Sunday, December 30, 2018

December 30th, 2018 - A Red 'N' Black Trooper Maiden England


Afternoon rockers!  How about a double dose of Eddie?!  That's right... the Meista is here today with Iron Maiden's "Maiden England '88"  and a Trooper Red 'N' Black Porter, an ale created by Iron Maiden and brewed by Robinson Brewery!!  Hell yeah!!

Album Info:
  • Artist: Iron Maiden
  • Title: "Maiden England '88"
  • Recorded: November 27th through 28th, 1988 live at National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England
  • Release date: March 25th, 2013 (11th live Iron Maiden album)
  • Record company: Sanctuary / Universal
  • Production: Martin Birch
  • Album cover art: Hervé Monjeaud
  • Personnel: Bruce Dickinson (lead vocals), Steve Harris (bass guitar), Nicko McBrain (drums), Dave Murray (guitars), and Adrian Smith (guitars)
  • Additional musicians: Michael Kenney (keyboards)
  • Musical style: Power metal, heavy metal
  • Sound: This is the definitive live Iron Maiden sound and just so wonderfully written, performed, and produced; truly astonishing! "Maiden England '88" is monster of live album!  This is high-octane, in-your-face, heavy fucking metal!!  With perfect renditions of songs like "Moonchild", "Die With Your Boots On," "Can I Play With Madness", "Wasted Years", "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", and "Run To The Hills" (among others), this is an amazing live Maiden album and a wonderfully rich and captivating album in general!
  • Major themes: Evil, war, life and death, power, perseverance, pride, mythology, the occult, magic, the ancient world, torture, fear, etc.
  • Tracks:   
  1. "Moonchild"
  2. "The Evil That Men Do"
  3. "The Prisoner"
  4. "Still Life"
  5. "Die With Your Boots On"
  6. "Infinite Dreams"
  7. "Killers"
  8. "Can I Play With Madness"
  9. "Heaven Can Wait"
  10. "Wasted Years"
  11. "The Clairvoyant"
  12. "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son"
  13. "The Number Of The Beast"
  14. "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
  15. "Iron Maiden"
  16. "Run To The Hills"
  17. "Running Free"
  18. "Sanctuary"

Brew Info:
  • Brewery: Robinson Brewery (Stockport, England)
  • Website: robinsonsbrewery.com    
  • Brew: Trooper Red 'N' Black Porter
  • Style: Porter   
  • Serving: 16 ounce bottle
  • ABV: 6.8%
  • Ingredients:  Brewed with roasted malts along with Bobec, Goldings, and Cascade hops
  • Pour: The Trooper Red 'N' Black Porter pours a deep coffee brown with a 1-finger light mocha head that dissipates fairly quickly and leaves trace lacing.
  • Nose: The nose is both malty, toasty, and roasty with notes of freshly baked bread, roasted nuts, a hint of apple, and sweet caramel. 
  • Taste: The taste of the Trooper Red 'N' Black Porter is roasty, toasty, bready, malty, and sweet.  There are notes of sweet toffee, hearty bread, very light coffee, cocoa, and dark fruit.
  • Mouthfeel: It is medium-bodied and moderately carbonated.  It is very smooth and easy drinking with a nice, clean and malty finish.
  • Notes: "The beer, designed once again by Iron Maiden vocalist and ale aficionado Bruce Dickinson along with Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks, takes its inspiration from a very early Robinsons recipe which was first brewed in the 1850’s; a time when porter style beer was becoming increasingly popular in Britain."  Of the beer, Bruce Dickinson stated: "I like tasting outside the box.  Stouts and porters were virgin territory for me so I just went by feel.  Martyn and I hope we have created a new take on a classic beer and one which I hope will tickle the taste buds of ale fans in a pleasantly unexpected way."

Overall pairing: Visually and theoretically speaking, this pairing is pretty obvious.  And coming in at only 6.8% ABV, you can through back a few of these easy drinking Troopers whilst pumping your fist and banging your head to the might and brilliance that is Iron Maiden's "Maiden England '88"!!

UP THE IRONS!!!

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