February 4th, 2012 - Runnin' With the River... or Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Crappy Beer!

Today I am pairing Snake River Brewery's Vienna Style Lager and Van Halen's self-titled, first album... both classics!

 Snake River Brewery's Vienna Style Lager is a lovely, caramel amber brewed with a perfect balance of malts and hops for a light-bodied lager.  Having won numerous awards and the most popular of the Snake River beers, this lager is brewed in the tradition sense and Snake River Brewery even employs the use of a German yeast strain.  The Vienna Style Lager is a refreshing, light-bodied lager with great flavor that goes down smooth with a clean finish.  Snake River Brewery's Vienna Style Lager is the perfect beer for an evening of rocking out with early Van Halen!

It is hard to believe that Van Halen's self-titled, first album came out way back in 1978.  It definitely is a timeless classic, much like the Vienna Style Lager.  The album opens with the "Runnin' With the Devil," a fun little rocker that redefined hard rock.  You must remember this was the age of disco and many of the hard rock giants of the early 1970s had either hung up their guitars or were experimenting with keyboards.  Van Halen brought back the straight ahead, hard rock sound of heros like Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin.  The cover of the Kink's "You Really Got Me," "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "Jamie's Cryin'," and "Atomic Punk" are all great fun and really enhance the malty flavor of the lager.  The short guitar insanity of Eddie's "Eruption" spawned the shredder movement and redefined the guitar hero.  Like the perfectly blended flavors of the Viena Style Lager's malts and hops, Van Halen blends the innovation, power and rhythm of the Van Halen brothers and Anthony along with Roth's whimsical and intense vocal stylings, redefining American hard rock.  

In a sense, the Vienna Style Lager redefines the lager.  Never again will you have to be subjected to the swill produced by the big, domestic brewers calling what they make lager.  Now you have a traditional and classic lager that is drinkable and refreshing, but with true flavor... just like Van Halen!  :)