with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar, and American hops, with hop bitterness giving way to molasses and chocolate. It is a seasonal winter porter from the fest’s beer presenter, not a confirmed Philly pour.
Availability windows differ: Wanderlust is listed year-round; pFriem’s Czech Dark Lager is a fall seasonal; Cavatica is on Fort George’s current beer page with Oregon shipping; Alpha Klaus is listed October–December. If you are heading to Fishtown in April for Agalloch, wait for the pourers to name actual fest beers before you build a tasting list around Ashes Against the Grain. The album is on the band’s official discography page and Bandcamp.
More Auditory Frequencies
This Ashes Against the Grain pairing joins earlier entries in the series, including our Fear Factory San Diego beer pairings for the Nov. 25 House of Blues show, Type O Negative’s October Rust at 30 with dark lagers, and Mastodon and Crosstown’s Poisonous Weapons Hazy IPA. For more metal-and-beer nights closer to home, see our coverage of the San Diego Metal Swap Meet 2026 and, on our sister site, SDMETAL’s look at why heavy metal and beer make a perfectly moshed combination.
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