April 10th, 2016 - Put Your Big Butt On My Surrealistic Pillow!

Good evening!  Your pal the Meista here tonight enjoying a Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock with Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow"! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Jefferson Airplane
• Title: "Surrealistic Pillow"
• Recorded: October 31st through November 22nd, 1966 at RCA Victor's Music Center, Hollywood, California
• Release date: February 1st, 1967 (2nd album by the Jefferson Airplane)009-02-03)
• Record company: RCA Victor
• Production: Rick Jarrard
• Album cover art: Marty Balin (album design) and Herb Greene (photography)
• Personnel: Marty Balin (vocals and guitar), Jack Casady (bass guitar, fuzz bass, and rhythm guitar), Spencer Dryden (drums and percussion), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar and vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar and vocals), and Grace Slick (vocals, piano, organ, and recorder)
• Additional musicians: Jerry Garcia (guitar)
• Musical style: Rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, pop
• Sound: A quintessential  psychedelic rock album, "Surrealistic Pillow" is not only a defining album of Jefferson Airplane, but a defining album of the entire era.  The songs are richly textured, masterfully written, and wonderful executed!  The guitar work of Jorma along with Casady's bass playing is worth every penny!  In a word, brilliant!
• Major themes: Drugs, love, sex, peace, counterculture rebellion, social criticism, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "She Has Funny Cars"
2. "Somebody To Love"
3. "My Best Friend"
4. "Today"
5. "Comin' Back To Me"
6. "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds"
7. "D.C.B.A.–25"
8. "How Do You Feel"
9. "Embryonic Journey"
10. "White Rabbit"
11. "Plastic Fantastic Lover"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
• Website: www.leinie.com   
• Brew: Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock
• Style: Doppelbock
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 5.7%
• IBUs: 14
• Ingredients: Five varieties of malted barley
• Pour: Deep mahogany with tints of red-orange around the edges and a thin white head that leaves only trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose of the Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock combines dark and rich grains with dark fruits, tobacco, and soft fruit ester.  There are notes of sweet breads, raisins, plums, dates, persimmon, soft banana, cherry wood, and pipe tobacco.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste is big malty, caramel flavors combined with dark fruits and spices.  There are notes of fresh rye bread, burnt toffee, plum, figs, dates, raisins, soft banana, and baker's spices.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Big Butt is creamy and smooth with a malty and dry finish.

Overall pairing: A toasty, roasty, and richly flavored brew like the Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock is great for the fantastic complexity of Jefferson Airplane's brilliant "Surrealistic Pillow"!  Those bold, yet comforting flavors blend perfectly with the psychedelia and beautiful harmonies!

Cheers!!