February 19th, 2022 - A Winter Amber For The Winter's Gate

 

Gott kveld and happy Saturday!  The Meista here tonight trying to keep warm with a pairing of the Winter Amber from Salt Flats Brewing Company and "Winter's Gate" from Finnish melodic death metal band Insomnium!

Album Info:

• Artist: Insomnium
• Title: "Winter's Gate"
• Recorded: March through April 2016 at SF Sound Studio and Studio Korkeakoski in Helsinki, Finland
• Release date: September 23rd, 2016 (7th studio album by Insomnium)
• Record company: Century Media
• Production: Teemu Aalto and Insomnium
• Album cover art: Teemu Tähkänen
• Personnel: Ville Friman (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Markus Hirvonen (drums), Niilo Sevänen (bass and vocals), and Markus Vanhala (guitar and keyboards)
• Additional musicians: Teemu Aalto (backing vocals and keyboards), Aleksi Munter (keyboards), and Niilo Sevänen (keyboards)
• Musical style: Progressive death metal, melodic death metal, doom metal with elements of black metal and progressive rock
• Sound: Atmospheric, moody, dark, and wonderfully heavy, the sound on "Winter's Gate" really conveys the themes of the album!  At times it is ethereal, beautiful, and haunting.  At times it is as aggressive and unpredictable as a stormy sea.  
• Major themes: "Winter's Gate" is a concept album about “a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west of Ireland, despite the treacherous winter drawing near.”  Themes include darkness, sorrow, pain, winter, death, valor, nature, the elements, the sea, loss, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Winter's Gate" (parts 1 through 7)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Salt Flats Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://saltflatsbeer.com/
• Brew: Winter Amber
• Style: Winter Warmer
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 9.0%
• IBUs: 15 
• Ingredients: Amber ale spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, and vanilla and aged in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels for a year
• Pour: The Winter Amber pours a dark mahogany with a half-finger, eggshell colored head with good retention and sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is malty, toasty, roasty, spicy, slightly nutty, and slightly sweet.  There are aromas of toasted bread, cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, vanilla bean, roasted hazelnuts, soft banana bread, cocoa, burnt toffee, bourbon, oak, and very light dark fruits.
• Taste: The taste of the Winter Amber follows the nose with lots of roasty, toasty, spicy, bready, and boozy flavors.  There are notes of dark roasted malt, toasted wheat bread, walnut, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, rich bourbon, and caramel/toffee.  
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Winter Amber is thick and smooth with a dry, nutty, and spicy/sweet finish.

Overall pairing: The Winter Amber from Salt Flats, with all of the roasty, spicy, and sweet flavors and aromas is perfect for the complexity, depth, heaviness, and sheer brilliance of Insomnium's "Winter's Gate"!  'Nuff said! 

Skål!!  Hails!!