January 4th, 2019 - Feelin' A Bit Hazy With Hawkwind's Best

Good evening rockers and hop-heads!  The Meista here getting in touch with his spacy side with a pairing of Hawkwind's 2017 exclusive Record Store Day release, "Best of United Artists Years: 1971-1974" and a Feelin' Hazy Double India Pale Ale from 2 Row Brewing!

Album Info:

• Artist: Hawkwind
• Title: "Best of United Artists Years: 1971-1974"
• Recorded: 1971 through 1974
• Release date: April 27th, 2017 (15th compilation album by Hawkwind)
• Record company: Parlophone Records Ltd.
• Production: Andrew Rossiter and Matt Block
• Album cover art: Kelly Cousins
• Personnel: Dave Anderson (bass guitar, electric guitars, and acoustic guitars), Dave Brock (electric guitar, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, harmonica, audio generator, and vocals), Robert Calvert (vocals), Del Dettmar (synthesizer), Simon House (synthesizer, Mellotron, and violin), Lemmy Kilmister (bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals), Simon King (drums), Dik Mik (audio generator), Terry Ollis (drums and percussion), and Nik Turner (alto saxophone, flute, vocals, and audio generator)
• Musical style: Psychedelic rock, experimental art rock, blues rock, folk rock, space rock
• Sound: Experimental spacy, and totally rockin', Hawkwind fully embraced their psychedelic, drug experimenting selves in the early 1970s with inspiration from the early Pink Floyd and American psychedelia and laid down a bunch of tracks that not only groove, but challenge the listener!  Their music is characterized by richly textured, acid-drenched riffs and wonderfully melodic harmonies.  And it is awesome to get a taste of a very young Lemmy Kilmister as well!
• Major themes: Life, love, peace, hope, drug experimentation, space travel, knowledge, freedom, rebellion, etc. 
• Tracks:   

1. "Silver Machine" (live at the Roundhouse)
2. "Master Of The Universe"
3. "Lord Of Light"
4. "Urban Guerilla"
5. "Space Is Deep" (live)
6. "Web Weaver"
7. "Lost Johnny"
8. "Brainbox Pollution"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: 2 Row Brewing (Midvale, Utah)
• Website: http://2rowbrewing.com/
• Brew: Feelin' Hazy Double India Pale Ale
• Style: Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) / Imperial IPA (IIPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 9.0% 
• Pour: The Feelin' Hazy pours a cloudy, golden-yellow hue with a bright white, 1-finger, firm head with good sustain and soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by fruity (citrus and tropical fruit), earthy, herbal, and malty aromas.  There are notes of mango, pineapple, passionfruit, grapefruit rind, tangerine, orange, light pine resin, light onion, herbal tea, and soft caramel.
• Taste: The taste follows the nose with lots of tropical fruit, citrus, sweet malt, and herbal flavors.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, orange peel, tangerine, lime, mango, melon, guava, light pine, toffee/caramel, and a hint of booze.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Feelin' Hazy is sticky with a dry, slightly bitter and boozy finish.

Overall pairing: The bright, fruity, sweet, and malty flavors and aromas of 2 Row's tasty Feelin' Hazy Double India Pale Ale is a great brew to contemplate the spacy grooves and melodies of the Hawkwind legacy and especially the psychedelic rhythms and harmonies found on the wonderful "Best of United Artists Years: 1971-1974" compilation!

Cheers!!  Peace out!!