1 Beer 1 Song

We drink Heavenly Feijoa Tripel, which is a Lips of Faith collaboration between New Belgium and Brasserie Dieu du Ciel (Montreal).

We were recently made aware that the music selection on this show has been decidedly non-female in nature. This topic could be argued from any number of different angles, but, a quick scan of the EPISODE GUIDE reveals that, indeed, there are only a handful of female musicians involved in the list, and only one who could be considered a “female artist” … Carly Rae Jepsen. (Aimee Mann doesn’t count.) So this week, we decided to [begin to] swing that pendulum the other direction with a song from Kathleen Edwards. Are we going to feature female artists non-stop until we’ve established some sort of balance in the episode guide? No. Are we going to ensure there is some sort of equitable split between female and non-female artists in our musical selection moving forward? Absolutely not. We are simply acknowledging the disparity and pledging to be more aware of our decision making.

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We drink No Apologies Imperial IPA from Blue Point Brewing Company with the one and only Bernie Dawg, the force behind Bernie’s Dawg Blog (http://www.berniesdawgblawg.com), and a contributor at Blog on Draft (http://www.blogondraft.com). He is also prolific on the Twitter (@berniedawg). His online efforts generate literally hundreds of millions of pageviews per second. Literally. We have so much in common with him, not having him on the show was creating a tear in the space/time/internet continuum, despite none of us having actually ever met him. Well, the tear has been sutured. You are welcome.

We debated the song selection at length. Ultimately, I reached into the archives for a neutral number from Sorta, mostly because I didn’t want Russ to have a meltdown in front of guests.

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The second of two episodes recorded in “Studio A” at Tall Brown. Dogfish Head 75-Minute IPA is a blend of their 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs which is then bottle conditioned with maple syrup. It tastes … just how it sounds, actually.

KEN Mode is a “metallic hardcore-influenced noise rock band” (wikipedia) from Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Russ manages to stay surprisingly zen about the whole thing despite several pokes with a stick.

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A funky, spicy beer and a funky, spicy song. It’s like a Food Network Special up in here! We drink Sneak Attack from 21st Amendment. We are fans of 21st Amendment, because cans and because art and also because beer. We actually reviewed 21st Amendment’s Monks Blood on our VERY FIRST episode, which you would know if you ever bothered to look at the handy dandy Episode Guide. I can’t do everything for you.

META SIDE NOTE:
Speaking of the Episode Guide, during this episode, Russ wondered aloud what sort of traffic the Episode Guide might generate as a result of me mentioning it on every single episode. Well, I will tell you that the Episode Guide is the 3rd most visited page on the site. The most visited page, not surprisingly, is the home page, and the 2nd most visited site is actually … Episode 28 (Monday Night Brewing and Alt-J). And now you know.

The song this week is by Buke & Gase (pronounced Byook and Gayce). I talk a lot about how I shouldn’t like this band but I actually like this band. It is a conundrum. We also talk about their use of 3-over-2 polyrhythms (aka hemiola, THANKS RUSS). Russ, mentions that the syncopation sounds ‘dirty’. Subsequent listens reveal that yes, it may not be what one would call precise. Also, near the end of the song, there is healthy use of 4-over-3, which is totally different. Oh my god, just listen to it.

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READ THIS WHOLE THING. It contains updated, post-recording information about the beer – Barrel-Aged Bigfoot Ale from Sierra Nevada.

This is a big episode. Big beer and big music. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale is on a short list of standard bearers for American Barley Wine, and it has been for 30 years. They recently released a barrel-aged version of the beer, and everyone lost their damn minds. Not that we blame them. We were lucky to snag a couple bottles.

We found some information Barrel-Aged Bigfoot from SN Product Development Manager, Bill Manley, on beeradvocate.com. We had some additional questions about the beer, so we reached out to Sierra Nevada directly. Manley responded directly, but, unfortunately, his response came in a couple days after we recorded, so we’ll have to incorporate the info in this here episode description.

At the 5:00 mark, in reference to the fact that regular Bigfoot is 9.6% ABV and Barrel-Aged Bigfoot is 12.2% ABV, I ask, “How is the barrel-aged version bigger?” I asked whether this was a special batch specifically for barrel aging. Manley responded:

This was a special batch designed for barrels. The same recipe as our regular Bigfoot release, just brewed with the intention of barrel-aging. It was brewed in Spring, whereas the usual brewing period is in December. It was brewed in Feb-March 2011.

There were also rumors that there will be more of this beer released soon, possibly even this year. I asked if more details were available. Manley’s response:

Definitely not this year. We’re planning to re-vamp and expand our barrel program, and ideally, would like to do several barrel-aged releases per year. Right now, we’re so tight with capacity that we don’t have the opportunity to expand the program much further. As the new North Carolina brewery comes online and we have a little bit of opportunity for expansion, we will build a better infrastructure for beer and barrel handling and will expand the releases after that point. We’re hoping to do another BA Bigfoot release in 2014, but no more for this year.

Also, I sarcastically refer to Manley as a dick because of his reference, on beeradvocate, to the existence of a Pappy-barrel-aged Tripel that never made it to market. Upon repeat listens, my sarcasm may or may not be obvious. SARCASM, you guys.

As for the music, it is hard for me to begin to capture the sheer magnitude of NOMEANSNO, so I’m not really going to try. They are, quite simply, one of the greatest bands that has ever picked up instruments. I opted for Rags and Bones off the Wrong record. The boys over at slewcast did an all NOMEANSNO episode way back in May, 2011 that does far greater justice to the band than we could ever do. Download the MP3 here.

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The Valentimes episode! We drink a sexy beer from Ommegang and listen to a sexy song from Jim James, who you may more familiar with as the front man for My Morning Jacket. Sexy.

Here’s the official video for the song. Not as sexy.

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Coffee Stout and the Descendents. I’m actually kind of annoyed it took us this long to think of pairing coffee beer with the Descendents, but I’m more shocked it took us this long to talk about a beer from Lagunitas, a brewery we both think very highly of.

This was a fun episode, but going back and listening, all I can think of are all the things we failed to talk about. Take Lagunitas for instance. We love Lagunitas. Yet we completely neglected to mention that they are in the midst of a $9.5 million expansion that includes a shiny new 250-barrel brew house, a brew house that was destroyed in shipping and had to be rebuilt. We also completely whiffed on mentioning that Lagunitas is building a second brewery in Chicago, which will also have a 250-barrel Rolec brew house. Lagunitas has more going on than maybe any other American craft brewery and we failed to mention 100% of it. No, we called the 800-number on the bottle and listened to their outgoing voicemail message. We should be buried in ad revenue any minute, right?

And despite what I thought was total worship of the Descendents while we were recording, I somehow failed to begin to capture the significance of their place in my life and my friends’ lives growing up. I failed to mention that instead of drinking or drugging, my friends and I would sit at IHOP for hours and hours (and hours) drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and having conversations that sounded like we were reciting Descendents lyrics. That seeing ALL open for Bad Religion on 7/25/1992 is still one of the greatest days/nights of my entire life, full stop. That I went for coffee (at a different IHOP) with Bill Stevenson, whom I consider a major musical influence, and talked about drums when ALL came thorugh Atlanta in 1995. That, with Davehog on vocals, the members of Avalauncher formed a Descendents cover band called Pretendents and played one awesome show in Vancouver, WA.

So, like I said, this is a fun episode and I like it a lot. But it’s not what I envisioned coming out on the other end when we pressed record. Oh well, such is the risk with improv and zero ounces of preparation. Onward!

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This is an episode dedicated to the Team HIDI campaign. The short version: Atlanta chef Ryan Hidinger was diagnosed with stage IV gall bladder cancer in late December. Team HIDI was formed by Ryan’s friends and family to help manage the fight of his life (the long(er) version). The response has been massive. Russ and I care deeply about this cause because we both like Ryan a whole helluva lot, and the world would be a bleaker place without him in it.

We recorded this the day after attending a Team HIDI benefit that raised over $160,000. In less than a month, they’ve raised over $300,000 total. The Atlanta food and beverage scene has coalesced around this [hyper-worthy] cause like nothing I’ve ever seen. So as not to risk distorting the message or any facts, please go read all of the words, look at all the pictures, and click on all the links at the official Team HIDI website. Amazing stuff.

We tried to pick a beer and a song that aligned with the Team HIDI theme. We picked Porcine Unidragon from Clown Shoes and 16 Days by Whiskeytown. Give a listen to hear our thematic justification.

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This week we sit down with Nick Nock, head brewer of Atlanta’s own SweetWater Brewing Company, and talk about their LowRYEder IPA. The interview was recorded in one of SweetWater’s cavernous tasting rooms, hence the soothing din of HVAC in the background. Since we had the ear of the man who brews the stuff, we dig in to some of the finer details of the LowRYEder recipe. We also talk about Sweetwater’s massive expansion from a 50-barrel brewhouse to a 400-barrel brewhouse, which is nearing completion.

The song is “Something Stank” from George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, who, COINCIDENTALLY, will be headlining this year’s SweetWater 420 Fest. People of Atlanta, this year’s 420 Fest is your chance to see P-Funk for free. That is all.

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We drink Silent Night from Mother Earth Brewery in Kinston, NC. Kinston is in the Eastern part of North Cackylacky, near absolutely nothing (according to Google Maps). Mother Earth started sending beer to Georgia in 2012. Silent Night is a delicious stout, which is a good thing, because, as we failed to mention on the recording, Silent Night costs $20 for a 750ML bottle. Not sure how I feel about that.

We do not listen to a NEW RADIOHEAD song, because there isn’t a NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM that was just released. We actually listen to a song from a Thom Yorke side project. Thom Yorke is best known as the SINGER FOR RADIOHEAD. The project is called Atoms For Peace (Site features autoplay audio, no I’m not kidding) and features Flea and some other dudes. I ended up having stronger feelings than I expected about the song, much to Russ’s delight. Mea culpa: I am aware I used the phrase “bleeps and bloops” (or some version of that) FAR too many times, and I am sorry for that. The song is called What The Eyeballs Did, and it doesn’t seem to appear on the track listing for AMOK, so I have no idea what is going on. RADIOHEAD RADIOHEAD RADIOHEAD.

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