Good evening! The Meista here with another exciting pairing of craft beer and hard rock... today I'm enjoying Uinta Brewing Company's brand new Cahoots Double Rye IPA and Rush's 1975 sophomore album, "Fly By Night"! This pairing is dedicated to each and every goddamned fellow Rush fan in the world!!
The first Rush album to feature drummer Neil Peart (and one of my all-time favorite albums), "Fly By Night" was released in February of 1975. Along with taking the helm as drummer, Peart also took over the writing of lyrics for the band, which would thankfully lead Rush to adopt a far more literary and socially focused approach as opposed to the more Led Zeppelin influenced, hard rock lyrics of their debut album. Songs like "By-Tor & the Snow Dog" (mind-blowingly kick-ass song!) and "Rivendell" delve into the realm of fantasy while "Anthem" features lyrics inspired by Ayn Rand's book of the same name. The title track is an autobiographical song about Peart's experience in moving to London from Canada (briefly) before he joined Rush. "Best I Can" is simply about rocking and rolling and the pursuit of personal excellence. "Making Memories" delves into the importance of living each and every moment to its fullest. And "In The End" (a favorite of mine) explores honesty and love... without sentimentality. Musically, "Fly By Night" is one of Rush's faster paced more rocking albums. Geddy Lee's bass work and vocals on this album are wonderful... bass work is intricate, driving, and heavy as hell... vocals are otherworldly and high as shit! Alex Lifeson's guitar work is an attack of sonic acrobatics... rich, complex, and oh so tasty! (Just listen to that tone in "In The End"!!) And Peart's drumming is vibrant, youthful, and simply brilliant! (Just listen to the drum roll toward the end of "Anthem"!) Oh, sooooo, soooo good!!
Cahoots Double Rye IPA is Uinta's latest release in their Crooked Line series (brewed in conjunction with award-winning home-brewer, Chris Detrick). I first had this a couple of weeks ago at the Mountain Brewers Fest in Idaho and was ecstatic to see it on sale now in stores. With the obvious reference to owls on the label and the album cover, and the complex, bold, and biting flavors, I thought this concoction would make a great pairing with "Fly By Night." Cahoots is brewed with 2 types of malted rye, a healthy dose of malted barley, and an abundant amount of grassy and spicy hops giving it a very hoppy, very complex, very rich flavor. Cahoots pours a cloudy, deep copper amber with a very frothy, very big, yellowish head that displays sustained spider web lacing. The nose is floral and hoppy, a grassy hop bomb with notes of grapefruit and toffee. The flavor is a wonderful and savory taste explosion! Notes of earthy grains, sweet caramel malts, peppery rye bread, and bitter hops abound. Coming in at 9.4% ABV and I'm guessing an 70-80% IPU rating, the Cahoots Double Rye IPA is nothing short of profound. Like the nocturnal label denotes, this brew is a beautiful, predatory, no-holds-barred, beautiful creation... perfect for the power, intensity, and profundity of Rush's "Fly By Night"!
Check out Cahoots Double Rye IPA and all the other wonderful brews from Uinta Brewing Company at http://www.uintabrewing.com/ and if you don't own "Fly By Night" (what the hell's a matter with you?), go get it!! :) Cheers!!
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