June 12th, 2015 - The Hop Hunter And The Mastodon

Hails metal heads and hop heads!  The Meista here today pairing "The Hunter" by Mastodon and a Hop Hunter IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Mastodon
• Title: "The Hunter"
• Recorded: Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California and Doppler Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
• Release date: September 27th, 2011 (5th studio release by Mastodon)
• Record company: Reprise/Roadrunner
• Production: Mike Elizondo
• Album cover art: AJ Fosik
• Personnel: Brann Dailor (drums, percussion, and lead vocals), Brent Hinds (lead vocals, lead guitar, and rhythm guitar on "Black Tongue'"), Bill Kelliher (rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Black Tongue", and backing vocals), and Troy Sanders (lead vocals and bass guitar)
• Additional musicians: Scott Kelly (lead vocals/additional lyrics on "Spectrelight"), Rich Morris (synths and keyboards on "Stargasm" and "Bedazzled Fingernails"), Dave Palmer (synths and keyboards on "Creature Lives") and Will Raines (synths and keyboards on "The Sparrow" and "The Hunter")
• Musical style: Progressive metal with elements of sludge metal, thrash, and death metal, and subtle hints of punk rock and psychedelia
• Sound: Faster-paced than some of their other work, Mastodon's "The Hunter" is wild heavy metal ride!  The choruses and melodies are massive, the drumming/percussion is as powerful as anything you are likely to hear from a metal band, and the guitar work will leave your mouth agape! 
• Major themes: Unlike most of Mastodon's albums, "The Hunter" is not a concept album, but rather individual songs about death, violence, life, the pursuit of truth and happiness, and science fiction/fantasy.
• Tracks:   

1. "Black Tongue"
2. "Curl Of The Burl"
3. "Blasteroid"
4. "Stargasm"
5. "Octopus Has No Friends"
6. "All The Heavy Lifting"
7. "The Hunter"
8. "Dry Bone Valley"
9. "Thickening"
10. "Creature Lives"
11. "Spectrelight"
12. "Bedazzled Fingernails"
13. "The Sparrow"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (Chico, California)
• Website: http://www.sierranevada.com/
• Brew: Hop Hunter IPA
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.2%
• IBUs: 60
• Ingredients: Ale yeast; Two-row Pale, Caramel, and Flaked Oats malts; bittering hops: Bravo; finishing hops: Cascade, Crystal, and Simcoe; Cascade, Centennial, and CTZ farm distilled hop oils
• Pour: Hazy golden yellow with a 2-finger frothy white head that shows great retention and displays intricate spider web lacing throughout.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by lots of dank earthy, piney, floral, citrus and herbal aromas. There are scents of pine, cedar, birch intermingled with summer grass, fresh grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, and orange, along with black tea and more subtle notes caramel.
• Taste: Brewed with "extract pure hop oil from mature cones", the Hop Hunter is a bold and hoppy beer.  There are intricate notes of pine, black tea, lemon, grapefruit, and grassy hops along with more subtle notes of cantaloupe, mango, toffee and biscuit.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the Hop Hunter is an oily and slick brew, but still very crisp and refreshing.  The finish is bitter and dry.

Overall pairing: There's so much going on with both this album and this beer... thus the great pairing they make!  The Hop Hunter's bitter bite works wonderfully with the brutal force and power of "The Hunter".  Both are complex, both are bold, yet engaging, and both are near-perfect examples of their styles! 

Bottoms up!!