July 2nd, 2016 - Those Grains Of Truth Found In New York

Good afternoon!  The Meista here today pairing Lou Reed's classic "New York" with a Grains Of Truth Harvest Ale from Brewery Ommegang!

Album Info:

• Artist: Lou Reed
• Title: "New York"
• Recorded: May through October 1988 at Media Sound, Studio B in New York City
  Release date: January 10th, 1989 (15th solo album by Lou Reed)
• Record company: Sire Records
• Production: Lou Reed and Fred Maher
• Album cover art: Waring Abbott (photography), Spencer Drate (art direction), and Sylvia Reed (concept and design)
• Personnel: Lou Reed (lead and backing vocals and guitar) with Fred Maher (drums), Mike Rathke (guitar), and Rob Wasserman (Clevinger electric upright six-string bass)
• Additional musicians: Dion DiMucci (backing vocals), Jeffrey Lesser (backing vocals), and Maureen Tucker (percussion)
• Musical style: Rock with elements of folk rock, art rock, and R&B
• Sound: Simple, basic, straight forward, yet very honest rock sound
• Major themes: A conceptional album about living in New York City, the album's themes include social criticism, anger, injustice, gender roles, love, lust, life and death, celebrity, political and religious criticism, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Romeo Had Juliette"
2. "Halloween Parade"
3. "Dirty Blvd."
4. "Endless Cycle"
5. "There Is No Time"
6. "Last Great American Whale"
7. "Beginning Of A Great Adventure"
8. "Busload Of Faith"
9. "Sick Of You"
10. "Hold On"
11. "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim"
12. "Xmas In February"
13. "Strawman"
14. "Dime Store Mystery"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, New York)
• Website: www.ommegang.com    
• Brew: Grains Of Truth Harvest Ale
• Style: Bière de Garde  
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 5.8%
• Ingredients: Barley, wheat, oats, and rye
• Pour: The Grains Of Truth pours a bright golden-amber with thick and frothy 2+ finger head that holds its form well and leaves intricate, spider web lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very grainy, toasty, sweet, slightly fruity, and with a hint of hops.  There are aromas of cracked wheat, toasted grains, sweet biscuit, candi sugar, brown sugar, pear, and very subtle floral hops.  
• Taste: The taste of the Grains Of Truth is very toasty, grainy, malty, fruity, sweet, and lightly hopped.  There are notes of lightly toasted multi-grain bread, biscuit, pear juice, coriander, white pepper, sweet toffee, and floral hops.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with a slightly dry and sweet finish.

Overall pairing: Like Lou Reed's brilliant "New York", the Grains Of Truth Harvest Ale from the fine folks at Brewery Ommegang seems simple and straight-forward upon first glance/sip.  And yet, the more you engage, the more complexities surface. 

Cheers!!