May 13th, 2017 - An Unarmed HOSS

Guten Tag!  The Meista here today pairing Helloween's rather odd compilation album "Unarmed: Best Of 25th Anniversary" with Great Divide Brewing Company's HOSS Oktoberfest Lager!

Album Info:

• Artist: Helloween
• Title: "Unarmed: Best Of 25th Anniversary"
• Recorded: 2009
• Release date: January 29th, 2010
• Record company: Victor Entertainment and SPV/Steamhammer
• Production: Charlie Bauerfeind and Petter Ericsson
• Album cover art: Martin Häusler 
• Personnel: Andi Deris (vocals), Sascha Gerstner (guitars), Markus Grosskopf (bass guitar), Dani Löble (drums), Michael Weikath (guitars)
• Additional musicians: Friedl Ammon (piano), Andreas Becker (guitar), Johan Bringhed (piano), Gero Drnek (accordion), Albie Donnelly (saxophone), Eberhard Hahn (flute), Kalle Karlsson (guitar), Nippy Noya (percussion), Harriet Ohlsson (duet vocals), Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Matthias Ulmer (piano)
• Additional vocalists: Jacqui Barron, Mary Carewe, Class 6 of the Humboldt Gymnasium KA,  Johnny Clucas, Richard Collier, Scott Davis, Rob Fardell, Jo Forbes, Gabriel Goebel, Simon Grant, Helen Hampton, Julian Hidenbrand, Dan Hoadley, Jaro Kirchgessner, Jan-Eric Kohrs, Gunther Laudahn, London Choir, Thilo Müller Maatsch, Mae McKenna, Andy Morton, Richard Naxton, Wendy Nieper, Gerry O'Beime, Jonathan Rathbone, David Porter Thomas, Chris Tickner, Rachel Weston, and Lawrence White
• Musical style: Heavy metal, hard rock, rock, symphonic metal, with elements of power pop, acoustic rock, and jazz
• Sound: A bit of a departure from Helloween's signature sound, "Unarmed: Best Of 25th Anniversary" is a compilation of re-recorded versions of Helloween songs in an acoustic and symphonic formats.  Of the albums, Grosskopf stated: "It's just like we've been asked what to do [regarding their 25th anniversary], if we're going to do fine remakes or re-masters, but then sell the old stuff people got at home anyway just a slightly different sound, it wouldn't make any sense to us so we just wanted to give people something new.  It was interesting and fun to play a bass like this that you can hear on that record."
• Major themes: .
• Tracks:

1. "Dr. Stein"
2. "Future World"
3. "If I Could Fly"
4. "Where The Rain Grows"
5. "The Keeper's Trilogy"
6. "Eagle Fly Free"
7. "Perfect Gentleman"
8. "Forever And One (Neverland)"
9. "I Want Out"
10. "Fallen To Pieces"
11. "A Tale That Wasn't Right"
12. "Why"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Company (Denver, Colorado)
• Website: http://greatdivide.com/
• Brew: HOSS Oktoberfest Lager
• Style: Märzen / Oktoberfest 
• Serving: 12 ounce can 
• ABV: 6.2%
• Pour: The HOSS Oktoberfest Lager pours a hazy reddish amber with a creamy and firm 1+ finger head with great sustain and lots of layered lacing throughout.
• Nose: The nose is sweet, fruity, and bready, with light spices.  There are aromas of toasted rye bread, caramel, honey, hints of dark fruits (raisin and cherry), and hints of nutmeg and clove.
• Taste: The taste is malty, earthy, sweet, fruity, and spicy.  There are notes of rich and layered malts, peppery rye, brown sugar, caramel, burnt toffee, apple, pear, cherry, raisin, and nutmeg and clove.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with mellow carbonation, the mouthfeel of the HOSS is smooth, juicy, and creamy with a crisp and dry finish.

Overall pairing: The wonderfully pleasant drinkability of the HOSS Oktoberfest Lager from Great Divide Brewing Company works really well with the more subtle and "mellow" take Helloween takes with their classic re-recorded tracks on "Unarmed: Best Of 25th Anniversary"!  Those complex rich, sweet, and malty notes of the brew are perfect for the symphonic elements of the music!

Prost!!