May 14th, 2015 - Sabotaging The Saboteur!

Good evening and hails my friends!  Your pal the Meista here getting heavy with a pairing of Black Sabbath's "Sabotage" and a Saboteur Baltic Porter from Gigantic Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Black Sabbath
• Title: "Sabotage"
• Recorded: February through March 1975 at Morgan Studios in London, England
• Release date: July 28th, 1975 (6th studio album by Black Sabbath)
• Record company: Warner Bros.
• Album cover art: Graham Wright
• Production: Mike Butcher and Black Sabbath 
• Personnel: Terry "Geezer" Butler (bass guitar), Tony Iommi (guitars, piano, synthesizer, organ, and harp), Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), and Bill Ward (drums, percussion, and piano on "Blow On A Jug")
• Musical style: Doom metal, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock
• Sound: A powerful mix of heavy, sludgy, powerful songs and softer, more experimental and progressive tunes, "Sabotage" delivers song of the band's best work.... especially my favorite, "Symptom Of The Universe"!    
• Major themes: Destruction, war, love, criticism of the music business, anger, revenge, insanity, etc.
• Interesting side note: The term "Radio" in the song "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" is actually part of the title.  It is the only version of the song and does not refer to a radio version or radio cut.
• Tracks:   

1. "Hole In The Sky"
2. "Don't Start (Too Late)"
3. "Symptom Of The Universe"
4. "Megalomania"
5. "Thrill Of It All"
6. "Supertzar"
7. "Am I Going Insane (Radio)"
8. "The Writ / Blow On A Jug"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Gigantic Brewing Company (Portland, Oregon)
• Website: http://giganticbrewing.com/
• Brew: Saboteur Baltic Porter
• Style: Baltic Porter
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 8% 
• Pour: Dark walnut brown with flecks of amber and a firm, 1-finger mocha head that displays good retention and strong lacing throughout.
• Nose: The nose is a very well-balanced blend of dark and milk chocolate, sweet caramel, light coffee, and toasted malts.  There are aromas of baker's chocolate, cocoa, melted caramel,
• Taste: The Saboteur Baltic Porter wonderfully sabotages your taste buds with notes of chocolate, caramel, dark fruit, and roasted coffee. 
• Mouthfeel: Thick and chunky with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the is velvety smooth and creamy with some nice hoppy bitter and chocolaty lingering notes in the finish.

Overall pairing: Well, it doesn't get much better than "Sabotage" and the best way to rock out to Black Sabbath is with a big, bold, slow-sipping porter in my hand!  The dark, earthy/chocolaty flavors of the Saboteur Baltic Porter seem to be brewed specifically for the might of Ward's drumming, Geezer's booming bass, Iommi's guitar acrobatics, and Ozzy's insane vocals!

Cheers and horns up!!