Ölbeat 154: Thornbridge Wild Raven

Brewery: Thornbridge Brewery
Country: England
Style: India Black Ale
Abv: 6,6 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark blackish brown with a medium-sized natural white head. Aroma has pineapple, strawberries and fresh forest. Taste begins with roasted and fruity gentle bitterness. Sweet orange and bitter grapefruit take over with charcoaly roast on the side. Near the finish citrus turns completely to grapefruit with grassy and piny notes. Aftertaste has bitter-roasted grapefruit and a slice of dry pine.

Incredibly fresh-bitter India Black Ale with pure and sharp flavours. Citrus dominates the party with sweet orange in the start and grapefruit all over. Roasted flavour gives its stamp to the brew but doesn't rush in. Very delicious treat.

Ölbeat

Chose the music partly because of the bird theme and partly because the brew needed to be matched with a rock classic. This song is an "evergreen" from the band whose success was cut short too early in 1977, when singer Ronnie Van Zant and two other band members died in a plane crash.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Free Bird (YouTube)

From the 1973 album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), the song was written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant.

Ölbeat 153: Mufloni Cascade Black Ale

Brewery: Beer Hunter's
Country: Finland
Style: India Black Ale
Abv: 6 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small tan head. Aroma has grapefruit, orange and mild roast. Taste starts with roasted malts and dry bitterness. Bitter grapefruit with roast takes over - a tiny bit of salty liquorice and some malts in the background. Towards the end herbal piny bitter flavour comes in. When the brew warms up a bit the roast comes out a little stronger. Aftertaste has piny dryness and roasted fruity bitterness.

Excellent India Black Ale. The elements of a fine IPA are present: bitter grapefruit and dry pine with a malty base to build the hop flavours on. Delicate roast gives the "black" touch. The Pori masterbrewer has done it again.

Ölbeat

So I went back to where it started with the artist. And the colour theme of the song. Well, the brew is black, too, so stop whining. Grunge born near the Cascades in the state of Oregon like Cascade hops once was. I don't know where the hop trends go but Soundgarden stays in my earphones.

Soundgarden: Black Rain (YouTube)

From the 2010 album Telephantasm, the song was written by Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil.

Ölbeat 152: Buxton Nth Cloud

Brewery: Buxton Brewery
Country: England
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,2 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is clear golden orange with a bubbly medium-sized white head. Aroma has rich mango, pineapple and citrus. Taste begins with rough piny and  fruity bitterness. Piny bitter grapefruit juice takes over with some sweet citrus on the background. Orange and alcohol flavours join the taste near the finish. Aftertaste has piny dryness and grapefruit bitterness.

Rough pine in the start makes the entry of incoming fruits easy. Strong citrus and pine powered Double or Imperial IPA. Very savoury and rich. No disappointments from the favourite brewery.

Ölbeat

Heavy brew - heavy flight to the sky and beyond. Nuff said.

Avenged Sevenfold: Higher (YouTube)

From the 2016 album The Stage, the song was written by Avenged Sevenfold.

Ölbeat 151: Ruosniemen Vahtimestari

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Porter
Abv: 6,1 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small tan head. Aroma has roasted malts, sweet black coffee and spices. Taste begins with sweet roast. Sweet charcoal-roasted malts take over with coffee and vanilla notes. Gentle bitterness grows towards the end with some dark fruits showing up. Aftertaste has sweet malts, charred roast and some bitter dryness.

Tasty Porter with a hint of vanilla. Roasted malts and gentle bitterness dominate smoothly, while coffee, vanilla and dark fruits stay in the backgorund. Would match nicely with good dark chocolate. More character could probably be available with a higher abv and a larger bunch of vanilla, but this was nicely tender.

Ölbeat

Even though the brewery is playing with names here (one translation for 'vahtimestari' is 'porter'), couldn't match the beer with any of the doorkeeper-themed songs. The door was left open for the soft and calm side of the brew. So this ballad with Amy Lee's beautiful vocals turned up.

Evanescence: Good Enough (YouTube)

From the 2006 album The Open Door, the song was written by Amy Lee.

Ölbeat 150: Lervig/Way 3 Bean Stout

Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri / Cervejaria Way Beer
Country: Norway (Brazil)
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 13 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a thin beige crown. Aroma has roast, chocolate, alcohol and vanilla. Taste spikes with sharply boozy and spicy coffee. Vanilla-flavoured chocolate-mocca takes over with sweet boozy bitterness. Near the finish vanilla, tonka and cardamom spices come through with chocolate and alcohol. Aftertaste has sweet roasty bitterness and warming cocoa liquor. And it lasts.

Damn great spicy and sweet Imperial Stout. Vanilla, chocolate and spices really dominate - booze, roast and coffee play the second violin. If there comes a chance, I'll surely get back in business with this Norwegian brewery.

Ölbeat

Complex spicy and orchestrally magnificent brew deserves an equal counterpart. We'll find it in this bittersweet track: "Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life / Try to make ends meet / You're a slave to money then you die." Someone might wisecrack something like "it's too early to reserve this great song for a beer". But that's life.

The Verve: Bitter Sweet Symphony (YouTube)

From the 1997 album Urban Hymns, the song was written by Richard Ashcroft (and also credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for samples of an orchestral version of Rolling Stones' The Last Time).