February 11th, 2017 - Some Malt Whiskey Aged Oatmeal Stout For The Dopesmoker

Hello!  Your drinking buddy the Meista here getting very heavy with Sleep's "Dopesmoker" and an Exclusive Limited Release: Oatmeal Stout Aged in Sugar House Distillery Malt Whiskey Barrels from Talisman Brewing Company!


Album Info:

• Artist: Sleep
• Title: "Dopesmoker" (2012 Southern Lord reissue)
• Recorded: 1996 at Record Two Studio in Comptche, California
• Release date: Originally released April 22nd, 2003.  Re-released in 2012 by Southern Lord Records.
• Record company: Southern Lord Records
• Production: Billy Anderson
• Album cover art: Arik Roper
• Personnel: Al Cisneros (bass and vocals), Chris Hakius (drums), and Matt Pike (guitar)
• Musical style: Doom metal, stoner rock/metal
• Sound: This is the heaviest of the heavy!  Of their sound, a  New York Times critic once wrote: "What seems disorienting and monochromatic at first grows richer and more rewarding upon repeated exposure. It’s like a Mark Rothko painting hitting you over the head with a bag of hammers."
• Major themes: Life and death, cannabis, being high, heaviness, etc. Cisneros stated that smoking pot was important to the song's creative process: "I was really dependent on the space I got into when I was using it, and some of the lyrics are about that...The line, 'Drop out of life [with bong in hand],' was kind of a creed at that point."
• Tracks:   

1. "Dopesmoker"
2. "Holy Mountain"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Talisman Brewing Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: http://www.talismanbrewingco.com/
• Brew: Exclusive Limited Release: Oatmeal Stout Aged in Sugar House Distillery Malt Whiskey Barrels
• Style: Oatmeal Stout
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.3%
• Pour: It pours an ink black with a thin, light mocha head that dissipates quickly, leaving a thin ring with no lacing.
• Nose: The nose is roasty, chocolaty, surprisingly fruity, and boozy.  There are aromas of bourbon, oak, vanilla bean, oats, fresh cream, black cherry, and baker's chocolate.
• Taste: The taste is bold, earthy, boozy, and creamy.  There are notes of bourbon, light roasted coffee, roasted malts, fresh cream, vanilla, marshmallow, and bittersweet chocolate.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with very low carbonation, the mouthfeel is very creamy, velvety, and thick with a dry and boozy finish.

Overall pairing: The big, bold, muddy, boozy, and delicious aromas and flavors of Talisman's limited (only 80 bottles!) newly released (today!) aged Oatmeal Stout is perfect for the sludgy, heavy, monolithic intensity that is Sleep's "Dopesmoker"!  'Nuff said!

Cheers and hails!!