April 29th, 2020 - Flying To The Rainbow With A Schwarzbier

Guten tag!  Your drinking buddy the Meista is here tonight pairing the Scorpions' killer sophomore album, "Fly To The Rainbow" and a delicious Schwarzbier from TF Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Scorpions
• Title: "Fly To The Rainbow"
• Recorded: April 1974 at Musicland Studios in Munich, West Germany and Studio Maschen in Seevetal, West Germany
• Release date: November 1st, 1974 (2nd studio album by the Scorpions)
• Record company: RCA Victor Records
• Production: Frank Bornemann
• Album cover art: Kerstin Davies
• Personnel: Francis Buchholz (bass guitar and backing vocals), Klaus Meine (lead and backing vocals), Jürgen Rosenthal (drums and percussion), Uli Jon Roth (lead guitar, backing and lead vocals), and Rudolf Schenker (rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals)
• Additional musicians: Achim Kirschning (organ, Mellotron, and synthesizers)
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy metal, heavy blues rock, psychedelic rock
• Sound: Eclectic, maybe a bit disjointed as an album (but not in a bad way), electric, fresh, and driven, the sound on "Fly To The Rainbow" is essentially combining two bands: the original Scorpions band with Dawn Road, which in turn created that early Scorps hard rock goodness!  There is heavy influence from American and British late '60 hard rock yet it is original, fresh, and very German.
• Major themes: Music, rock and roll, life, relationships, freedom, escape, etc.
• Notes: Of the album cover art work, Roth stated recently: "Don’t ask me what that cover means… I disliked it from the beginning. It looked ludicrous to me back then and looks just as bad today. It was done by a firm of designers in Hamburg, who had actually done a good job on the Lonesome Crow album before, but I think that time they failed miserably. As for the meaning, I can only guess, but I’d rather not…"
• Tracks:   

1. "Speedy's Coming"
2. "They Need A Million"
3. "Drifting Sun"
4. "Fly People Fly"
5. "This Is My Song"
6. "Far Away"
7. "Fly To The Rainbow"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: TF Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://www.tfbrewing.com/
• Brew: Schwarzbier
• Style: German Schwarzbier / Black Lager 
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Pour: The TF Brewing Schwarzbier pours a deep, dark mahogany brown with red flecks and a huge, billowing, creamy, light mocha head with great retention and sticky, soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is malty, bready, sweet, and smoky.  There are aromas of roasted walnuts, sweet bread, burnt toffee, caramel, smoked grains, molasses and sweet biscuit.
• Taste: The taste of the Schwarzbier is a balanced blend of malty sweetness, heart grains, and smokiness.  There are notes of hearty bread, brown sugar, light cocoa, toffee, and light German hops.    
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is smooth and hearty, yet crisp and drinkable with a dry, slightly smoky finish.

Overall pairing: The bready, malty, smoky flavors and aromas of TF Brewing's Schwarzbier is a great brew to enjoy whilst rocking out to the hard rock grooves, melodies, and harmonies of the Scorpions' very underrated and underplayed "Fly To The Rainbow" album!

Prost!!