September 29th, 2021 - Smoke Stacks And Other Smokey Places

 

Good evening rockers, rollers, and craft brew lovers!  Your pal the Meista here tonight pairing "Smokey Places" by Ruby Starr and a Smoke Stack Rauchbier from Ogden River Brewing Company in collaboration with Strap Tank Brewing! 

Album Info: 

• Artist: Ruby Starr
• Title: "Smokey Places"
• Recorded: 1977 at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee 
  Release date: 1977 (4th studio album by Ruby Starr)
• Record company: Capitol Records 
• Production: Deke Richards 
• Album cover art: Roy Kohara (art direction and photography) 
• Personnel: Ruby Starr (lead vocals) with Jimmy Henderson (guitars), Jack Holder (guitars), David Mayo (bass and backing vocals), Marius Penczner (keyboards), Greg Reding (guitars), and Joel Williams (drums) 
• Musical style: Rock with elements of honky tonk, R&B, and the blues
• Sound: Combining straightforward rock and roll with barstool blues and honky tonk, with "Smokey Places", Ms. Starr paints a fun and nostalgic canvas full of soulful vocals and a solid backing band.
• Major themes: relationships, disappointment, inner strength, love, loss, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "Time To Hide"
2. "Don't Let Me Down Again"
3. "Just A Little"
4. "Don't Kill My Love"
5. "100 Lbs. Of Woman"
6. "When You Walk In The Room"
7. "Love's Made A Fool Of You"
8. "Do I Still Figure In Your Life?"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden River Brewing (Ogden, Utah) / Strap Tank Brewing (Lehi, Utah)
• Website: https://ogdenriverbrewing.com/ / https://straptankbrewery.com/
• Brew: Smoke Stack Rauchbier
• Style: Rauchbier 
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Pour: The Smoke Stack pours a clear, light copper hue with a 1+ finger, bright-white, frothy head with good retention and soapy lacing.
• Nose: The Smoke Stack's nose is bold blend of smoked meats and campfire wood along with more subtle bready malts and grassy hops.  There are notes of smoked bacon, as well as beechwood and cedar.  There are also more subtle notes of Pilsner malt, biscuit, and light caramel.
• Taste: The taste, like the nose is smokey, grainy, and malty.  There are notes of smokey bacon, liquid smoke, and smoked grains.  You can also find more subtle notes of apple, caramel, grassy hops, biscuit, and baked bread.  
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is smokey, but also very smooth with a smokey, slightly bitter finish.
• Notes: The Smoke Stack is German-style Rauchbier (literally "smoked beer" in German) that's origins go back to the 1500s in the town of Bamberg.

Overall pairing: The smokey, complex, and delicious flavors and aromas of the Smoke Stack Rauchbier from the fine folks at Ogden River Brewing / Strap Tank Brewing is perfect for the rock and roll sensibilities of Ruby Starr's sultry crooning on "Smokey Places"!  Those smoked grain flavors and that solid malty backbone work really well with the straightforward rocking groove of this very underrated album! 

Cheers!!