November 27th, 2019 - Sacrificium Of The Dragon's Milk

Guten tag!  The Meista here again with another killer brew and killer album pairing for ya!  Tonight I'm rocking out to German symphonic metal band Xandria's wonderful "Sacrificium" with a bold and tasty Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout from New Holland Brewing Company!


Album Info:

• Artist: Xandria
• Title: "Sacrificium"
• Recorded: 2014 at Sandlane Recording Facilities in The Netherlands and Gate Studios in Germany
  Release date: May 2nd, 2014 (6th studio album by Xandria)
• Record company: Napalm Records
• Production: Marco Heubaum and Sascha Paeth
• Album cover art: Stefan Heilemann 
• Personnel: Marco Heubaum (guitars, keyboards, and vocals), Gerit Lamm (drums), Philip Restemeier (guitars), Dianne van Giersbergen (lead vocals), and Steven Wussow (bass)
• Additional musicians: Mark Burnash (narration), Ben Mathot (violin), McAlbi (tin whistle and low whistle), PA'dam Choir (backing vocals), Jonas Pap (cello), Johannes Schiefner (bagpipes), Amanda Somerville (narration), and Joost van den Broek (keyboards, orchestral and choir arrangements, and programming)
• Musical style: Symphonic metal, power metal with elements of progressive metal and folk metal
• Sound: Bombastic, cinematic, melodic, beautiful... a few words to describe the massive and brilliant sound of Xandria's "Sacrificium"!  Along with powerful song writing and delivery, the beautiful vocal performance of Dianne van Giersbergen, Lamm's monster beats, Wussow's thunderous bass, and Heubaum's and Restemeier's epically soaring guitar tones will blow you away!
• Major themes: Fantasy, space, mythology, life and death, dreams, adventure, journeys, love, power, mystery, deception, hope, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Sacrificium"
2. "Nightfall"
3. "Dreamkeeper"
4. "Stardust"
5. "The Undiscovered Land"
6. "Betrayer"
7. "Until The End"
8. "Come With Me"
9. "Little Red Relish"
10. "Our Neverworld"
11. "Temple Of Hate"
12. "Sweet Atonement"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: New Holland Brewing Company (Holland, Michigan)
• Website: http://newhollandbrew.com/ and https://dragonsmilk.com/
• Brew: Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout
• Style: American Imperial Stout / Milk Stout
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 11.0%
• Pour: The Dragon's Milk pours an ink black with firm and creamy mocha head with a creamy mocha head with good retention and sticky lacing.
• Nose: The nose is boozy, chocolately, earthy, and slightly sweet.  There are aromas of aged bourbon, oak, semi-sweet dark chocolate, light milk chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted malt, espresso, anise, fresh cream, marshmallow, and sweet toffee. 
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste of the Dragon's Milk is rich, earthy, chocolately and very boozy.  There are big notes of aged bourbon and rum along with bittersweet dark chocolate, cocoa, black licorice, light cream, milk sugar, dark roasted coffee, and burnt toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel is thick, sticky, and boozy with a dry, slightly bitter, and punchy finish.

Overall pairing: The complexity, richness, and sweetness of the New Holland Dragon's Milk is perfect for the bombast and overall symphonic depth of Xandria's "Sacrificium"!   The boozy notes are great for the more aggressive guitars (especially on tracks like "Nightfall", "Stardust", and "Betrayer"), while the huge chocolaty and dark malt aromas and flavors really compliment Dianne van Giersbergen's amazing vocal range and the overall performance of the band!

Prost!!  Hails!!