September 30th, 2017 - Crest Of The Stickee Steel Monkee

Good evening! Your drinking buddy the Meista here tonight pairing the wonderful and very underrated album "Crest Of A Knave" by Jethro Tull and a Stickee Monkee from the Firestone Walker Brewing Company!
 
Album Info:

• Artist: Jethro Tull
• Title: "Crest Of A Knave"
• Recorded:  Early 1987
• Release date: September 11th, 1987 (16th studio album by Jethro Tull)
• Record company: Chrysalis
• Production: Jethro Tull
• Album cover art: Andrew Stewart Jamieson
• Personnel: Ian Anderson (lead vocals, flute, acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, keyboards, Synclavier, and drum programming on tracks 1, 5 and 9), Martin Barre (electric and acoustic guitars), and Dave Pegg (bass guitar, and acoustic bass on track 4)
• Additional musicians: Gerry Conway (drums on tracks 3, 4, 6, and 8), Doane Perry (drums on tracks 2 and 7), and Ric Sanders (violin on track 6)
• Musical style: Hard rock, progressive rock, blues rock, folk rock
• Sound: After keyboard heavy albums throughout the early 1980s, with "Crest Of A Knave", Jethro Tull focused on their 1970s heavy progressive rock sound.  Probably one of Tull's "heavier" albums, the overall sound is akin to Dire Straits, particularly in Barre's guitar approach.  Anderson's flute work is as amazing, rich, and honest as ever.  A notable change in their sound is Anderson's vocal range.  After undergoing throat surgery due to an infection, Anderson's range was more limited and became more gruff.
• Major themes: Lust, sex, the plight of the American farmer, the Falklands War, angst, etc.
• Special note: I was introduced to this album in 1987 by a Vietnam veteran, who happened to be the head nurse in a mental health facility I was a patient at in my somewhat fucked up and depressed 16th year on this planet.  He was a big Jethro Tull fan (as was I) and taped this album for me, which I still own!  I don't recall his name, but this pairing is emphatically dedicated to him... wherever he may be.  Peace brother!  Thank you!
• Tracks:   

1. "Steel Monkey"
2. "Farm On The Freeway"
3. "Jump Start"
4. "Said She Was A Dancer"
5. "Budapest"
6. "Mountain Men"
7. "Raising Steam"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California)
• Website: http://www.firestonewalker.com/
• Brew: Stickee Monkee
• Style: Belgian Quadrupel (Quad) / Central Coast Quad
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 13.4%
• IBUs: 45
• Ingredients: Turbinado brown sugar from Mexico and Belgian candi sugar.  The malts and hops are "undisclosed".
• Pour: The Stickee Monkee pours a mahogany brown (like Coca-Cola) with a creamy mocha head.
• Nose: The nose is toasty, oaky, sweet, and very boozy.  It is chalk full of notes of banana, molasses, brown sugar, coconut, bourbon, spiced rum, leather, oak barrels, butterscotch, vanilla, and dark fruits (plum, raisin, and fig).
• Taste: The taste of the Stickee Monkee is full of fruit esters, sweets, spices, malt, and booze.  There are big notes of  soft banana, plantains, honey, molasses, brown sugar, bourbon, raisins, prunes, and spiced rum.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Stickee Monkee is thick, sticky, rich, and smooth with a boozy bite and a dry finish. 

Overall pairing: The Stickee Monkee from Firestone Walker Brewing Company is about as close to perfection as you can get to a Quad!  Those rich, boozy, complex flavors are nothing short of amazing... and pair wonderfully well with the heavy duty and beautiful themes, harmonies, riffs, and melodies of Jethro Tull's brilliant "Crest Of Knave"!

Cheers!!  Keep it craft and keep it heavy!!