April 24th, 2015 - Hop Nosh Heroes

God kväll!  The Meista here still banging his head with one more late night pairing for you... Sabaton's foot-stomping, fist-pumping worthy album "Heroes" and a favorite of mine, Hop Nosh IPA from Uinta Brewing Company!  I just saw these bad-asses live 2 nights ago and I'm still in a state of awe!!  This one goes out to my late granddad and all you other vets out there... hails, cheers and thank you for your service!!
 
Album Info:

• Artist: Sabaton
• Title: "Heroes"
• Recorded: August 2013 through March 2014, Abyss Studios, Sweden
• Release date: May 6th, 2014
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Album cover art: Péter Sallai
• Personnel:  Joakim Brodén (lead vocals), Thobbe Englund (guitar and backing vocals), Chris Rörland guitar and backing vocals), Pär Sundström (bass and backing vocals), and Hannes van Dahl (drums)
• Musical style: Power metal/speed metal with elements of progressive metal, folk metal, and symphonic metal
• Sound: Bombastic 
• Major themes: As with all Sabaton albums, the main lyrical themes on "Heroes" are based on  historical battles.  However, with "Heroes", they decided to focus on individuals.  Bassist Pär Sundström stated the following about the album's basic concept: "Well, I think this is a perfect concept for Sabaton. We decided to go for the idea to write about individuals instead of bigger battles. Individuals who we think basically went beyond their call of duty, put themselves into harms way for the good of others".
• Tracks:   

1. "Night Witches"
2. "No Bullets Fly"
3. "Smoking Snakes"
4. "Inmate 4859"
5. "To Hell And Back"
6. "The Ballad Of Bull"
7. "Resist And Bite"
8. "Soldier Of 3 Armies"
9. "Far From The Fame"
10. "Hearts Of Iron"
11. "7734"
12. "Man Of War"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Hop Nosh IPA
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 7.3%
• IBUs: 82
• Ingredients: Malts: Caramel 40, Munich, and Pale.  Hops: Apollo, Bravo, Cascade, Chinook, and Galaxy.
• Pour: The Hop Nosh IPA pours a clear, dark amber with a big, 2-finger frothy head that displays intricate and sticky spider web lacing.
• Nose: The nose if very floral, very hoppy, and fruity.  There are big aromas of pine resin, peach, mango, and ginger along with more subtle notes of caramel and cereal grains.
• Taste: The flavor of the Hop Nosh is very grassy, citrusy, piney, and herbal.  There are notes of sweet grass, bitter black tea, pine, cedar, grapefruit, tangerine, and hints of mango and caramel. 
• Mouthfeel: Very crisp, very refreshing, medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is fairly smooth and oily with a dry and slightly biting finish. 

Overall pairing: The crisp and bold hoppiness, yet exceptional drinkability of the Hop Nosh IPA is perfect for the fiery and fast paced guitar work and drumming of Sabaton, while the complexity and fruit ester goes great with the subject matter and folk elements of the band.  The high energy of Sabaton's "Heroes" deserves a beer with the same punchiness and complexity... and Hop Nosh delivers!

Skål... helan går!!