Tonight the Meista is pairing a Dubhe Imperial Black IPA from Uinta Brewing Company with "2112" by Rush!! This pairing goes out to my life-long bros Chad and Shann... love ya guys!! Cheers ya bastards!!
I wanna take you back... back to 1987 or so. It is summer, I'm in the back my buddy Shann's station wagon, Chad is navigating, and we got Geddy and Alex and Neil rockin' the HELL OUT on the tape deck, and we're cruisin' the sleepy streets of Ogden, Utah. And yeah, we're rockin' the HELL OUT too along with Geddy, Alex, and Neil to "2112"! "What are we gonna do tonight?" "Hmm... I don't know man." "Who cares man... we got "2112" on... Passage To fucking Bangkok man!" Released on April 1st, 1979, the concept album "2112" was the 4th studio album by progressive hard rock band Rush. The first side of the album is the 7-part, 20+ minute, Randian/dystopian story set in the future (year 2112) describing the near death of music and the rebellion to keep it alive. The second side of the album presents 5 stand-alone (unrelated to the 2112 concept) songs including the ultimate stoner anthem "A Passage To Bangkok" (that opening guitar work by Alex Lifeson slays me!), the rather bizarre "Twilight Zone", the grooving "Lessons", the emotional ballad "Tears", and the amazing"Something For Nothing" (a favorite of mine)! I really cannot convey in words how incredibly important this album was to me as a teenager and still is to this very day! "Impressionable" is most definitely an understatement! I won't go into the storyline of "2112", but just know that it is fucking brilliant on so many, many levels (both musically and lyrically) and a must own for any serious music fan!
The Dubhe Imperial Black IPA is an outstanding, beastly, and flavorful ale brewed with hemp seed (get it? Dubhe.. doobie) from Uinta Brewing Company. Characterized by "toasted, chocolaty dark malts align with an astronomical amount of hops", the Dubhe is about as close to ale perfection as you can get! It pours an opaque ink black with a huge, frothy, mocha head that displays insanely intricate lacing (is that a skull I see or a frog in those them there bubbles?). The aroma is a complex blend of citric notes, pine notes, skunky grass notes, and roasted malt notes. There are scents of pine resin, pink grapefruit rind, and dark chocolate... yeah, crazy, but it works perfectly! Incredibly dry and crisp, the mouthfeel is somewhat chewy and biting, but with some nice velvety smoothness as well (a paradox I know, but still there). The flavor is a perfect blend of bitter hoppiness and malty heartiness. And yeah, that bitterness is very prevalent! There are notes of sharp and biting hops, dark chocolate, roasted malts, and burnt toffee. It finishes very dry, very sharp, very crisp. A brew this complex and intriguing is the perfect pairing for the profound brilliance of Rush's "2112"!!
Cheers!!
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