April 15th, 2016 - Me And My Gigantic Animal Magnetism

Good afternoon!  Your drinkin' pal the Meista here rockin' out to the quintessential Scorpions album, "Animal Magnetism" and a Ginormous Imperial IPA from Gigantic Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!!  This pairing goes out to my buddy Wes Smith... cheers man!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Scorpions
• Title: "Animal Magnetism"
• Recorded: December 1979 through February 1980 at Dierks Studios in Cologne, Germany and
  Manta Sound Studios in Toronto, Canada
• Release date: March 31st, 1980 (7th studio album by the Scorpions)009-02-03)
• Record company: Mercury Records
• Production: Dieter Dierks
• Album cover art: Storm Thorgerson of the design firm Hipgnosis
• Personnel: Francis Buchholz (bass and backing vocals), Matthias Jabs (lead guitar, slide guitar, rhythm guitar, and backing vocals), Klaus Meine (lead vocals), Herman Rarebell (drums and backing vocals), and Rudolf Schenker (rhythm guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals)
• Additional musicians: Adele Arman (violin), Paul Arman (viola), Richard Arman (cello), Melvin Berman (oboe), Charles Elliot (bass), Allan Macmillan (strings and horns arrangements, conductor), Victoria Richard (violin), George Stimpson (French horn), and Brad Wamaar (French horns)
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy metal
• Sound: There are two words that come to mind when I think of the sound of the Scorps: definitive and inspiration!  I've never thought this band received the credit they deserve for how profoundly impactful they've been on the music scene and specifically the metal scene.  Awe-inspiring really!! 
• Major themes: Love, lust, sex, desire, beauty, heartbreak, rocking, etc.
• Notes: As with most of the early Scorpions album covers, "Animal Magnetism" generated a certain amount of controversy.  Of the cover photo, Thorgerson stated, "That one was funny.  I don't think we figured it out.  We just knew there was something rude somewhere."
• Tracks:   

1. "Make It Real"
2. "Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep)"
3. "Hold Me Tight"
4. "Twentieth Century Man"
5. "Lady Starlight"
6. "Falling In Love"
7. "Only A Man"
8. "The Zoo"
9. "Animal Magnetism"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Gigantic Brewing Company (Portland, Oregon)
• Website: www.giganticbrewing.com  
• Brew:  Ginormous Imperial IPA
• Style: American Double/Imperial India Pale Ale (DIPA/IIPA)
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 8.8%
• IBUs: 100+
• Pour: Very murky caramel-copper hue with a creamy, off-white, 1-finger head that holds well and displays lots of intricate spider web lacing.
• Nose: Very hop-forward, the nose of the Ginormous is exactly that... Ginormous!  It is characterized by juicy tropical, citrus, and pine resin hop aromas along with sweet malt and toffee.  There are notes of pine, spicy herbs, pink grapefruit, tangerine, mango, lemon zest, burnt toffee, and fresh bread. 
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste is a blast of fruity and piney hops with more subtle, but still very complex malts and yeast.  There's a lot going on here!  The dank and earthy pine notes intermingle with the more tropical and citrusy hops perfectly, while those caramel and bready notes provide a solid backbone. 
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is sticky, smooth, and punchy.  The finish is dry and rather bitter.

Overall pairing: The straight-forward rockin' goodness that is "Animal Magnetism" deserves nothing less than a big, bold, complex, in-your-face hop bomb... which is exactly what you get with Gigantic's wonderfully punchy Ginormous Imperial IPA!  Those citrusy and piney notes got great with Meine's brilliant vocals, while the complexity of the beer is perfect for the richly textured, but soaring guitars, and thunderous bass and drums!

Prost and hails!!