July 1st, 2020 - Top Shelf Beer, Top Shelf Metal!

Good evening metal maniacs and craft beer fanatics!  Your drinking buddy the Meista here tonight pairing Lamb Of God's latest, self-titled album and a delicious Top Shelf IPA from UTOG Brewing Company!  Hell yes!! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Lamb Of God
• Title: "Lamb Of God"
• Recorded: 2019 at Studio 606 in Northridge, California, The Halo Studio in Westbrook, Maine,  Flagship Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and at In Your Ear Studios in Richmond, Virginia
• Release date: June 19th, 2020 (10th studio album by Lamb Of God)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Production: Josh Wilbur
• Album cover art: K3n Adams
• Personnel: Willie Adler (guitars), Randy Blythe (vocals), John Campbell (bass), Arturo "Art" Cruz (drums), and Mark Morton (guitars)
• Additional musicians: Chuck Billy (vocals on "Routes"), Jamey Jasta (vocals on "Poison Dream"), and Maxwell and Samantha Wilbur (children's voices on "Memento Mori")
• Musical style: Groove metal, thrash metal
• Sound: Aggressive, unforgiving, unapologetic, and wonderfully intense, the sound on !
• Major themes: With socio-politically charged songs fueled by anger, themes on the album include social injustice, capitalism, greed, violence, aggression, pain, anger, seeking truth, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Memento Mori"
2. "Checkmate"
3. "Gears"
4. "Reality Bath"
5. "New Colossal Hate"
6. "Resurrection Man"
7. "Poison Dream"
8. "Routes"
9. "Bloodshot Eyes"
10. "On The Hook"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: UTOG Brewing Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: https://www.utogbrewing.com/
• Brew: Top Shelf IPA
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 6.5%
• IBUs: 71.3
• Ingredients: Pilsner, Carmel, and Wheat malts with Summit and Idaho 7 hops
• Pour: The Top Shelf pours a clear, golden-yellow with a frothy and firm, bright-white 2+ finger head with great retention and lots of sticky, intricate lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by citrus, tropical fruit, and crackery malt.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind, orange and lemon zest, tangerine, freshly cut pineapple, mango, pine resin, fresh herbs, black tea, and light toffee.
• Taste: The taste of the Top Shelf follows the nose with citrusy, tropical, and malty flavors.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, orange, tangerine, pineapple, soft mango, melon, stone fruit, herbal tea, a hint of pine, crackery biscuit, and soft caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the Top Shelf is with a crisp, dry finish. 

Overall Pairing: The hop-forward, citrusy punch of UTOG's Top Shelf IPA is perfect for the aggressive, fast-paced grooves, fiery riffs, and killer hooks of Lamb Of God's latest kick-ass album!  The more bitter flavors (black tea, pine, grapefruit rind, etc.) are great for the lyrics and Randy's broken glass and gravel vocals while the brighter flavors go great with the machine gun fire guitar attack of Adler and Morton!  And the bolder malt notes are prefect for the thunderous rhythm onslaught of Campbell and Cruz!

Cheers and hails!!