While there was a certain complexity given to Tallgrass Brewing Company’s Buffalo Sweat when it was given time in bourbon barrels, we found the base-level Buffalo Sweat to be on of the most engrossing and delectable stouts we have reviewed in 2015. This oatmeal cream stout pours with a decent thickness and a dark-brown coloration. A fair amount of tannish head pours on top of Buffalo Sweat; the nose of…
The My Turn series by Lakefront Brewery is an institution at this point; employees of the brewery get the chance to do a one-off effort in a style that the brewery does not create. Todd (quality manager at Lakefront) suggested that a Belgian-style quadrupel be made, and we were lucky enough to receive a bottle.
We cook all the time in our kitchen but did not have a scale to measure things – sure, we had measuring cups, but nothing in the way of a digital scale. The simple fact is that a lot of the measuring cups suffer in determining the difference between liquid and dry ingredients, which means that there are different portions of flour and sugar and that for broth and water.…
Boomsauce is a pretty heady IPA (India Pale Ale) from Woburn, MA’s Lord Hobo Brewing Company pouring with a dark yellow to golden coloration and little in the way of head. The lacing from Boomsauce is barely present. Immediately present in a glass of Boomsauce is a good amount of effervescence, which imbues upon the effort a certain lightness. This lightness ensures that one will delve into Boomsauce with aplomb and…
Apollo LTD’s obvious understanding of what makes a good “pop” song is highlighted in “What Are You Waiting For.” All elements are present from bouncy dance beats to hook-laden vocals (which include falsettos) that will make this song fit in at parties as well as on mainstream radio.
Stumptown CandyPeel IPA , BridgePort’s latest offering is an India Pale Ale that comes forth with a little more of a sweeter and more citrus-heavy elements than a typical effort in this style. There is a mild nose to this one, heavy with hints of grain and bready malts. The beer pours with a dark-yellow to orange-brown coloration and a decent amount of whitish head. Stumptown CandyPeel has a decent…
Washington, DC-based Vandaveer take predictable Indie folk/roots rock and give it a majestic sheen. “But Enough On That For Now,” the first single off their upcoming release The Wild Mercury waxes philosophical on the mortality of humans to the sound of Coldplay-meets-Emmylou Harris vocals.
The German hard rock mainstays, Scorpions, may not the most commonly name-checked band by young metal groups looking to up their street cred when citing musical influences, but the band has been rattling teeth longer than many and has turned in some great albums over the years. In the documentary “Scorpions Forever and a Day,” filmmakers document the band’s three-year long farewell global tour, which kicked off in 2010. As told…
Today, we are speaking with Mundo, a performer that deftly weaves together birthright and his current living arrangement. As a polyglot, would you agree that language is powerful? Music has a similar transformative ability. What does your mélange of the two say? (smiles) Well it’s my personal belief that it’s really very very difficult to understand a people if you don’t speak or at least know a little bit about…
I am familiar with a great many of the different types of blenders that one can use, from food processors to the normal bowl ones, but I do not believe that I have ever had the chance to use an immersion blender. The immersion blender looks more like a power tool than something that would be in a kitchen, but the rugged styling that Waring puts on their SB10 is…
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Sugar Creek Brewing Company has crafted a unique and alluring Pale Ale that has a richness and fullness to the effort that separates it from other pale ales currently on the market. There is a good amount of off-wheat head that sits on top of the beer. The decent amount of malt that is included in this effort makes the beer stand up well; the sharpness of…
Illinois’ own Destihl Brewery has created a dubbel that hits all of the high notes of the Belgian style without moving too far into the pruny tastes that sink many a dubbel. The beer pours with a brown to mahogany coloration and a small amount of off-white head that rapidly dissipates. The initial nose of this Dubbel is sweet, heavy with raisin. and concludes with a bit of malt at the…
Sean McMorris has released a new album, Elevated Man, that will take listeners through a number of styles and approaches before spinning to a close. The eponymous track is a sedate effort that ties together the easy-listening rock of the seventies with a more contemporary alternative style. The instrumental and vocal sides of the track create something that stands up to repeat spins. Bent Out of Shape is a bouncy track…
Death Pony Express is the opening track on Toronto’s R10T’s Digital R10T EP, and what listeners will immediately take from this track is that vocals are not required when attempting to tell a story. The rich narrative that is weaved through samples/arrangements in unparalleled. Hints of Plastikman, Prodigy, and “Pretty Hate Machine”-era Nine Inch Nails represent the bedrock upon which R10T creates his music. The dynamic sound of this opening salvo…
Nation of Winners is an emotive bit of rock from Run To Life on their latest, Can’t Write Love Songs, that blends together tremendous instrumentation with a haunting set of vocals. The dynamic allows each side to shine while creating something that is decidedly greater than the sum of the constituent parts. Is It for Good is a tender and touching composition that is sedate and soft before opening up…
Twelve24 has just released a lyric video for “Cool Like That”, their latest single off From the Ground Up. The track bubbles with a catchiness that is hard to beat, building off of the works of acts like the Black Eyed Peas and Walk the Moon. A lush production allows the instrumentation to shine as brightly as the vocals, without the resulting track sounding muddy. Cutting out before the 2:45 mark,…
Go ‘Head D (Hi-D-Ho) is a track that refreshes the timeless Minnie the Moocher by Cab Calloway into a pop/R&B blend that will dig its hooks deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. Let Me Hear You Say Hep Hep blends together the work of performers like Blu Cantrell and Mary J. Blige with Harlem of the twenties and thirties.
While nutty flavors are quite commonplace in beers, the presence of nuts in the brewing process is slightly less so. Of the top of my head, we last encountered nuts in our beer with the Black Walnut Dunkel from Perennial. Smuttynose’s Smuttlabs label has challenged the common conception of what a saison can be with their latest, a Chestnut Saison. What results here is a bold blend of nutty, spicy, and…
The London-dwelling, Kansas-born indie pop artist Piney Gir says, “Gold Rules is a reminder to all to live in the moment. Sometimes it’s better to be a grasshopper than an ant and seize the day instead of storing for winter all the time, because what are you waiting for; what if winter never comes? You can’t take it with you! I tried to create this sort of grungy choir of…
The now defunct Arizona-based roots alt rockers The Refreshments were long ago slapped with the dreaded “One Hit Wonder” label and while technically that moniker is true, like a slew of others before them, it was a distinction that they certainly never deserved.