January 24th, 2016 - In The Arms Of Batch 6

Good evening!  The Meista here pairing Homework Series Batch 6 Robust Porter from Ballast Point Brewing Company and Corrosion Of Conformity's "In The Arms Of God"!  This one goes out to my good buddy Mike Sargent... thanks for the great brews, great tunes, and great conversation!!  Cheers my friend!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Corrosion Of Conformity 
• Title: "In The Arms Of God"
• Recorded: July 9, 2004 through December 8, 2004 at Galactic's G-Spot in New Orleands, Louisiana
• Release date: April 5th, 2005 (7th studio album by Corrosion Of Conformity)
• Record company: Sanctuary Records
• Production: John Custer and Corrosion Of Conformity 
• Album cover art: ?
• Personnel: Mike Dean (bass guitar and vocals), Pepper Keenan (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), and Woody Weatherman (lead guitar and vocals)
• Guest musician: Stanton Moore (drums)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, stoner rock with elements of heavy blues, doom metal, and punk
• Sound: Heavy, sludgy, and always rockin' the sound on "In The Arms Of God" is a big and bold blast of metal that peals the paint!  This is the real deal folks... honest, heavy-duty rock and roll!
• Major themes: Wickedness, punishment, paranoia, war, violence, revenge, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "Stone Breaker"
2. "Paranoid Opioid"
3. "It Is That Way"
4. "Dirty Hands Empty Pockets / Already Gone"
5. "Rise River Rise"
6. "Never Turns To More"
7. "Infinite War"
8. "So Much Left Behind"
9. "The Backslider"
10. "World on Fire"
11. "Crown Of Thorns"
12. "In The Arms Of God"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company (San Diego, California)
• Website: www.ballastpoint.com
• Brew: Homework Series Batch 6 Robust Porter
• Style: Porter
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 7.8%
• IBUs: 36
• Ingredients: California Ale Yeast, Pale Malt, Caramel/Crystal Malt, Munich Malt, Chocolate Rye Malt, Brown Malt, Chocolate Malt, Dark Candi Sugar, Chinook hops, and Mt. Hood hops 
• Pour: The Batch 6 pours a deep ebony with reddish highlights and a thick and creamy mocha head that leaves a thin ring.
• Nose: The nose is earthy, chocolaty, sweet, and smoky.  There are aromas of cocoa, dark roasted coffee, baker's chocolate, molasses, dark malts, and dark fruit with more subtle caramel sweetness, smokiness, and an herbal and earthy pine resin.
• Taste: Complex and rich, the taste of the Batch 6 is very malty, very chocolaty, sweet, and smoky.  There are notes of cocoa, dark chocolate, espresso, hints of dark fruits (raisin and plum), burnt toffee, liquid smoke, and subtle herbal hops.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Batch 6 is thick, velvety, and smooth with a very dry and chocolaty finish.

Overall pairing: The bold complexity of the Homework Series Batch 6 Robust Porter from the fine folks at Ballast Point Brewing Company is perfect for the hearty rockin' stylings of Corrosion Of Conformity's heavy rock album "In The Arms Of God"!  The dark chocolaty roasted malts go great with Keenan's great vocals and the drier, more bitter elements of the brew are perfect for the aggressive power of the music!

Cheers and hails!!