February 14th, 2021 - My Own Extra Special Bitter Sweetheart

Hello and happy Valentines Day!  The Meista here celebrating this goofy day of commercialism with another great brew from the fine folks at Ogden River Brewing Company, the Extra Strong / Special Bitter (ESB) and the kick-ass "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" from post-hardcore Jawbox!  Hell yeah!!

Album Info: 

• Artist: Jawbox
• Title: "For Your Own Special Sweetheart"
• Recorded: August through September 1993 at OZ Studio in Baltimore, Maryland 
  Release date: February 8th, 1994 (3rd full-length studio album by Jawbox)
• Record company: Atlantic Records
• Production: Jawbox and Ted Niceley
• Album cover art: Jason Farrell (art direction and graphic design) 
• Personnel: Bill Barbot (guitars and vocals), Zachary Barocas (drums), Kim Coletta (bass), and J. Robbins (guitars and vocals) 
• Musical style: Post-hardcore with elements of art rock, math rock, noise rock, and alternative rock
• Sound: My favorite album by Jawbox, the sound on "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" is a blend of beautifully aggressive and noisy guitar-driven post-punk and precise and wonderfully produced art rock!  Each element of this exceptional album is executed with intelligence and sonic dexterity.  It is colorful, dynamic, and honestly and unpretentiously artistic.
• Major themes: With an abstract lyrical approach and songs about the objectification of women, gambling, and a car crash, some of themes on the album include life, emotion, relationships, disorientation, desire, anger, sadness, isolation, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "FF = 66"
2. "Savory"
3. "Breathe"
4. "Motorist"
5. "LS/MFT"
6. "Cooling Card"
7. "Green Glass"
8. "Cruel Swing"
9. "Jackpot Plus!"
10. "Chicago Piano"
11. "Reel"
12. "U-Trau."
13. "Whitney Walks"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden River Brewing (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: https://ogdenriverbrewing.com/
• Brew: ESB
• Style: Extra Strong / Special Bitter
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• IBUs: 31
• Pour: The ESB pours a clear deep bronze-amber with a thin, frothy, bright white head with good retention and lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a nice blend of bready, toasty, malty, earthy, floral, and herbal aromas.  There are notes of toasted hearty bread, barley, crackery biscuit, freshly ground thyme, walnuts, pepper, and soft caramel.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste of the Ogden River ESB is bready, malty, earthy, and herbal.  There are notes of barley, fresh herbs, freshly baked bread, earthy hops, light onion, herbal tea, and soft caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium in body with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is crisp and smooth with a very dry, slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: Wonderfully flavorful and very drinkable, the Ogden River ESB is the perfect beer to toss back with your sweetheart the day of love with the hard-hitting artistic intensity of "For Your Own Special Sweetheart"! 'Nuff said!!

Cheers!!