October 31st, 2014 - Halloween Is For Werewolves, Excitable Boys, And Blood Red Ale!

Afternoon kiddies and happy Halloween!!  Your pal the Meista here today pairing "Excitable Boy" by Warren Zevon and a Newcastle Werewolf Blood Red Ale from Caledonian Brewery Company Limited!  This pairing goes out to friend of the page Dan Armstrong... cheers buddy!!  (Sorry it took so long to post this pairing.  I've been under the weather for the past couple of weeks.)

Released on January 18th, 1978, "Excitable Boy" is the 3rd studio album by rock and roll singer/songwriter Warren Zevon.  Along with Zevon (vocals, organ, synthesizer, bass, guitar, piano, keyboards), the band included Jorge Calderón (backing vocals, harmony vocals, Spanish vocals on "Veracruz"), Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar (guitar and percussion), and Russ Kunkel (drums).  Guest musicians include Jackson Browne, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Porcaro of Toto, and Linda Ronstadt to name a few.  With the huge success of the song "Werewolves of London", the "Excitable Boy" album remains Zevon's best-selling production and my favorite of his... mainly due to the songs "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Excitable Boy", "Nighttime in the Switching Yard", and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".  Of course, ever song on this album is great and true to Zevon's brilliant form.  Along with stylish werewolves eating chow mein, themes on the album include life and relationships, Cold War paranoia, war, and psychosis. 

Well, with the song "Werewolves of London" as my lead in, how can I not pair "Excitable Boy" with a Newcastle Werewolf Blood Red Ale?!   The Werewolf is a very sessionable Irish Red Ale.  Well balanced, it is marked by subtle sweet and bigger toasted malt notes, lightly hopped black tea flavor, and a bit of a dextrinous character.  It pours a cloudy and deep copper-red  with a 1/2 finger white head that dissipates quickly.  The nose is sweet and fruity with aromas of spicy rye malt, caramel, butterscotch, raisins, dates, and figs.  Fairly mellow, the flavor mirrors the nose and is a refreshing and well-blended concoction of barley, rye malt, and hops.  The finish is slightly bitter, but those sweeter malt flavors overpower the bitterness quickly and continue to linger.

Cheers!!