January 17th, 2016 - Noir With Boots

Good evening!  Your drinking buddy the Meista here tonight getting sludgy with a Noir Milk Stout from Ninkasi Brewing Company and "Nude With Boots" by the Melvins... a pairing that goes out to Chad and Stephanie, without whom, I would be a complete and utter train wreck!  Cheers my friends... I love ya!! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Melvins
• Title: "Nude With Boots"
• Recorded: January 2008 at West Beach Recordings and Behind The Bar Studio
• Release date: July 8th, 2008 (17th studio album by the Melvins)
• Record company: Ipecac Recordings
• Production: Melvins
• Album cover art: Mackie Osborne
• Personnel: Roger "Buzz" Osborne (aka King Buzzo - guitars and vocals), Dale Crover (drums and vocals), Jared Warren (bass guitar and vocals), and Coady Willis (drums and vocals)
• Additional musicians: Tom Hazelmyer (aka Haze XXL - guitar and vocals)
• Musical style: Doom metal, drone metal, experimental/art metal, sludge rock/metal, stoner rock/metal
• Sound: With tones and riffs reminiscent of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, the Melvins lay down some heavy licks on "Nude With Boots"... and I mean HEAVY!  King Buzzo, Crover, Warren, Willis, and Haze XXL provide an incredibly powerful and mesmerizing music journey that doesn't let up!
• Major themes: Abstract views of states of consciousness, states of being, states of sanity, life and death, sadness, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "The Kicking Machine"
2. "Billy Fish"
3. "Dog Island"
4. "Dies Iraea" (cover of the theme song to The Shining)
5. "Suicide In Progress"
6. "The Smiling Cobra"
7. "Nude With Boots"
8. "Flush"
9. "The Stupid Creep"
10. "The Savage Hippy"
11. "It Tastes Better Than the Truth"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ninkasi Brewing Company (Eugene, Oregon)
• Website: http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/
• Brew: Noir Milk Stout
• Style:  Milk / Sweet Stout
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 7.6%
• IBUs: 60
• Original gravity: 1082
• Ingredients: 2-Row Pale, Munich, Chocolate, Crystal, Brown, Black, and Rice Hulls malts with Nugget hops, milk sugar, and cold brewed coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters
• Pour: Ink black with 1-finger, firm mocha head that displays layered lacing throughout.
• Nose: The nose is a big, inviting blast of roasty, toasty, earthy, and slightly smoky scents.  There are aromas of freshly brewed coffee, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and fresh cream.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste of the Noir Milk Stout is a bold, earthy, roasty, chocolaty, and creamy brew.  There are notes of dark roasted ice coffee, bittersweet baker's chocolate, fresh cream, marshmallow, dark malt, and burnt toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel is creamy and velvety smooth with a dry finish.

Overall pairing: The only style of brew that can hold a candle to the sludgy doom brilliance that is the Melvins' "Nude With Boots" is a big, bold, complex, and tasty stout... and the Ninkasi Noir Milk Stout nails it!!  Those rich, chocolaty notes seem to have brewed specifically for the down-tuned bad-assery of King Buzzo's guitars, the sweet milk sugar notes for the wonderful blend of talent, while the bitter coffee notes are perfect for the overall vibe of the album!

HAILS!!