Battle of the Barleywines 2011-2012 (sorta)

A week or two ago, my friends and I had an epic mini-tasting featuring some awesome Barleywines. I took some pictures and figured a quick post was necessary. The beers featured were: Pelican Pub Mother of All Storms (2011), Goose Island King Henry (2011) and Firestone Walker XV (mostly Barleywine). All of these are barrel-aged, and in the case of FWXV a blend of both non and barrel-aged beer. The %ABV are all similar, 13.5%, 13.4% and 12.5% in the order mentioned above.

Pelican Pub Mother of All Storms: Definitely the most balanced and, IMO, well crafted beer of the night. Tons of complexity and an abundance of flavors that seemingly all come in equal amounts. Charred oak, deep caramel sweets, vanilla, peppercorn, raisin, cherry, whiskey and slight alcohol. With all of this blended smoothly and balanced, I found this to be the best made and my favorite beer of the night.

Goose Island King Henry: I found this to be a product of some amazing 23 year-old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels. The base beer is not that noticeable but instead serves as a strong base to deliver stellar whiskey flavor. A very close second to MoaS (I just found this to be more about the barrels than brewing skill). I found great flavors of huge Pappy Bourbon Whiskey, sweet raisin caramel, toasted oak, vanilla and some roast malts (left-over BCS Rare?). The whiskey flavor was incredibly smooth and tasty, probably the best Bourbon flavor I have experienced in a beer.

Firestone Walker XV: Another good beer but not quite like the first two. This one has an abundance of regular Barleywine with some of the whiskey barrels. Whiskey oak vanilla, nilla wafers, brown sugar and dark fruit/raisin spice. More of a blonde Barleywine and misses some of the deep caramel other examples of the style contain. Good but not an outstanding like the other two.

2011 Holiday Stoutfest

I figured I would just copy some stuff about the most epic tasting I have hosted to date.

I hosted a, hopefully annual, Stoutfest over the weekend. Chico1985, Atremains, OrvalRugger45 (all good friends) attended along with a few other people. There were six official pour glasses. The event ended up going for 8.5 hours until about 4:30 AM. We cooked 2 3lb roasts, 3 full size pizzas and a chocolate cake during the event. It was on December 17th, 2011.

Here is the lineup, in order of consumption, score in parenthesis:

Founders Candian Breakfast Stout (17.5)
Portsmouth Kate The Great (2010) (16.5)
Deschutes The Abyss (2007) (19.0)
Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel (16.0)
Founders Breakfast Stout (18.5)
Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (16.5)
AleSmith Speedway Stout (N/A)
Southern Tier Jahva (2009) (12.5)
Great Divide Espresso Oak Yeti (16.0)
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti (16.5)
Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti (20.0)
Souther Tier Oat (12.5)
Firestone Walker Parabola (17.5)
Dupont Monk's Stout (13.5)
Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon (15.0)
Mikkeller White Wine Black Hole (12.5)
Mikkeller Cognac Black Hole (14.0)
The Bruery Black Tuesday (18.0)

All unmarked with year are from most recent releases.

Scores are on a simple 4 point (.5pt intervals) scale from five of us rating, totaled. Top 5 in order: BA Yeti, 2007 Abyss, Breakfast Stout, Black Tuesday, Parabola/CBS. I can't say this scoring system was perfect but I think it pretty much sums up the general feel of the night, BA Yeti and 2007 Abyss were clear favorites.

Although BA Yeti was a beer I really looked forward to, I was surprised (pleasantly) by how it turned out. I thought it would be a lot more whiskey forward like fresh KBS. Instead I found it to be mellowed out with great flavors of cocoa, oak, whiskey, caramel and roast malts. It really reminded me of how the Abyss was with one year on it, just well crafted and balanced, not a hot Bourbon bomb. Everyone agreed (somehow) that this was the case. I really don't wanna age my other bottle for very long now, possibly a treat on my birthday in July.

I found that KtG with close to 2 years (~21 months) and The Abyss with 4 years were probably at peak or getting toward past their prime. A lot of the original flavor was mellowed out and started to fade into the caramel old beer profile. I wouldn't think anymore time on these bottles would really make them better.

The Speedway was utterly disappointing and worries me for my other bottle and the rest of people who got some from the most recent batch brought to MA. (also weird that the Speedway I had before this, IN SD, was 100% flat). It was definitely just "off"/infected. There was no coffee flavor and it was dominated by this plum fruit flavor that isn't what I have come to expect from the other few times I have had the beer, might be the best stout when fresh and not infected. Some people had a truly hard time actually finishing it.

Overall it was an amazing night and really showcased how many great stouts there are out there. We really didn't find any that were mediocre, the lower scored ones I would just call decent. I guess we gotta go bigger and better next year and bring in Dark Lord, Darkness and a few other staples.


All of the pictures from the night are right here:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsme ... hotostream

A rendering of all of the beers in one picture:

You could call your Nemesis your Arch Enemy

Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin (2001)

Forget the stupid title I made up randomly in two seconds. Today I put my iPod on "shuffle albums" and got a great lineup. One that really stood out, I haven't heard in months, was Arch Enemy's "Wages of Sin." Easily one of my favorite metal albums and by far my favorite with female vocalist Angela Gossow.

Where to start. I am not sure I have the energy to really go on and on, I will try to be concise as to why this album really blows me away. Concise, a word I can use to describe this very recording. Coming in at 48 minutes, it certainly isn't the 60-80 minute epic that a lot of metal bands aspire to making in the 21st century. This length is great, IMO, and works very well here.

The first two things that come to mind are the vocals and the guitars for me. Angela has a very harsh guttaral scream but you can still understand a lot of the lyrics, it is nice as are the lyrics themselves. It seems like there is a lot of religious references on the album and in many other Arch Enemy moments. "Savage Messiah," the album title and the lyric "Ravenous, I will be a god. Carnivorous Jesus, I need your blood" are some examples of this. I fucking love that lyric, it sounds so good in the context of the song and is just an awesome little chorus. Some people hate this kind of "singing" but it just takes some getting used to and to me is all about effect, so awesomely brutal.

The guitar playing on this offering really takes the cake. For any Arch Enemy or metal fan, you know it is Christopher and Michael Amott. These brothers write some awesome riffs and leads. The leads are filled with nice bends for feel and the skilled, technical playing is thrown in at times to really compliment and juxtapose the soulful parts. If you played any solo off of this album, I would instantly recognize it as Amott work, they have a unique tone and style, unlike some of the robotic guitarists of the 21st century. I would say I hear some Iron Maiden influence in the leads mixd with the wonderfully technical play of recent metal. The riffs are for the most part constant and chug along nicely, usually at a higher tempo. Leads are laced in throughout bringing the music from places to place and the solos are the climax to me.

The last main point I want to make is consistency. This album has 12 really consistent tracks. I love them all, each and every one. They are all right around 4-5 minutes long yet they have their own unique feels while staying inside of a tight knit Arch Enemy style. I think this is one of the main things that makes a great album what it is. Pixies "Doolittle" would fall into the consistency category as well. Both albums have a tight style but numerous songs that all have their own feel, hard to accomplish.

Any metal fan should give this album a try. I know some don't like the singing style but whatever, it compliments the music beautifully. I almost get a gothic (not goth kid but medieval, dark) feel out of the album. (My god, the Ravenous solo is playing right now, sublime) I will listen to this as long as I am into metal, a true masterpiece from track one to twelve. I would say if you don't like Heart of Darkness, Ravenous or Web of Lies (probably the best overall), then I can't help you.

*****
Gonna be tough to do this but I'm gonna go with these:


Enemy Within
Heart of Darkness
Ravenous
Savage Messiah
Web of Lies
Behind the Smile

My Favorite Harvest Ale

It has been a while since I made a post. After opening my last Founders Harvest Ale of the year, I thought it might be a good idea to make a quick one for it.

Founders is my favorite overall brewery and I think many people would agree with that sentiment these days. They have released a lineup of solid regular beers, great seasonals and stellar limited releases. I think I have reviewed around 30 Founders beers and really haven't given one a review close to bad. My top 50 beers contains Canadian Breakfast Stout (tied-3rd), Breakfast Stout (7th), Kentucky Breakfast Stout (14th), Backwoods Bastard (27th), Black Biscuit(28th, really need to try this again in a better setting, StoutFest 11AM ugh), Imperial Stout (37th). Most of these are stouts but still, 6/50 are Founders brews. Red's Rye received an A+ from me but is just outside of the top 50, you get the picture. I am not going to look but I can't imagine another brewery even coming close to that on my top 50, Russian River would be the only contender if I had to guess. Some day I hope to visit Founders pub but it isn't close to anything else I want to see. I guess spending a few days drinking all they have to offer wouldn't be a bad thing. I am very intrigued by the pub-only releases I see listed on their draft-list and BeerAdvocate.

Harvest Ale is a harvest ale, who would have guessed. That is my only real problem with the beer, I think that every beer should have some sort of unique moniker. Harvest ales are generally "wet-hopped" beers that brewed right when the hops are picked from the vine. The first hops to hit the truck and delivered to the brewery (or from the brewery gardens) are immediately put into a beer and it is usually their harvest ale. The thing that I like about Founders Harvest Ale is the tropical and pine hop mixture. It comes off very crisp and clean on the palate and has a unique feel to me. The beer has a smooth, silky feel in the mouth and flavors of peach, pine, grapefruit, orange, bread and light biscuit malts. I originally gave this a B+ (4) in 2010 but should have probably re-reviewed it with a mid-high A-, this year's batch was better. I think I might have just been in a lower scoring slump back then as well.

In conclusion, gotta give it up to Founders for putting out excellent beer after beer. They know how to brew great examples of many styles (stout, IPA, scotch ale, fruit beer, etc). I guess the only thing they have left to do is make a great wild ale, which I would buy without hesitation. Founders can be a few dollars more for a 4 or 6 pack in MA but it is always worth the money. Imperial Stout is right around the corner and I never fail to pick up 2-3 four-packs of that excellent ale. A blog post for is inevitable for that one, maybe even a 3 year vertical of it!

A Bastard in the Back of the Woods

Opened up a bottle of one of my all-time favorites tonight, Founders Backwoods Bastard. I also got a new camera recently (Canon s95) and it would only make sense to put up a post in my mind's blog.

Backwoods Bastard is a bourbon-barrel-aged scotch ale weighing in at 10.2% ABV. Basically the brewery takes the scotch ale, lets it sit in old oak barrels that were previously used for aging whiskey. The residual whiskey diffuses into the beer and adds some nice flavor. Prominent flavors from the barrel include oak (from the actual wood), bourbon (which has its own set of flavors) and vanilla (which comes from oak molecules breaking down into solution). This beer has all of those blended almost perfectly into a rich caramel scotch ale base. In the end product you can see the individual parts but just sitting back and taking a sip allows it all to become one.

It pours out with a nice brown body and a small light tan head. The head is not big but that is pretty much expected from most barrel-aged beers. Instead it is more of a ring and random clouds on the beer, suitable and beautiful in a snifter. The aroma is divine. The oak, whiskey/bourbon, vanilla and caramel blend to something that I wish I could in dessert form. It is basically a great bourbon without the alcohol sting for the most part and a bit of beer (caramel, dark fruit, very slight roast) underneath. The flavor is pretty much the same, I would say the oak comes through very nicely in this 2011 batch. Then comes the bourbon flavors and everything else. It is smooth and nicely carbonated, allowing all of the flavors to shine. The high alcohol also gives a slight warming sensation on the palate. This beer is mostly barrel but the base beer gives just enough to make it a world class effort. It is hard for me to think of another beer that allows barrel-aging to truly shine like this.

Get some Backwoods Bastard if you ever see it or come drink some with me. I will be doing a 3 year (2009-2011) vertical soon.

Another album

A great album came on shuffle today so I figured I would make a quick post about it.

The Red Chord - Prey for Eyes (2007)

I remember when seeing The Red Chord when they first toured for this album in the Albany, NY area. They opened for BTBAM and it was a truly fantastic show. I still vividly remember them playing the title track (had not heard the album yet) and being extremely impressed with the structure of the song, intense grind perfectly transitioning into a mellowed out, ambient instrumental ending. I immediately purchased this CD and instantly fell in love with the whole thing.

The album starts out with a quick one-minute grind track and keeps bringing extremely heavy music right up to the last track. The thing that is truly great is that it doesn't get old like some similar musical examples. Each riff has a fresh but brutal feel. They also do a great job juxtaposing quick grind riffs with held out power-chord sections. Throw in some great breakdown-type riffs and (to my surprise) a few great, situational guitar solos and you end up with 45 interesting minutes. Another thing to note is the drumming. Both the actual sound of the drums (recording quality) and the beats are some of my favorite, ever. He talked about not using drum triggers on the album and it really shows. It has a natural feel and not that robotic sound of most death metal/grind bands today. The beats themselves are complex and a perfect backdrop to the rest of the band.

The album actually has a few really interesting instrumental parts, as mentioned above. They are the ends of Pray For Eyes and Seminar, as well as the entire It Came From Over There. These songs are unlike any other metal I really listen to and add a nice contrast to the rest of the great, brutal grind tracks. The end of Seminar (basically the whole song), is a perfect, creative way to end an album.

The Red Chord is one of the few bands that makes the grind/hardcore/death metal mix extremely enjoyable and re-playable to me.

*****

Songs for the Playlist:

Dread Prevailed

Send The Death Storm

Pray For Eyes

Bone Needle

Seminar

A quick one (I hope)

It has been basically two weeks since I last posted, I figured I have an hour or so to do some music posting. It is actually a bit of fun to pick an album and see all of the memories it can bring back!

Turns on iTunes and shuffles...

My lord, iTunes is really bringing out the hammers early on...

Pixies - Doolittle
April 18, 1989

(Edit After Writing: I slacked on description simply because it doesn't help for me to try and do that. This album must be experienced track by track. One could write 15 paragraphs, one for each song. Listening to the album is much easier.)

Another great album. Well actually great doesn't even begin to describe it. This one would have to go into the greatest of all time category and I would say most music critics agree. I can't imagine someone listening to this and not liking it. It was recorded over 22 years ago yet you could pass it off as being released yesterday. Whether it is film, video games or music, many people use "timeless" to describe the truly great achievements.

I have only been listening to the Pixies for just over four years now and I am glad they were brought into my life when they were. The music somehow seemed to fit in very well with my mind during my college and post-college years. I feel like I wouldn't have appreciated it in quite the same manner if I had found this as a young teenager, but who really knows.

As for the actual music, I would have to say this is the best of "alternative" rock while being something much bigger and greater at the same time. The album has an amazing blend of extremely energetic rock and some more accessible pop-type songs, all of which are great. From beginning to end, each song is unique and great, not many albums are this consistently good over 15 tracks. The mood changes many times capturing both the dark and lighter sides of things, a very unique experience in itself. "Dead" and "I Bleed" bring a dissonant, eery sound while "Here Comes Your Man" and "La Love You" bring a fun, poppy feel. Most of the other songs are somewhere in between and "Crackity Jones" is pretty much unlike anything I have ever heard.

The songwriting itself is ingenious, it is not just your simple power-chord bonanza like many bands of the "genre". It blends so many things from all over the place (rock, blues, punk, etc etc)  that it would be pointless for me to even try to describe it. The most impressive thing about this is that it all comes together into  SOLID, ~3 minute songs that pretty much anyone could listen to and hopefully appreciate. Another thing to note is the vocal work. Frank Black is all over the place (in a good way) with great melodies, screams, shrieks, strange noises and whatever, just great. Kim Deal is as good as it gets at backing vocals/harmonies, she plays a fairly big overall role and it really works beautifully.

One memory this album really brings to me is the fact that I took a class with Don Levine at UMass Amherst before I knew "Debaser" was actually about that class. I remember watching "Un Chien Andalou" and him saying that his class is the subject of a rock song, awesome. This also makes me remember when the Pixies opened their set in Boston with the entire movie.

This album is already a "classic" to me. The first few months I had it, I could not stop listening. I still throw it on a lot when I get the chance. It will certainly be one that sticks with me forever. Besides just being extremely easy to listen to and consistently awesome from beginning to end, it really is an ingenious blend of musical styles.  It is one of those albums that feels so natural that you cannot even imagine it being written, it is almost as if it just happened. This recording is a true, timeless classic.

***** (Without a doubt one of the all time greatest)
I really could put all of the tracks on the Ultimate Playlist but I just can't, here are my choices: (I feel bad leaving any out)

Tame
Here Comes Your Man
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Grieves
Crackity Jones
There Goes My Gun
Hey
Gouge Away

(The 7 left out songs are better than 99.99999% of other recordings by other artists).

Obviously this didn't end up being a quick one, the whole hour was taken by this one album, deservedly.