December 4th, 2015 - Jack's Double Quadrophenia

Hello my friends!  The Meista here with one of the more profound pairings I've done... a Double Jack from Firestone Walker Brewing Company and The Who's brilliant "Quadrophenia"!  This pairing is sincerely dedicated to my good friend and brotha Chad... cheers buddy... love ya!!

Album Info:

• Artist: The Who
• Title: "Quadrophenia"
• Recorded: May through September 1973 at Olympic Studios, London and Ramport Studios in Battersea, London with Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio
• Release date: November 1st, 1973 (6th studio album by The Who)
• Record company: Track Records / MCA Records
• Production: The Who, Kit Lambert, and Glyn Johns
• Album cover art: Graham Hughes 
• Personnel: Roger Daltrey (lead vocals), John Entwistle (bass, horns, and vocals), Keith Moon (drums, percussion, and vocals), and Pete Townshend (guitars, keyboards, banjo, cello, vocals, and sound effects)
• Additional musicians: Jon Curle (spoken vocals) and Chris Stainton (piano)
• Musical style: Hard rock and progressive rock
• Sound: In order to do any justice in describing the sound of this phenomenal album, I think it is important to state that The Who literally built their own studio in order to record "Quadrophenia".  This may very well be one of the most important albums ever recorded... seriously!  It is nothing short of brilliant on all levels.  It is incredibly ambitious, intricate, beautiful, painful, and honest... musical perfection!
• Major themes: A concept album, "Quadrophenia" tells the semi-autobiographical story of a disillusioned working-class mod named "Jimmy".  Themes include criticism of social mores, sex, drugs, dead-end jobs, self-destruction, states of sanity, aggression, angst, disillusionment, pain, life, death, reality, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "I Am The Sea"
2. "The Real Me"
3. "Quadrophenia"
4. "Cut My Hair"
5. "The Punk And The Godfather"
6. "I'm One"
7. "The Dirty Jobs"
8. "Helpless Dancer"
9. "Is It In My Head"
10. "I've Had Enough"
11. "5:15"
12. "Sea And Sand"
13. "Drowned"
14. "Bell Boy"
15. "Doctor Jimmy"
16. "The Rock"
17. "Love, Reign O'er Me"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California)
• Website: http://www.firestonewalker.com/
• Brew: Double Jack
• Style: Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) / Imperial IPA
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 9.5%
• IBUs: 85 
• Ingredients: Premium Two-Row (Metcalf & Kendall varieties), Munich, Simpson's Light Crystal malts; 4+lbs/BBL: Bittering—Warrior, Columbus; Late Kettle—Cascade, Centennial; Dry Hops—Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe hops
• Pour: It pours a clear deep copper-amber with a 2-finger off-white, frothy head that displays intricate and sustained sticky lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a wonderfully well-balanced blend of citrusy, herbal, dank, and earthy hops with sweet and bready malts.  There are aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, orange zest, lemon zest, pine resin, grapefruit rind, orange juice, tangerine, soft caramel, and burnt toffee.
• Taste: The taste of the Double Jack is bursting with citrus and pine hop flavors, pink bubblegum, herbs, sweet caramel/toffee, and slight booziness. 
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is thick, sticky, and bitter.  The finish is dry, sweet, and bitter.

Overall pairing: In all honesty, I don't really know how to describe the whys of this pairing.  What I can say is that it just works!  Both the album and the brew are big, complex, and engrossing... but that doesn't really capture the intense artistic brilliance of either one.  If you are listening to The Who, you cannot do anything less than a bold, aggressive, and well-crafted artisan ale... that much I know.  So this is what I've put together tonight... and it is perfect!

Cheers!!