April 10th, 2015 - Hot Sriracha Stout Rats

Good Friday evening my friends!  The Meister here with a rather odd pairing for you tonight... Frank Zappa's amazing "Hot Rats" and a Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer!  This pairing goes out to my buddy Mikey at the Utah Beer Blog (http://utahbeer.blogspot.com/)!  Cheers my friend!!
 
Album Info:

• Artist: Frank Zappa
• Title: "Hot Rats"
• Recorded: July 18th through August 30th, 1969 at  T.T.G., Los Angeles, California, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California, and  Whitney Studios, Glendale, California using a "homemade sixteen track" recorder
• Release date: October 10th, 1969 (2nd solo album by Frank Zappa)
• Record company: Bizarre/Reprise
• Album cover art: Cal Schenkel
• Personnel: Frank Zappa (guitars, octave bass, and percussion) and Ian Underwood (piano, organus maximus, flute, clarinet, and saxophone)
• Additional musicians: Max Bennett (bass on all tracks except "Peaches en Regalia"), Captain Beefheart (vocals on "Willie The Pimp), Lowell George (rhythm guitar), John Guerin (drums on "Willie The Pimp", "Little Umbrellas", and "It Must Be A Camel"), Don "Sugarcane" Harris (violin on "Willie the Pimp" and "The Gumbo Variations"), Paul Humphrey (drums on "Son Of Mr. Green Genes" and "The Gumbo Variations"), Shuggie Otis (bass on "Peaches En Regalia"), Jean-Luc Ponty (violin on "It Must Be A Camel"), and Ron Selico (drums on "Peaches En Regalia")
• Musical style: Jazz fusion, free form jazz, experimental instrumental rock, progressive rock
• Sound: "A movie for your ears", as the album liner notes state, "Hot Rats" is an intricate, heavily jazz-influenced experimental album.  Almost entirely instrumental ("Willie The Pimp" is the only song with lyrics - sung by Captain Beefheart), all the tracks were composed, arranged, and produced Zappa.
• Major themes: As the majority of the album (5 of 6 tracks) are instrumental, the themes are more arbitrary and impressionistic.  "Willie The Pimp" examines the life of a pimp from his viewpoint.
• Notes: "Hot Rats" was dedicated to Zappa's then newborn son, Dweezil.
• Tracks:   

1. "Peaches En Regalia"
2. "Willie The Pimp"
3. "Son Of Mr. Green Genes"
4. "Little Umbrellas"
5. "The Gumbo Variations"
6. "It Must Be A Camel"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Rogue Ales
• Website: http://www.rogue.com/
• Brew: Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer
• Style: Stout/chili ale
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 5.7%
• IBUs: 55
• Gravity: 15 degrees Plato
• Ingredients: Huy Fong original hot chili sauce and sun ripened Rogue Farms ingredients
• Pour: The Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer pours a very dark (almost black) and opaque chocolate brown with a thick, 2-finger mocha head.  Lacing is chunky and sustained.
• Nose: Suprisingly, you don't really get any chili pepper aromas in the nose.  Instead, you get nice, traditional stout aromas of coffee, roasted malt, and chocolate.
• Taste: The flavor of the Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer is an interesting blend of earthy and chocolaty characteristics and chili pepper.  There are notes of dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, caramel, mellow smokiness, and of course, chili pepper (sans the usual garlic flavor prevalent in Sriracha).  I have to admit, I was rather skeptical, thinking this would just be another gimmick beer.  But it is actually quite tasty!  (It would actually make a great pairing with a plate of eggs and hash browns as well as "Hot Rats"!)
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, the Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer is somewhat creamy and surprisingly very drinkable.  The heat slowly builds, leaving tingly spiciness on your lips, tongue, and throat.  The finish is rather dry with that lingering heat.

Overall pairing: I can think of nothing more fitting for the Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer to be paired with than Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats".  And not just for the "weird" factor either, but more specifically for the complexity, uniqueness, and richness of character.  And as for the heat... just listen to that smokin' guitar in "Willie The Pimp" and smokin' sax in "Peaches En Regalia"!

Cheers... chook-die!!