April 7th, 2017 - It's [Not] Being Brainless

Hello and happy Friday my friends!  The Meista here today pairing The Who's "It's Hard" with a Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale from Epic Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: The Who
• Title: "It's Hard"
• Recorded: June 1982 at Turn Up-Down Studio at Glyn Johns' home in Surrey, England
• Release date: September 4th, 1982 (10th studio album by the Who)
• Record company: Polydor / Warner Bros.
• Production: Glyn Johns
• Album cover art: Richard Evans (design) and Graham Hughes (photography)
• Personnel: Roger Daltrey (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and backing vocals on "Eminence Front" and "One At A Time"), John Entwistle (bass guitar, brass, backing vocals, synthesizer on "Dangerous" and "One At A Time", and lead vocals on "One At A Time"), Kenney Jones (drums), and Pete Townshend (guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals and Lowrey TBO-1 organ on "Eminence Front", co-lead vocals on "Athena" and "Cooks County", and piano and synthesizer on "One Life's Enough")
• Additional musicians: Andy Fairweather-Low (rhythm guitar on "It's Your Turn") and Tim Gorman (synthesizer and organ on "Dangerous", electric piano on "Eminence Front", and synthesizer on "One Life's Enough" and "One At A Time")
• Musical style: Rock, hard rock with elements of progressive rock
• Sound: Arguably their boldest album since the "Who's Next" era, "It's Hard" is characterized by layered synthesizers and guitars, sharp hooks, and honest, relevant, and timeless lyrics.
• Major themes: The difficulties of life, relationships, love, sex, self-doubt, fear, war, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Athena"
2. "It's Your Turn"
3. "Cooks County"
4. "It's Hard"
5. "Dangerous"
6. "Eminence Front"
7. "I've Known No War"
8. "One Life's Enough"
9. "One At A Time"
10. "Why Did I Fall For That"
11. "A Man Is A Man"
12. "Cry If You Want"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale
• Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale 
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 8.7%
• Ingredients: Premium 2-Row, Caramalt, Flaked Oats, and Caramel malts; Centennial, Chinook, and Citra hops; rock candy; Belgian yeast
• Pour: It pours a very hazy, opaque apple cider gold with a thin, bright white head that leaves a nice ring and some surface cloudiness. 
• Nose: The nose is a big bouquet of fruit ester... pear, white grape juice, banana, and light peach syrup.  There are also some really nice spice aromas (cloves and nutmeg). 
• Taste: The Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale has a very refreshing, yet very rich and forward intensity. It is initially sharp, tart, and slightly sweet with a "pink bubble-gum" finish. There's a real nice bitterness as well from those hops that really comes out in the mid-range and finish. There are also some nice spice notes (clove, nutmeg, coriander) and ester notes (apple cider and pear juice along with the traditional banana of a good Belgian). There's a slight booziness in there as well... but nothing overpowering... again, well-balanced.  As Epic's own description states, the Brainless is "deceivingly drinkable, some liken these ales to the Devil sneaking up on you."
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is crisp, somewhat peppery, sharp and dry with a fairly clean and dry finish with hints of booziness.

Overall pairing: The intricate, complex, yet very drinkable flavors of the Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale from Epic Brewing is perfect for the wonderful warmth, depth, and brilliance of the Who's "It's Hard"!  As the brew is a bit of a sipper, "It's Hard" is the type of album that demands your attention and offers something new and interesting with each listen!

Cheers!!