October 7th, 2014 - St. Rogue's Red Reign In Blood

Hails craft ale and metal fans!  The Meista here pairing a Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale from Rogue Ales and Slayer's phenomenal album "Reign In Blood" (Remastered)!!  Hell yeah!!

One of the most influential and important heavy metal albums of all time was released on this very day 28 years ago (can you believe it has been 28 years??)!  "Reign In Blood" is the 3rd studio album by thrash metal giants Slayer and is the album that really defined them as kings of the genre.  It still remains one of their biggest selling albums.  The album was actually supposed to have been released weeks before October 7th, 1986, but controversy surrounding both the album cover art and lyrical content of the album itself delayed their timetable.  Departing (somewhat) from earlier album lyrical themes of Satanism, with "Reign In Blood" the band explored themes of war, death, anti-religion, insanity, violence, and torture.  Musically, the Slayer boys bring the fucking hammer down!!  Stylus Magazine critic Clay Jarvis once said that the song "Angel of Death" "smokes the asses of any band playing fast and/or heavy today. Lyrically outlining the horrors to come, while musically laying the groundwork for the rest of the record: fast, lean and filthy."  I couldn't agree more Mr. Jarvis!!  Personnel on the album: Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Jeff Hanneman (lead and rhythm guitars), Kerry King (lead and rhythm guitars), and Dave Lombardo (drums).   (It is also the first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin.)  Here's the full brutal track list of the remastered edition:

1. "Angel Of Death"
2. "Piece By Piece"
3. "Necrophobic"
4. "Altar Of Sacrifice"
5. "Jesus Saves"
6. "Criminally Insane"
7. "Reborn"
8. "Epidemic"
9. "Postmortem"
10. "Raining Blood"
11. "Aggressive Protector"
12. "Criminally Insane" (remix)

Like "Reign In Blood", the Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale from Rogue Ales is a solid, kick-ass amber ale... with a bite!  The Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale is brewed with 2-row Harrington, Klages, and Munich malts, along with Hugh Baird 30-37, 13-17 Carastan, and Crystal 70-80 malts (44.4% speciality grains .39 lbs grain per bottle), and Chinook and Centennial hops.  The ABV is 5.2% and the IBUs come in at 44, although I would have expected a bit higher with that bitter, hoppy flavor, especially for the dry hopping method.  It pours a cloudy caramel red with a frothy 1-2 finger cream-colored head that leaves lot of intricate and sustained lacing throughout.  The nose is a blend of complex and sweet malts and piney hops.  There are big aromas of sweet toffee, herbal and floral hops, and hearty bread.  Crisp and dry with a hearty malt backbone, the mouthfeel is both crisp and hearty.  The flavor is marked by big, complex notes of sweet malt and piney hops.  There are notes of freshly baked wheat bread, toasted malts, sweet toffee, black tea, grapefruit, and pine.   The finish is dry and somewhat bitter. 

Raise those horns and glasses... cheers and hails!!