Ölbeat 347: Amager / Barrier The Mortician a.k.a Ölmönger's Burial

Brewery: Amager Bryghus (Barrier Brewing Company)
Country: Denmark (United States)
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick beige head. Aroma has dark chocolate, sweet roast and coffee. Taste begins with heavily bitter chocolate-flavoured roast. Dark chocolate, sweet coffee and bitter charcoal roast take over with spicy alcohol. Towards the end bitter dark chocolate with sweet spicy mocha tones come out strongest. Aftertaste has strong bitter roast with dark chocolate, liquorice and pine followed by lasting spicy malty dryness.

Powerfully bitter and roasty Imperial Stout. Strong bitter flavours of roast, dark chocolate and coffee supported by spicy, boozy and malty side tones. Simply beautiful, complex and delicious. Amager never lets me down with dark and heavy stuff.

* * *

My mama said that you should finish what you've started. Well said. There are many beer blogs that have died without any last words like bad TV series that get cancelled after the pilot season without the series' final episode. Where all the good and the bad guys get killed, if the series was worth watching even in the beginning. Like there are TV series born dead that just keep on living, there are beer blogs born dead, but that's a completely different story. Or is it actually?

Anyway, the blog's been dead for over four months now. There have been some things like this and some thing like that on the way of writing blog posts. More interesting things like watching the grass grow and catching up the missed/all episodes of Lost. But the cold truth is that the blog stays dead after the burial - this is the final post of this blog. My and Ölmönger the Blogger's paths are separated for good.

Possibly, even though unprobably, there are some people who would like to know why this blog is finished now. Some others might be wondering, why it took me so long to shoot this bastard against the brick wall. Both are people who are looking for reasons for things. Well, let them be looking. Over and out. Bagged and tagged.


Why are you still there looking at this? Live, enjoy and celebrate, sucker!

Ölbeat

The author's last wish. May this one be granted?

Ramones: Pet Sematary (YouTube)

From the 1989 album Brain Drain, the song was written by Dee Dee Ramone and Daniel Rey.

And one for the audience.

Faith No More: A Small Victory (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Angel Dust, the song was written by Mike Bordin, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould and Mike Patton.

Ölmönger Special: Sober June 2017 - Diary, Part V, Days 24-30

Finally - from both the writer's and all three readers' point of view - we've reached the last part of Sober June's tragic miniseries. As you've already read, it's been downhill and against the wind/wall/rocks the whole month so far. The last part doesn't make a difference. Any kind of difference. There'll be time for a deeper analysis later, or there won't. We'll see.

Some shit happens when the month changes.

Day 24

Midsummer Day. The plan was to attend former neighbour's birthday party in the evening. The theme was Bad Booze Bash: the guests were asked to bring old and unliked liquor bottles along, and expectations were that the booze would be consumed. Despite my theme month, I wanted to attend because of the people. However, the plan was bashed because of a sudden headache with neck and back stiffness. This has happened before: when a relatively huge stress - this time probably from organizing the family trip - is relieved, my body counter-reacts.

So, I drove the Mrs. and some neighbours to the party and came back to the house to rest, do some small chores and watch the rain. According to the lady, the mood of the party wasn't too high, which could be noticed when picking the people at night: nobody seemed to be drunk. Clearly, it had been a party for people having their midlife crisis.

Craving for a beer: 1

Day 25

Woke up early. Picked the kids from the Grandpa's house. Went running with a friend. Mowed and trimmed the lawn for two hours. (Lesson: Never let that green motherfucker grow for more than one week.) Prepared myself to get back to the office tomorrow. Damn, I almost forgot the work during one week off.

Craving for a beer: 2 (for thinking about the oncoming week)

Memories from Midsummer of 2016

Day 26

Back at the office. It was less crowded than a week and a half before: many started their holiday from Midsummer. Well, that equals less noise in the staff room. Otherwise it was business as usual at work.

At home looked after the kids which seems to require less time every day, since they seem to have developed some self-guidance and imagination. "They grow up too quickly", says the Old F**k. After last week's family trip have gotten back to some routine in physical exercise. Tonight did some pullups and abs. And felt great.

Craving for a beer: 3 (Saturday and July are getting closer.)

Day 27

Up at 5.30 a.m. Train to Helsinki. Walk to Merisatama dock. Boat to Pihlajasaari island. Whole-day meeting there. Boat to Ruoholahti dock. Subway to Kamppi center. Sightseeing in and some picks from Alko's flagship store. Train back to Pori. Home at 8 p.m.

Fast people. Slow vehicles. Long days. Short nights. Cold summer. Warm thoughts. Bright light. Dark... beer? Not yet. Next, please.

Craving for a beer: 5 (Stakes are getting higher, as is the pressure.)

Day 28

Monthly massage for the start of the day. It's always great to get muscles kneaded and stretched. The bad side is that I felt completely beaten up the whole day. But it's good for me.

Rest of the day was so ordinary that there's nothing to be mentioned. Except that I put a couple of beers to the fridge to wait for the weekend. And a friend  invited me to Helsinki for next week's Friday. When Craft Beer Helsinki is on. Absolutely great.

Craving for a beer: 6 (The last two days can't be that tough, can they?)

The right direction

Day 29

Too little sleep, too many things left undone. That's the way the month has rolled so far. The good news is that summer seems to arrive in Finland soon. The days are getting warmer. There'll probably be time to seriously hop to the saddle of the bicycle and get some missing kilometers in July.

Of course, the weather is the worst excuse for not doing it before. The real reason is feeling lazy and tired and keeping other things more important. I'll know in the end of the month, whether something - e.g. drinking beer - felt more vital than driving around with the bike. There are clear risks and threats in planning things too far.

Craving for a beer: 6 (Now, the craving for a bicycle tour is worse, around 8.)

Day 30

This is it. The end of June. At last. Today I headed to a friend couple's cabin to the shore for the weekend. My thoughts in a nutshell:

When the month changes at midnight, I hopefully have some strength to uncap a beer bottle and raise a glass to occasional beer drinking and my normal way of life. Cheers and thanks for suffering this month with and of me!

Craving for a beer: 8 (I'm sure it got a worse during the evening but that was the status at 6 p.m.)

Ölbeat

I picked the theme song of Day 24 here. It somehow describes the background to start this kind of month for no obvious reason. 

Faith No More: Midlife Crisis (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Angel Dust, the song was written by Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin, Billy Gould and Mike Patton.

Ölbeat 257: Finch Fascist Pig

Brewery: Finch Beer Co.
Country: United States
Style: American Strong Ale
Abv: 8 % 
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is copper brown with a large natural white head. Aroma has stingy bitter citrus, hay and caramel malts. Taste begins with biting bitter citrus. Sweetish caramel malts and bitter grapefruit take over with spicy dark fruit side tones. Towards the end caramel malts get in front with gently piny bitterness. Aftertaste has bitter grapefruit, dry malts and alcohol warmth.

Fruity and malty American Strong Ale. Bitter citrus and caramel malts play together nicely. Some spices on the way, and the booze shows up only in the end. Pretty delicious.

Ölbeat

Fascist Pig somehow reminds us of Horse's Ass Sweat Pig Vomit, don't you think? Only by the name and the label, though. Staying with the theme, I selected a loyal cover of a heavy metal classic. It wasn't the easiest song for Mike Patton to start with in a new band.

Faith No More: War Pigs (YouTube)

From the 1989 album The Real Thing, the song was written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward.

Ölbeat 245: Thisted / Mikkeller Beer Geek Limfjordsporter

Brewery: Thisted Bryghus (in Danish) / Mikkeller
Country: Denmark
Style: Baltic Porter 
Abv: 7,7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a large beige head. Aroma has ash, charcoal and espresso. Taste begins with heavy ashy-charcoaly and bitter roast. Ashy and smoky dry malts take over with bitter burned bread flavour. Towards the end burned malts get espresso and liquorice tones. Aftertaste has extra dry smoky charcoal roast and bitter coffee.

Heavily ashy, smoky and bitter Porter. Both the roast and the bitterness go through the roof in this one. The flavour is powerful and intense. Raw and violent in a good sense. It's clear that this divides drinkers to lovers and haters. I liked it a lot, but love didn't start easy.

Ölbeat

The choice was made between two songs with the same name, one from David Bowie and the other from Faith No More. But it wasn't tough: Bowie's hit from 1980 still didn't hit the spot - Major Tom simply sucks. Instead, Faith No More's Album of the Year gets its second entry to the blog, which is simply great.

Faith No More: Ashes to Ashes (YouTube)

From the 1997 album Album of the Year, the song was written by Jon Hudson, Mike Patton, Mike Bordin, Billy Gould and Roddy Bottum.

Ölbeat 180: Stone (Berlin) Ruination Double IPA 2.0

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is light yellow-orange with a medium-sized white head. Aroma has pineapple, mango and hops. Taste begins with sharp fruity piny bitterness. Bitter piny grapefruit dominates with sweet fruit flavours in the background. Towards the end the pine comes in front with a bite of alcohol. Aftertaste has grapefruit bitterness, piny dryness and alcohol warmth.

Thoroughly piny, bitter and fruity Double IPA. Fresh and strong flavours. Powerful stuff, heavy experience, magnificent beer. Got to get this some other time - or many other times.

Ölbeat

Had to pick some rock with defiance and rebellion, that's the brew is about. How convenient, there was this song with some affiliation to the brew's name. By the way, the song's name seems to have foretold the story of it's music video, too. Of course it shows the whole meaningfulness of making expensive music videos. 

Faith No More: Everything's Ruined (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Angel Dust, the song was written by Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould and Mike Patton.

Ölbeat 157: Humalove/Wasosz Puola/Polska

Brewery: Humalove / Browar Wasosz
Country: Poland (Finland)
Style: Foreign Stout
Abv: 8,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is thick black with no visible head. Aroma has black coffee, liquorice, berries and alcohol. Taste begins with strongly roasted black coffee. Charred  bitter malts and strong dark-roasted coffee take over with a hint of sour berries. Near the finish dry bitterness and liquor warmth joins the flavours. Aftertaste has roasted dryness and lasting malty bitterness.

Delicious Strong Stout with solid base with spicy surprises. Heavy roasted coffee, lingonberries and liquor flavour fit the taste palette nicely. Successful collaboration between Finnish "gypsies" and a Polish brewery.

Ölbeat

This is pure irony. The day before this brew was like: "It's your last cup of sorrow. / What can you say? Finish it today." And today: "With a new face you might surprise yourself." Some dark depth in the song that actually encourages people to get over their demons.

Faith No More: Last Cup of Sorrow (YouTube)

From the 1997 album Album of the Year, the song was written by Billy Gould and Mike Patton.

Ölbeat 036: Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Brewery: Flying Dog Brewery
Country: United States
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 8,3 %
@RateBeer

The name: an aggressive female dog. Ok?

Flying Dog Brewery, founded in 1990 in Aspen, Colorado, is a craft brewery located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. Named after an idea concieved from a painting in a hotel bar in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, after climbing to K2, the 2nd highest mountain in the world, the brewery produced around 100 000 barrels in 2014. The brewery has been noted - in addition to the quality of its beer - for the artwork in the bottle labels, which are illustrations of Ralph Steadman. The brewery is also an avid supporter of the local bands in Frederick. Raging Bitch caught my attention in OlutExpo 2015 as the best beer of the day, so I decided to have another sip.

What about the beer?
Colour is clear copper orange with small natural white head. Aroma has mild citrus, grass and yeast.
Taste has strong dry hoppy and high-carbonated first bite. Lemon juice and wheat malts soon step in the picture and are supported by stiff malty backbone. Palate brings yeasty flavour and adds some more dry hops. Aftertaste has dry pitterness and yeasty pine.

That's what I would call pretty heavy sh*t: strong hops and citrus of a superb IPA joined with flavours from Belgian ale yeast and wheat malt. Complex and different but still very balanced experience.

Ölbeat

First, we forget Baha Men and the like: the dog theme will not be present in the song. Second, we forget any kind of reference to or association with the beer's name. Then we get to the business and select the song like this:

Faith No More: Midlife Crisis (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Angel Dust, the song was written by the band members Bordin, Bottum, Gould and Patton. The music has been categorized alternative metal or funk metal, incorporated with progressive rock and hip hop elements. Well, I'd call it Faith No More -style techno-enhanced angst metal. The lyrics written by vocalist Mike Patton seem to consist of incoherent thoughts of an insecure person, having very little if anything to do with the song's actual title. Patton has said that the song is about creating false emotion, being emotional, dwelling on your emotions and inventing them. The track's working title for the album happened to be "Madonna", since the vocalist was in a way fed up with the artist's public figure. However, Raging Bitch was matched with the song, because both have elements of angst, anger and power.