June 1st, 2014 - Smoke And Mirrors... And Daggers!

 

 

 

Good afternoon rockers and drinkers!  The Meista here pairing "Smoke And Mirrors" from Dixie Witch and a Smoke And Dagger Black Lager from Jack's Abbey Brewing!

Released on April 11th, 2006, "Smoke And Mirrors" is the 3rd studio album by the Texas hard-rockin' trio known as Dixie Witch.  Combining doom metal grooves with Southern rock and '70s English hard rock sensibility,  Dixie Witch's "Smoke And Mirrors" is a heavy duty hard rock album that will kick your ass and have you begging for more!  Opening track "Set The Speed" sets both the speed and the mood of this album.  Reminiscent of  hard rock gods UFO, Dixie Witch blasts your earholes with monster rockers like "Shoot The Moon", "Ballinger Cross", "Bridges", "What You Want", "Gunfight", and the epic, slow and bluesy finale "Last Call".  If you aren't familiar with Dixie Witch, do yourself a huge favor and pick up a copy of "Smoke And Mirrors" from your local record store... you won't be sorry!!

So I enjoyed the Smoke And Dagger Black Lager from Jack's Abbey Brewing on nitro back in April at Cheers in Boston, MA... so hopefully I can do a decent job of remembering all the nuances of this tasty brew.  A cross between a Schwartbier and a smoked porter, the Smoke And Dagger Black Lager could be characterized as a Rauchbier, but with the nitro, it leaned far more toward the smoked porter side... at least in my opinion.  The Smoke And Dagger pours an opaque, mahogany black with a 1-finger, creamy mocha head that leaves thick and chunky lacing.  Brewed with traditional Beechwood smoked malt, the nose is very smoky with some big coffee and dark chocolate notes.  Full bodied, the mouthfeel is thick, sticky, creamy, and chewy.  The flavor is characterized by both a "full bodied and sweet chocolatey malt character" as well as a smoky and bitter backbone.  Roasted malts, dark coffee, and liquid smoke flavors abound.  The Smoke And Dagger Black Lager is definitely a great beer to go with the Southern hard rockin' sounds of Dixie Witch!  Pour yourself a Smoke And Dagger, crank up "Smoke And Mirrors", and fire up the BBQ... summer is here!!

Cheers!!