December 17th, 2023 - Witchway to the Dark Lager?

 

Hey there rockers, and craft brew lovers!  Your pal the Meista is here tonight pairing Hellbender's killer album "Witchway" with a tasty and roasty Dark Lager from Offset Bier Company!  Hell yeah!

Album Info: 

• Artist: Hellbender
• Title: "Witchway"
• Recorded: 1986 through 1992 at Audio Vision Studio and Musicians Choice
  Release date: November 3rd, 2023 (compilation album by Hellbender)
• Record company: Metallic Blue Records
• Production: Hellbender
• Album cover art: Chris Schnabel
• Personnel: Tom Adolphson (lead vocals), Mark Ary (guitars), Mike Ball (lead and rhythm guitars), Jeff Ballantyne (drums), Scott Campbell (lead guitars), Jay Haake (bass and rhythm guitars), Chris Session (bass), Ron Wheels (bass), and Greg Yeates (bass, and lead and rhythm guitars)
• Musical style: Power metal with elements of doom and thrash
• Sound: With influence from NWOBHM bands like Witchfynde and doom metal from bands like Trouble, the tracks on "Witchway" wonderfully blend faster paced rockers with heavy, slower elements.  This album is a true gem!
• Major themes: Good vs. evil, fantasy, life and death, darkness, heavy metal, heaven and hell, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Geezer"
2. "The Execution"
3. "Blown To Smithereens"
4. "Witchway"
5. "City Grave"
6. "The Least"
7. "Could It Be Hell"
8. "Metal Desire"
9. "Shark Bites"
10. "Thunder & Lightning"
11. "Battle For The Soul"
12. "The Bridge Of Death"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Offset Bier Company (Park City, Utah)
• Website: https://offsetbier.com/
• Brew: Dark Lager
• Style: Czech Tmavé Pivo / Czech-style Dark Lager
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Ingredients: Saaz hops
• Pour: The Offset Dark Lager pours a deep, dark brown (almost black) hue with a frothy and billowy, light beige, 2+ finger head with great retention and lots of sticky, layered lacing. 
• Nose: The nose is roasty, toasty, malty, and hoppy.  There are aromas of toasted barley, dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, a hint of coffee, spicy hops, and light toffee.
• Taste: Well balanced and similar to a German Schwarzbier, the taste of the Offset Dark Lager is toasty, roasty, bready, hoppy, and malty.  There are notes of dark roasted malts, toasted bread, dark chocolate, spicy and herbal hops, and soft caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied with good carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Offset Dark Lager is very smooth with a fairly clean, dry finish.

Overall pairing: The Offset Dark Lager is a very good offering of the style... roasty, toasty, and it goes down easy... and great to pair with the heavy-duty metal punch of Hellbender's "Witchway"!  Those roasty/toasty notes along with the spicy hops go great with the darker lyrics and aggressive vibe, while the crushable maltiness is great for the overall metal attack! 

Cheers and hails!!