Starting a new tab, we are going to get into the new winter seasonal from New Belgium Brewing. I am talking about Accumulation White India Pale Ale. If you read my earlier beer blog post on their Pumpkick Ale, you know the history of this green and employee owned craft brewery. If you have not, please, read that beer blog post to get to know this brewery. Let us get into the beer.
It has a clear to slight cloudy strew like color with a white head on it. The smell is a citrus notes. The taste is slightly wheat that makes this beer smooth to creamy with citrus notes. It is pretty drinkable beer.
This winter, IBUs start accumulating like snow in Colorado with our new Accumulation White IPA. Brewing a white IPA was not only a way to salute the white beauty falling from the sky, but a direct revolt to the longstanding tradition of brewing dark beers for winter. At least that’s what our rebellious brewer Grady Hull likes to claim as he shovels in plenty of new hop varietals and a bit of wheat for a smooth mouthfeel. Stack up a few cases of Accumulation White IPA to keep your long nights glowing blizzard white.
Birthdate: October, 2013
Body: Medium-light body.
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 70
Calories: 170
Hops: Target, Centennial, dry hopped with Mosaic and Amarillo
Malts: Pale, Wheat
Yeast: Ale Yeast for bright, fruity notes
Aroma: Strong hop aroma that displays all of our hop varieties: tropical fruits, bright citrus, spicy/herbal from the heavy dry hopping. This beer is a hoppy wonderland!
Mouthfeel: Resinous and slightly cloying from all those hop oils but finishes as clean and crisp as all of our seasonal family does and should.
Flavor: Big and bitter, just what this IPA ordered. Sweetness just barely dents its IBU armor. Nevertheless the addition of wheat really smooths out the rough bitter edge.
Visual: Cloudy haze, pale golden. Billows of white foam and gorgeous foam.
Closing out my tab, I have made it known that I really dislike wheat ales and mix wheat and IPA. I was like what the hell. I tried several white IPAs. I have to say they were really bad. I was really down on this new beer style. New Belgium came out with their new winter seasonal called Accumulation White India Pale Ale. I was a little nervous about this brew. I have to say I have a new thought pattern towards White India Pale Ale. There is a nice balance from the hops and wheat ale itself. It is creamy smooth and the wheat brings out the hops character. I can see this brew bring new beer drinkers into the craft beer world and IPA beer style. Even your normal hophead will like this brew. This is different beer style for the winter time. This beer should and will pop out to craft beer drinkers. I will hunt this beer down and I highly recommend this brew. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this Unknown Music Thursday Blog, we are going to get into another band from the northwest part of Canada. I am talking about We Hunt Buffalo. This is their EP called “Blood From A Stone.” This band was founded before 2010 in the Burbs of Vancouver. I do know they have a few records out there already. “Blood From A Stone” is their second EP from this band. Let us get into the music.
Track List:
Blood From A Stone
I love the dark creepy guitar sound that dragged a bit at the beginning. The guitar playing reminds me of classic hard rock from the 1970’s and early 1980’s. The singing has a 1960’s and 1970’s feel. There is some solid lyrics. I love the pace of this song. I love the well placed back up vocals. The drumming and bass playing are pretty good.
Cobwebs
There is some nice guitar work at the beginning of “Cobwebs.” Ryan has some nice lyrics he is singing. His singing is pretty strong. I love the pace and the drumming on this song. I love his screaming singing in this song. The music and lyrics make sense. There is many bands that do not write the lyrics to match the music or the other way around. I love the effects they put on the guitar. There is a nice guitar solo or break towards the end of the song.
Hometown
The music on this song is pretty strong and solid. It has 1970’s and late 1990’s feel on the heaviest. The drumming and bass playing is pretty solid. I love how they put delay and reverb on Ryan’s vocals. There is pretty good lyrics. The one thing I do not like on this song is his vocals. There is slight feedback. I am not sure if that was planned. If it is, it is perfected.
Telepathic Eyes
I love the tones on Ryan’s guitar throughout this record. I love it even more on this song. The drumming and bass are solid and a perfect backbone for this band. I love the reverb on Ryan’s voice. There is some nice lyrics on this song. There is a nice guitar break towards the end of the song. There is some nice lyrics. I love the lyrics that band wrote for this song. This is a perfect ending to this record and song.
Ryan Forsythe – Guitar, Lead Vocals
Brendan Simpson – Vocals, Bass
Brandon Carter – Vocals, Drums
In closing, the one thing I love about this recording and band. It is raw. It is not perfect for radio. I could see them making the radio. This music is so different from the rest of the music on the radio that it will make the radio. Screw that, I want music to be pure and this band and producer found it. They hit a home run on this EP and I hope they use this to make full length record. This band is a little different from the rest of their peers from Vancouver, Canada. I know I how that sounds but it is true. They wrote some pretty good music and I am loving it. I have been listening to it ever since getting it in my email box. I will be buying copies to add to my CD collection. I highly recommend this group and EP record. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this Music Monday Blog, we are going to get into the latest studio record from Avenged Sevenfold. “Hail To The King” is their sixth studio record from this band. We are going to get into the history of this band and then the music. Let us get into the history.
History
The band was formed in 1999 at Huntington Beach, California. The founding members of this band are M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev, and Matt Wendt. M. Shadows came up with the band name from the Bible’s story Cain And Adel. Justin Sane replace Matt Wendt before they record their first record. Dameon Ash replace Justin Sane around 2001. Justin was checked into the hospital because of drinking too much cough syrup and try to commit suicide. The band recorded their first record, which was “Sounding The Seventh Trumpet” in 2001. Most of the members were around eighteen and still in high school. Johnny Christ replaced Dameon Ash and release their second record, which was “Walking The Fallen.” In 2004, the band after touring several times on the Vans Warped Tour signed with Warner Bros. Records. In 2005, the band released their third studio record and their first under a major label. The record was called “City Of Evil.” They played on Ozzfest in 2006 and also won Best New Artist at the MTV Music Awards. They returned to the Van’s Warped Tour. “City Of Evil” gave them a few hits on the modern rock charts. In 2007, the band released their fourth studio record, which was self-titled. Two years later, their drummer “The Rev” was found dead. At this time, band members in several interviews thought about disbanding and breaking up. However, Mike Portnoy, who was with Dream Theater at time and now with Winery Dogs, stepped up to record the drum tracks for “Nightmare,” the band and the music community loved the fact the music sounded like The Rev was playing drums. “Nightmare” was released in 2010 and it was their fifth record. Mike was not the replacement of “The Rev” and the band found a new drummer, who was Arin Ilejay. In 2013, the band release “Hail To The King,” which was the first record with Arin Ilejay on drums. Let us get into the music.
Track List:
Shepherd Of Fire
There is some sound effects of rain and a bell to start the song. The guitar comes in with the drums. This is pretty good beginning to the record and this song. The bass playing is pretty good. M Shadows has a nice melody and lyrics. I have to be honest. I kept on hearing how this record is supposed to be different from the rest of their records. To me, it sounds like all their old music. There is a nice guitar solo towards the middle of the song. Their new drummer has about the same drumming style as their old drummer. I love how they ended this song with a nice fade out.
Hail To The King
“Hail To The King” is the first single off this record and is the name of the record. The guitar solo at the beginning is like something off this first few records. The second guitar comes in but it is a little different. I love that guitar riff. The second guitar riff reminds me of something that Metallica would have written. I do not like the fact that the other guitar player is playing a guitar solo throughout this song. That is a little too much. I love the lyrics on this song. M Shadows has melody like something off Metallica’s Load and Re-Load. There is a extended guitar solo towards the back half off the song. I love the back up singing.
Doing Time
I love the music at the beginning of the song. I am really not a fan of M Shadows singing. Hello, you are not Axel Rose and please, stop thinking you are. I love the lyrics. I love the pace of this song. There is a pretty good guitar solo in the last-minute of the song.
This Means War
I love the guitar work at the beginning. I love how the drums and bass are playing at the beginning of the song. I love the sound effect on the nuclear bomb blowing up. The music is really good on this song. M Shadows has pretty good singing and lyrics. I just feel they are listening to way too much 1980’s and early 1990’s metal. They are starting to sound like a cheap version of those bands. There is a nice guitar solo towards the middle of the song. This is a really good song but I just feel this song is way too long.
Requiem
There is worship singing like church singing at the beginning. The music is pretty solid. I just feel lead singer’s singing is a little loss in the music. I just feel they are running apart. This is just a mess of music and white noise. It kind of came together just before the guitar solo. The guitar solo is pretty good in the mid-point of the song.
Crimson Day
There is some nice acoustic guitar work at the beginning of “Crimson Day.” I love the singing from M Shadows. I love the heavy guitar playing on the main part of the song. The acoustic guitar stays in the background. Mr. Shadows has put some thought behind these lyrics. This is a pretty solid song and by far the best one so far on this record. There is some nice guitar solos towards the end of the song.
Heretic
Here is some old school Avenged Sevenfold fade in guitar riffs at the beginning of the song. I am not a fan of the main part of the song from a music stand point. Mr. Shadows’ singing is not up to his standards. I love how they are using the keyboard in the background. I do not like how they shaped the music around his singing or how he is singing with the music. It does bend good. I love how they pushed the keyboard playing to the front in the back half of the song. There is a well placed and written guitar solo towards the end of the song.
Coming Home
The start of this song reminds me of something from Iron Maiden. The singing is something off Iron Maiden’s first two records with their original singer. The main part of the song is like themselves. The lyrics are good, however, I just feel they do not fit well on this song. There is a pretty good guitar solo half way through the song. I love how they build up the ending as it fades out. I love the double bass action at the end from the drummer.
Planets
I love the build up to the start of this song. The drumming and bass playing are insane. The guitar playing I believe are step down to the rest of the record. The singing is pretty solid with some below average lyrics. This song has loss me over the half way point of the song. I love the music but the singing and lyrics are making my mind wander in a bad way. There is an average guitar solo towards the end of the song.
Acid Rain
I love how they started the song with the music. Nice touch on the piano. I love the guitar solo over the top of the music. This is a pretty solid song to end this record. M Shadows has some good singing and nice lyrics. There is a pretty good guitar solo in the first quarter of the song. I love the sound effects of rain falling at the end of the song.
Original Line Up:
M. Shadows – Lead Singer, Acoustic Guitar, and Keyboards
Closing, I am happy for any band that gets back on the iron horse and makes new music after a death of band member or a key member leaving a band. I give them a ton of credit and I know how hard it might be to do that again without a brother. However, the member they loss in this band was a key song writer, they wanted to do something different but keep true their sound. I just feel this band has loss too much and they are living on their past success right now. I hope they find it soon because I do love their style. It took me half way through my radio DJ career to really love what this band was doing in the past. I am not saying this is a bad record because it is not. It is a solid record but for Avenged Sevenfold this is not up to their standards. The band came out before this release saying this record will be different from the rest of their music. I do agree to some point but it still sounds like their old music. I just feel the loss of their old drummer made them change their sound. I still recommend checking out his record and let me know what you think of it. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog, Cranker’s Brewery Professor IPA is the beer and brewery that we will be sampling out. I had a chance to try this beer at Buddy’s Pizza in Livonia, Michigan. I thought I would write my thoughts on this brew. There is not much history or information on this brewery. I know they are young and they are from Big Rapids, Michigan. There is not much history on this brewery. Let us get into the beer.
It is hard to see in this restaurant because of the lighting. It has a clear copper to light amber color with a white constant head. The smell is a citrus notes. The taste is carbonated citrus notes. The aftertaste is dry hop finish. It is kind of drinkable.
A West Coast style IPA, the Professor is golden and sports a large frothy white head. Hops leap out of the glass, citrus, apricot, and herbal notes define this brew. There is enough malty body to keep you coming back for more.
Closing, I saw this brew and I was pretty interested in this beer. I love my India Pale Ales. I have to say I was not really impressed this brew. It is not a bad beer but average brew. I will say this brewery did a better job with their India Pale Ale over a few Michigan craft breweries and around the country. This beer is better than Atwater Brewery Grand Circus IPA, New Holland Mad Hatter IPA, and Motor City IPA to name a few. I would have this beer again but not all the time. It would be once in a blue moon. I will be retrying this beer in the near future. I want to hear your thoughts on this brew. I will be searching out the rest of their beers. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
Starting a new tab, we are going to get into the fall seasonal from Three Floyds Brewing. It is their Munsterfest Lager. The beer is named after the city where their brewery. If you have not read my earlier beer blog posts on this brewery’s beers, you know the history of Three Floyds Brewing. If you have not and want to know about this brewery, please, read those beer blog posts. Let us get into the beer.
It has a hazel cooper color with a constant white head. There is no smell to the beer. The taste is a sweet malty notes with a sweet caramel aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.
This Bavarian style Oktoberfest Bier is brewed with the finest german ingredients in accordance with the Reinheistgebot or German Purity Law. This malty and crisp lager is one of the few that remain true to the Fest Biers of old. “Es ist nicht normal.” September release.
Closing out a tab, as many of you know, I am not a huge fan of this brewery. However, I have been retrying and trying new brews to me from Three Floyds Brewery, I have grown to love this brewery. This brew is one of the few American version of the classic beer style. This brewery did a great job on it. This is a limited release and if you want to try it, I would go hunt it down pretty quickly. It comes out around the fall season. I recommend you trying this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
Starting a new tab, we are going to get into another brew from one of my favorite craft brewery from Portland, Or. I am talking about Gigantic Brewing and their Hellion. If you read my earlier beer blog on this brewery, you know the history of this little brewpub. If you have not, please, read those beer blog posts to get to know this great craft brewery. Let us get into the beer.
It has a clear golden color with a constant white head on this brew. The smell is a sweet Belgian notes. It has a farmhouse smell notes. The taste is citrus notes of spices with a crisp dry hop finish. It is pretty drinkable beer.
Notes: Dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace and Simcoe = lemon, grapefruit and dill aromas. Complex aroma and flavor of ester and spice from a Belgian yeast strain.
Availability: July-October 2013 in Oregon, Washington, California, British Columbia, Alaska, Vermont and Chicago.
Closing out of the tab, this is a great beer and I really enjoyed drinking this brew. This is a well made beer and they brew this beer as close to the classic beer style. It is an American craft version of Duvel. I love Duvel and I found hints of this beer when I was drinking it. I can see many craft beer drinkers thinking this a great version of Duvel. I highly recommend you trying this brew. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog, we are going to get into one of many winter seasonal. I am talking about Revolution Brewing Fistmas. I had a chance to try it when I was visiting in Chicago over a few weekends ago. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on Revolution Brewing’s beers, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not read those posts, please, read them to get to know this brewery. Let us get into the beer.
It has a dark copper color with a constant white head. The smell is a heavy citrus. The taste is a slight carbonated ginger with citrus. The aftertaste is a hint of ginger. It is not really drinkable.
Red ale brewed for the holiday season with specialty malts to achieve a beautiful deep red hue and the aromas of fresh-baked bread, caramel, and stone fruits. Steeped with ginger root and orange peel.
Ending, in the last few years, I have not been overall impressed with many winter seasonals. I am hoping this year is the turning point for winter seasonals. I have to say this brew is a pretty good start. It might not be drinkable but it is pretty enjoyable for the time it is in your glass. I love the smelling notes to the tasting. There is a ton going on in this brew and it is a good thing for a winter and/or Christmas ale. If you are in the Chicago area, I recommend you trying this brew. If not, I would find a way to get some of this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog posts, we are going to get into the first brew on this blog from Rochester Mills Beer Company. I am talking about Milkshake Stout. Rochester Mills Brewery started in 1998 in Rochester Mills, Michigan. It is located just off the downtown around. This brewery is in one of the oldest buildings in the city. They brew several different beer styles and package them in 16oz cans. Let us get into the beer.
It has a jet black color without a head on this stout. The smell is a chocolate coffee. The taste is smooth creamy chocolate with a dark chocolate aftertaste. It is drinkable beer but not really drinkable beer.
Milkshake Stout is a sweet stout style Ale that combines four different malts along with a low hop level creating a deep dark beer featuring rich, roasted flavors. The addition of lactose (milk sugar, thus the name milkshake) adds complexity, body, and a residual sweetness that lends a smooth, creamy texture to this delightfully full-flavored brew.
In closing, this brewery has been on my radar before I moved back to Michigan from Chicago. When I had a chance to try this beer and several of their beers, I did it and I am really glad I did. This brew is smooth and creamy milk chocolate notes. This beer is like a beer milkshake like most milk stout. It is well balance and really good. I am glad I try it. I am looking forward to stop by their Brewpub in the near future. I recommend you trying this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog, we are going to get into another brew from Frankenmuth Brewery. It is their Hefeweizen. This beer style has really started to grow on me. If you read my earlier beer blog post on their beers, you know the history of Michigan’s oldest brewery. If you have not, please, read those posts to get to know this brewery. Let us get into this beer.
It has a hazel, unfiltered, and strew color without a head on it. The smell is banana. The taste is a banana with a wheat aftertaste. It is an extremely drinkable beer.
Hefeweizen Ale A sweet mixture of spices & fruit with hints of clove and banana, this refreshingly pale German wheat is top fermented, unfiltered and lightly hopped to achieve its smooth, pleasant flavor and unmistakable cloudy appearance.
ABV 5.2% IBU 13 Great with lighter foods, salads and seafood. Pairs well with lighter desserts.
Closing, if you asked me a year ago, I would be living back in Michigan and loving Hefeweizen. I would have said you are crazy. Both of these facts have come true. I am do not like whites and wheat ales just Hefeweizen. I love how the Germans make their Hefeweizen and how they influenced the beer world. I love the cove and banana notes. Frankenmuth Brewery, who is a German base brewery, knows how to brew those classic German beer styles. I can drink this beer anytime of the year. I highly recommend this brew. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this special beer blog, we are going to get into a project that Upland Brewing did not know was going on in their brewery. One of their assist brewmasters started a sour and package it. Everyone at the brewery loved his sours. Sour ales take years to make and is one hardest beer style to make. If you mess it up, you need to start over. If you read my earlier beer blog post on their Dragonfly IPA, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, that beer blog post to get to know this brewery. Let us get into this sour ale.
It is a cloudy strawberry color without a head on the beer. The smell is a sour strawberry. The taste is extremely sour strawberry and tart with sour aftertaste. It is not drinkable.
Closing, I have to say I am a huge fan of sours and Upland Brewery. I was excited to get my hands on this brew. I know this sour is hard to get on the market. I have to say this brew is pretty sour. I like it but I wished I had cork to save it for the next day. The color, smell, and taste are sour strawberry notes. This is an awesome beer and they have done a great job on this brew. I hope to get a chance to try their other sours in the near future. I highly recommend their sours. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
DJ Weiser 