August 8th, 2026 - The Imperial Doom Within the Castle Gates

 

Hello, hails, and happy Saturday evil-doers, metal maniacs, and craft beer lovers!  The Meista here today pairing a deliciously roasty Castle Gate Schwarzbier from my friends at Ogden Beer Company and the wonderfully amazing and criminally underrated "Imperial Doom", the debut album from the indelible Florida death metal band Monstrosity!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Monstrosity
• Title: "Imperial Doom"
• Recorded: 1992 at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida 
• Release date: 1992 (1st studio album by Monstrosity)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast Records
• Production: Jim Morris, Markus Staiger, and Monstrosity
• Album cover art: Dan Seagrave
• Personnel: George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (vocals), Lee Harrison (drums), Jon Rubin (guitars), and Mark van Erp (bass)
• Guest musicians: Jason Gobel (guitars) and Frank Mullen (backing vocals on "Vicious Mental Thirst")
• Musical style: Death metal
• Sound: Transformative, defining, seminal, the sound on "Imperial Doom" was and is definitive classic death metal.
• Major themes: Death, oblivion, evil, darkness, horror, violence, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Imperial Doom"
2. "Definitive Inquisition"
3. "Ceremonial Void"
4. "Immense Malignancy"
5. "Vicious Mental Thirst"
6. "Burden Of Evil"
7. "Horror Infinity"
8. "Final Cremation"
9. "Darkest Dream"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden Beer Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: http://www.ogdenbeercompany.com/ 
• Brew: Castle Gate Schwarzbier
• Style: German-style Schwarzbier
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Pour: The Castle Gate pours a deep, dark brown (almost black) with 2+ finger, mocha, creamy and frothy head with great retention and lots of soapy, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a characterized by malty, roasty, grainy, floral hops, and lightly herbal aromas.  There are aromas of roasted malts, dark toasted bread, light cocoa, a hint of coffee, herbal hops, and burnt toffee.
• Taste: Well-balanced, the Castle Gate is a nice blend of bready, grainy, malty, and herbal flavors.  There are notes of toasted bread, bread crust, roasted barley, crackery biscuit, a hint of chocolate, soft caramel, and herbal hops.
• Mouthfeel: Medium in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is crisp and smooth with a dry, clean finish. 

Overall pairing: The bold, dark, yet crushable flavors and aromas of the delightful Castle Gate Schwarzbier from Ogden Beer Company is a great brew to pair with the crushing power and depth of Monstrosity's "Imperial Doom" album!  The roasty, toasty, and malty flavors go well with the overall heaviness and those sweet notes make a nice foil to the aggressive rage! 

Make sure to check out my interviews from a few years ago with Lee Harrison: https://youtu.be/9YBn3gNFyBU and Mark van Erp: https://youtu.be/53fZFW7YzVU!

Hails!!  Cheers!!