October 23rd, 2015 - Keeping My 208 Like A Secret... Well, Not Really

Good afternoon!  The Meista here today pairing "Keep It Like A Secret" from Boise, Idaho indie rock darlings Built To Spill with a Ale 208 Session Ale from Grand Teton Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Built To Spill
• Title: "Keep It Like A Secret"
• Recorded: November 1997 and April through May 1998
  Release date: February 2nd, 1999 (4th full-length studio album from Built To Spill)
• Record company: Up Records/Warner Bros. Records
• Production: Phil Ek and Doug Martsch
• Album cover art: Tae Won Yu (art direction and design) and Jeff Smith (photography)
• Personnel: Doug Martsch (guitar, vocals, and production), Brett Nelson (bass), and Scott Plouf (drums)
• Additional musicians: Sam Coomes (keyboards on "Broken Chairs")
• Musical style: Indie rock, post punk with elements of folk and country
• Sound: Shorter, more concise, and tighter than on previous albums, the songs on "Keep It Like A Secret" are very up-tempo, poppy, and filled with rockin' and catchy guitar riffs. 
• Major themes: Most of the themes on the album deal with relationships, honesty, depression, clichés, states of emotion, and life in general.
• Notes: The songs on the album came out of several, long jam sessions in November of 1997.  Martsch used a foot pedal to triggered a tape machine to record the jams.  He later comb through the hours of recorded music, finding parts that struck him, and methodically built them into complete songs with lyrics, which would later form the album.
• Tracks: 

1. "The Plan"
2. "Center Of The Universe"
3. "Carry The Zero"
4. "Sidewalk"
5. "Bad Light"
6. "Time Trap"
7. "Else"
8. "You Were Right"
9. "Temporarily Blind"
10. "Broken Chairs"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Grand Teton Brewing Company (Victor, Idaho)
• Website: http://www.grandtetonbrewing.com/
• Brew: Ale 208 Session Ale
• Style: American Blonde Ale
• Serving: pint off the tap
• ABV: 4.8% 
• IBUs: 16
• Gravity: 12.0° Plato
• Ingredients: Idaho 2-Row malted barley and Idaho Bravo and Galena hops
• Pour: Light golden-orange hue with a frothy, 1-finger white head that leaves a nice thin ring and good lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by a balanced a light citrus hop against a light malty backbone.  There are aromas of lemon, tangerine, grassy and floral hops, light caramel, and grain.
• Taste: Mirroring the nose, the taste of the Ale 208 is a well-balanced blend of light malts and grains and fresh hoppy and citrusy flavors.  There are notes of toasted biscuit, cracker, lemon, light grapefruit, summer grass, and light toasted toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied and well carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Ale 208 is crisp and refreshing with a clean finish.

Overall pairing: The light, crisp drinkability of the Ale 208 is perfect for the poppy, up-beat sound of Built To Spill's "Keep It Like A Secret".  The guitar work and vocals of Martsch really pop when accompanied by those crisp Idaho hop notes while the slight bitterness goes well with the more melancholy lyrical content.

Cheers!