Ölbeat 270: Stone (Berlin) Little Bastard Ale

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: English Strong Ale
Abv: 4,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is reddish brown with a medium natural white head. Aroma has malts, bitter citrus and caramel. Taste starts with malty and fruity bitterness. Dry caramel malts and bitter citrus take over. Towards the end piny bitterness shows up with some sweetish fruit. Aftertaste has dry piny caramel malts and grapefruit bitterness.

Malty and bitter sessionable Ale. Clearly the politically correct little brother of Arrogant Bastard. Much easier to handle than the big brother - in good and in bad. Mild but tasty.

Ölbeat

Should probably check the big brother song choice after this, but I won't. If this track is compared to the band's actual hellraiser songs, it sounds like Lemmy singing Michael Bolton, doesn't it? 

Motörhead: Born to Raise Hell (YouTube)

From the 1993 album Bastards, the song was written by Lemmy Kilmister.

Ölbeat 211: Stone (Berlin) IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 6,9 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is bright golden yellow with a large fluffy white head. Aroma has grapefruit, lemon and mango. Taste begins with sparkling fruity bitter bite. Fresh, bitter and pine-spiced grapefruit juice takes over with tiny sweet citrus notes. Towards the end piny dryness grows above all. Aftertaste has bitter grapefruit and softly piny dryness.

Pure and straight India Pale Ale. Simple grapefruit and pine flavours, fine balance between bitter and dry. No unnecessary fancy tricks. Sometimes it's nice to be sure about what you'll get - this is the brew.

Ölbeat

- Rock, please.

- Well, here's a modern classic.

- Thank you.

Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way (YouTube)

From the 1993 album Are You Gonna Go My Way, the song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Craig Ross.

Ölbeat 206: Schneider-Weisse Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock

Brewery: Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Country: Germany 
Style: Eisbock
Abv: 12 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is murky dark brown with a finger-thick tan head. Aroma has sweet syrup, caramel malts, dark fruits and ripe banana. Taste begins with bittersweet fruity bite. Sweet citrus fruits with boozy strawberry and sugared malts take over. Towards the end sweet and bitter fruity liquor comes out strongest. Aftertaste has alcohol warmth, fruity bitterness and malty sweetness.

Eisbock? Yep, this was the first of a kind. With this impression it won't be the last. Sweet, fruity, malty and strong. Alcohol makes a smooth entrance and doesn't steal the star role. Pretty great.

Ölbeat

For some reasons I have been avoiding good old Scorpions in this blog. Now it's the right time to put an end to that bad habit. So here's some German rock from the 80's, bitte schön!

Scorpions: No One Like You (YouTube)

From the 1982 album Blackout, the song was written by Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine.

Ölbeat 181: Stone (Berlin) Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: American Strong Ale
Abv: 7,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is mahogany reddish brown with a large fluffy natural white head. Aroma has caramel malts, sweet citrus fruits and berries. Taste starts with sweet malty bitterness. Bitter citrus-pine liquid with caramel malts dominates. Herbal pine and bitter grapefruit grow towards the end. Aftertaste has piny dryness, citrus bitterness and warming alcohol.

Arrogant. Bastard. Yep, that's me alright. And I'm worthy. Aggressive showdown of nut-kicking strong malty base and face-slapping pine-grapefruit bitterness. Groovy. Love every drop.

Ölbeat

Finding a song to match the brew was hard. To be honest, it was actually very easy, since this was the obvious first choice. It was finding an option with an equal amount of bastardish arrogance in the song's name that was hard and in the end impossible. The mood of the song seems to have the same kind of neglecting aggressiveness as the beer does.

Green Day: American Idiot (YouTube)

From the 2004 album American Idiot, the song was written by Green Day.

Ölbeat 180: Stone (Berlin) Ruination Double IPA 2.0

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,5 %
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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 176: Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock

Brewery: Brauerei Heller
Country: Germany
Style: Smoked Bock 
Abv: 6,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is very dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma has peaty smoke and smoked malts. Taste starts with sharp smoked-roasted bitterness. Sweet smoked caramel malts with bitter dark fruits on the side take over. Growing roast and bitterness strike near the finish. Aftertaste lasts long and has roasted malty bitterness and gently smoked dryness.

Really special smoked brew from Bamberg. Luring smoky aroma incarnates in the taste: strong smoke in the start rounds up a bit to give room to sweet malts and bitter hops. Lasting aftertaste crowns the experience. Heavy and delicious beer.

Ölbeat

A traditional classic brew must be joined by a golden classic. Remembering that the theme of the brew is smoke in a very luring way. Don't know if my heart caught fire wtih the brew, but it surely was damn close.  

The Platters: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (YouTube)

From the 1959 album Remember When?, the song was written by Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern.

Ölbeat 174: Stone (Berlin) Cali-Belgique IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 6,9 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is bright golden orange with a large white head. Aroma has yeast, lemon and tropical fruits. Taste begins with yeasty fruity bitterness. Piny bitter fresh grapefruit dominates with strong yeast flavour and slightly malty flavour. Near the finish bitter citrus and dry pine are joined by sweet orange. Aftertaste has citrus bitterness and yeasty dryness.

Excellent quality West Coast IPA with yeasty Belgian twist. Bitter pine and citrus fruits meet funk, malts playing the bass. Easy, fruity, funky, tasty.

Ölbeat

Funk, right? Metal, ok? That's funk metal. We'll pick some RATM here. Hate it or just dislike it, but there's something uniquely striking in Zach de la Rocha's vocal and rap style. The funk takes the Belgique part of the brew, by the way.

Rage Against the Machine: Renegades of Funk (YouTube)

From the 2000 album Renegades, the song was written by Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Baker, John Miller and John Robie

Ölbeat 173: Stone (Berlin) Go To IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Berlin
Country: Germany (United States)
Style: Session IPA
Abv: 4,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is cloudy golden yellow with a 2-finger thick white head. Aroma has superfresh grapefruit, orange and mango. Taste lifts off with extra powerful dry fruity bitterness. Bitter grapefruit takes over with slowly growing pine flavour. Near the finish dry strong pine gets mixed with citrus and sweet fruity flavours. Aftertaste has bitter grapefruit with tropical fruit tones and strong lasting dryness.

The King of session IPAs is here. Unbelievably strong and fresh grapefruit is beautifully crashed with piny dry and a bitter kick. The fruity aroma and flavours fit perfectly together. Great. Delicious.

Ölbeat

"And all the guys say / it's pretty fly for a session IPA" No, no, it didn't go like that. Except it does. Session IPA, as good as it gets, is still a low abv beer. You just can't hit the skies with that. However, this one truly earns some pretty fly respect.

The Offspring: Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) (YouTube)

From the 1998 album Americana, the song was written by Dexter Holland.

Ölbeat 145: Schneider-Weisse TAP 5 Meine Hopfenweisse

Brewery: Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH (in German)
Country: Germany
Style: Weizenbock
Abv: 8,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden yellow with a huge white head. Aroma has fresh citrus - lemon and orange -, wheat malts and floral notes. Taste starts with fresh semisweet citrus bite. Sweet and a bit sour mix of citrus fruits joins wheat malty body. Towards the end yeasty sour dryness comes through. Aftertaste has gently bitter dryness and sour lemon.

Fresh citrus of a fruity IPA mixed with wheaty and yeasty flavours of German wheats. Enriching experience but doesn't tickle as nicely as Aventinus from the same brewery. Doesn't get in the fruity heights of the tastiest IPA's, either. Good, tasty and faultless brew in any case.

Ölbeat

Classic fruity brew demands to be partnered with a classic rock ballad. Smooth bluesy guitar melodies, calming lyrics and the tingle of a glockenspiel make this song, by one of the greatest, a nice match.

Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing (Vimeo)

From the 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölbeat 128: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Country: Germany 
Style: Dunkelweizen
Abv: 5,3 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is murky brown with a two-finger thick white head. Aroma has sweet malts, plum, ripe bananas and spices. Taste begins with a sweet yeasty and hoppy sting. Fruity wheat malts and bananas take over with yeasty flavour on the side. Towards the end bitterness and sweet and sour fruits rise up. Aftertaste has sweetness, sour fruits and modest bitterness.

Extremely great Dunkelweizen. Wheat malts, fruity hops and yeast fit in the puzzle perfectly. Fruits get sweet, sour and bitter flavours that compliment each other. Once this traditional Bavarian brewery shows excellent brewing skill.

Ölbeat

Somehow I just can't get over the association of funk with German yeasty and fruity brews. So I'm just sorry to make you settle for this soul classic.

Curtis MayField: Move On Up (YouTube)

From the 1970 album Curtis, the song was written by Curtis Mayfield.

Ölbeat 102: Schneider Weisse Aventinus

Brewery: Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Country: Germany
Style: Weizenbock
Abv: 8,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is murky dark brown with a lasting small creamy white head. Aroma has ripe bananas, wheat malts and sweet spices. Taste begins with sweet fruity malts with a short spiky hop bite. Caramel malts with sweet banana, raisin and citrus flavours take over with a sparkling mouthfeel. Sweetness and malts show up near the finish with some berry and alcohol flavour. Aftertaste is a mix of sweet fruits, warm alcohol and dry bitterness.

I've found one new favourite style: Weizenbock! Sweet, fruity, malty and sparkling adventure in superb and delicious flavours. Rich, honest and enjoyable German beer.

Ölbeat

Getting one's hands on this kind of brew means a start of an addiction. Not very bad nor serious one, but still you'll have to crawl out of the state of mind with an antidote. In this case the antidote is hidden in this bluesy rock classic:

Eric Clapton: Cocaine (YouTube)

From the 1977 album Slowhand, the song was written by J.J. Cale.

Ölbeat 096: Weihenstephaner Vitus

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Country: Germany
Style: Weizenbock
Abv: 7,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy yellow with a large white head. Aroma has wheat malts, sweet spices and ripe banana. Taste starts with sharp sweet fruity and hoppy bite. Sweet wheat malts and spicy fruits - citrus and banana - take over. Towards the end fruits step in front and sweet bitter hops get through. Aftertaste is sweet fruity and slightly bitter.

Wheat beer with a ton of fruits and spices and a sharp twist of hops. Delicious and refreshing brew - funky taste of summer. No wonder this one is considered among the best of its style and among the German beers.

Ölbeat

Spices, fruits, hoppy twist and the fresh feeling of summer. Since the beer style is new in this blog, I found a new music style to match it. This skiffle tune is a timeless chilling song for lazy summer days:

Mungo Jerry: In The Summertime (YouTube)

Originally released as a maxi single in 1970, the song was written by Ray Dorset.

Ölbeat 093: CREW Republic 7:45 Escalation

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,3 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with a medium-sized white head. Aroma has mango, orange and some floral perfume. Taste begins with a spicy, modestly bitter bite. Gently bitter grapefruit-orange liquid fills the mouth with a sweet spicy and fruity side note. Towards the end the orange and even candy sweetness joins the fun, just to be knocked down by moderate dry pine. Aftertaste has sweet orange, bitterness and some dryness.

Tasty fruity multi-citrus-flavoured Double IPA. There's fruit, bitter, sweet, spice and dry. I expect this from this beer style. Zee Germans have brewed a heck of a beer again.

Ölbeat

A rock tune with hidden raw power, gentle bitterness and a presentation of musical skill. That matches this brew. That's Audioslave:

Audioslave: Shadow on the Sun (YouTube)

From the 2002 album Audioslave, the song was written by Audioslave.

Ölbeat 090: Ayinger Celebrator

Brewery: Brauerei Aying
Country: Germany
Style: Doppelbock
Abv: 6,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is thick dark brown with big tan head. Aroma has sweet malts and fresh dark fruits. Taste begins with smooth syrupy caramel malts and a slightly hoppy bite. The combination of caramel malts and sweet bitterness comes on strong. Near the finish we get raisins, plums and some bittersweet alcohol. Aftertaste has bitter malty sweetness.

So I stepped into the world of dobbelbocks and don't want to get out. The combination of malty sweetness, silky bitterness and dark fruits makes a delicious German brew. Excellent flavour and great experience.

Ölbeat

Since the brew is commercially described "great as a party drink with friends and family", the song mostly follows the idea. Instead of picking any grandiloquent orchestral piece, I went to a completely different direction. So, music for weekend and good times it is:

LMFAO: Party Rock Anthem (YouTube)

From the 2011 album Sorry For Party Rocking, the song was written by Stefan Gordy and Skyler Gordy.

Ölbeat 089: Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Country: Germany 
Style: Hefeweizen

Abv: 5,4 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy yellow with large white head. Aroma has ripe bananas, wheat malts and fruits. Taste begins with gentle sweet bite with carbonation. Sweet fruit and wheat malt flavours take over with some lemon-like sourness and yeast getting in the picture later. In the back of the mouth we get some sweet bitter-sour flavours. Aftertaste has sweet malts and dried fruits.

This is one standard for a good wheat beer. The malty backbone carries the sweet and sour fruity flavours well. Fabulous brew that reminds me of tasting more from the traditional German beer styles.

Ölbeat

Looking for some soul to match the bitter-sourness and some rock to match the fruity character, I stopped by this 90's soul rock classic. Don't know if it's a complete match, but it surely is one hell of a tune.

Lenny Kravitz: Always on the Run (YouTube)

From the 1991 album Mama Said, the song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Slash.

Ölbeat 065: CREW Republic Detox

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Session IPA
Abv: 3,4 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is bubbly golden yellow with a thick foamy white head. Aroma has hops, lemon and grass. Taste bites first with extra bitter hops. Fresh grapefruit with carbonation joins the party. Near the end sour lemon and piny dryness are added to the flavour. Aftertaste has mainly dry and bitter grapefruit.

Detox is a nicely fresh and tasty session IPA. Bitter, sour and dry flavours are present strongly enough but still this one goes down easily and quenches thirst well. With this abv this works better than many around 4,5 % session beers.

Ölbeat

Many, probably most low-alcohol beers tend to fall behind the stronger ones. But sometimes it's better to be a good loser than a bad winner. I'm not referring to any certain Skippy-Digestive brews, but here's the song for Detox:

Beck: Loser (YouTube)

From the 1994 album Mellow Gold, the song was written by Beck and Karl Stephenson.

Ölbeat 061: Ayinger Urweisse

Brewery: Brauerei Aying
Country: Germany
Style: Dunkelweizen
Abv: 5,8 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy light brown with large creamy head. Aroma has sweet wheat malts, syrup and a sour citrus twist. Taste starts with hoppy sour bite. Sweet wheat malts bubble and kick in pretty fast. Orange and lemon flavours dance in the mouth with some sugary fruit sidekick. Near the finish we get yeasty and malty flavours. Aftertaste is fruity sweet and slightly alcoholic.

What we have here is a superb multi-flavoured beer: sweet and sour fruits combined with strong solid malts, not forgetting the presence of hops and yeast. Urweisse is a complex and very tasty brew, that gives the beer hedonist a rich and lasting experience.

Ölbeat

A beer that has this kind of brewing tradition behind it requires some ageless jazz for company. Something sour, something sweet, something like this:

Nina Simone: My Baby Just Cares For Me (YouTube)

From the 1958 album Little Girl Blue, the song was written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn.

Ölbeat 026: CREW Republic Roundhouse Kick

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,2 %
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The beer that slammed the revolving door.

CREW Republic, founded in 2011, is a microbrewery in Munich, Germany. The brewery is known for brewing something else than standard German-type beer. Breaking the tradition is intentional according to the webpages of the brewery. When Roundhouse Kick came available in Finnish market, I was straight away interested about a beer that reminds me of the legendary Chuck Norris. 

What about the beer?
Colour is pitch black with huge beige head. Aroma has roasted malts with traces of hops and salty liquorice. Taste unleashes heavy bitterness with burned-roasted malts first. The hop-coal combo gets joined with strong black coffee and salty liquorice. Palate is beaten by dry bitter hops and strong citrus flavours in a very black-IPA'ish way. Aftertaste is powerfully dry, roasty and hoppy - a finish-off with style.

Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing! Rough and aggressive, as the name promises. It's the Chuck Norris of craft beer, kicks and punches in the mouth. I loved the roughness and the complexity.

Ölbeat

What we need here is positively aggressive rock tune, that comes straight to the face. This one was the first that hit my head:

Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench (YouTube)

From the 1997 album The Colour and the Shape, the song was written by frontman Dave Grohl, guitarist Pat Smear and bassist Nate Mendel. Described to be a power punk song by Grohl, the music is based on one fast-tempo main guitar riff and its alterations. Even though the video of the song shows then the newest band-member Taylor Hawkins on drums, it's Grohl who handles the sticks on the album and single version besides singing and playing guitar. The lyrics are about feeling trapped in a relationship that doesn't work and realizing that one of the problems is yourself. Despite the song is usually interpreted as venting negative feelings about a failed relationship, I've always found the song positively motivating with its in-your-face attitude. That's why it fits on the background of Roundhouse Kick perfectly.