March 4th, 2017 - A Hopscrusion Into The Mystery Of Time

Good afternoon!  The Meista here today pairing a Hopscrusion Brett IPA from Uinta Brewing Company and "The Mystery Of Time" from Tobias Sammet's Avantasia!

Album Info:

• Artist: Tobias Sammet's Avantasia
• Title: "The Mystery Of Time"
• Recorded: June 2012 through January 2013
• Release date: April 26th, 2013 (6th studio album from Tobias Sammet's Avantasia)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Production: Sascha Paeth and Tobias Sammet
• Album cover art: Rodney Matthews
• Personnel: Tobias Sammet (lead vocals and bass) with Ronnie Atkins (vocals on track 7), Biff Byford (vocals on tracks 3, 6, and 10), Bob Catley (vocals on track 10), Ferdy Doernberg (organ), the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, Russell Gilbrook (drums), Oliver Hartmann (guitar solo on tracks 4 and 7), Michael Kiske (vocals on tracks 4, 6, and 9), Bruce Kulick (guitar solo on tracks 3, 6, and 10), Arjen Anthony Lucassen (guitar solo on track 2), Miro (keyboards and piano), Sascha Paeth (lead and rhythm guitars, additional bass guitar, and additional keyboards), Joe Lynn Turner (vocals on tracks 1, 2, 6, and 10), and Cloudy Yang (vocals on track 5)
• Musical style: Symphonic metal, progressive metal/rock, power metal, hard rock
• Sound: Guitarist and producer Sascha Paeth described the album as "a more 'fantastic' production, based a little bit more on orchestra work and keyboards. It's more like a film score, to underline the whole story, the rock opera aspect, which was a choice on this one and I think it works out fine. Also, this gives the album a face of its own."  It is big, bold, and beautifully bombastic!
• Major themes: "The Mystery Of Time" is a fantasy rock opera concept album.  It is described as: "So take the time to follow me into a small old English town during the Victorian era and join a young agnostic scientist by the name Aaron Blackwell as he is forced to explore the coherencies of time, God and science; torn between belief in his professional conviction, his spiritual intuition, love and a lodge of scientific occultists."
• Tracks:   

1. "Spectres"
2. "The Watchmakers' Dream"
3. "Black Orchid"
4. "Where Clock Hands Freeze"
5. "Sleepwalking"
6. "Savior In The Clockwork"
7. "Invoke The Machine"
8. "What's Left Of Me"
9. "Dweller In A Dream"
10. "The Great Mystery"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Hopscrusion Brett IPA
• Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 25 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.5%
• IBUs: 70
• Ingredients: 2 Row, Wheat, and Munic malts with Calypso, El Dorado, Lemon Drop, and Simcoe hops, and Brettanomyces.                       
• Pour: The Hopscrusion pours a very cloudy and murky candied pear yellow with a billowy white head with good retention and lots of intricate spider web lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a wonderful blend of tropical fruit, citrus, floral hops, and funk.  There are aromas of mango, pineapple, kiwi, guava, grapefruit rind, tangerine, hop flowers, pine resin, some barnyard funk, leather, and light grains.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste is funky, fruity, citrusy, and malty.  There are notes of fuzzy kiwi, peach, mango, pineapple, grapefruit juice, tangerine, lemon zest, pine, funk, light grains, and a hint of caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is crisp, slightly tart, and punchy with a little biting bitterness and a dry finish.

Overall pairing: The bold, complex, and punchy flavors of Uinta's wonderful Hopscrusion Brett IPA is great for the bombast and fantasy of Tobias Sammet's Avantasia's brilliant and engaging "The Mystery Of Time"!  The intricate flavors of the brew is great for all the mind-blowingly awesome guest singers and musicians and how well attuned they are to one another!  I highly recommend both the brew and the album!!

HAILS!!  PROST!!