December 12th, 2020 - Fire & Ashes In Hell

 

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 EP "Fire & Ashes" with a crisp and tasty Hell from Flötzinger Bräu / Privatbrauerei Franz Steegmüller!

Album Info: 

• Artist: Xandria
• Title: "Fire & Ashes"
• Recorded: 2015 at Sandlane Recording Facilities in The Netherlands
  Release date: July 31st, 2015 (1st EP by Xandria)
• Record company: Napalm Records
• Production: Marco Heubaum and Joost van den Broek
• Album cover art: Felipe Machado Franco 
• Personnel: Marco Heubaum (guitars, keyboards, and vocals), Gerit Lamm (drums), Philip Restemeier (guitars), Dianne van Giersbergen (lead vocals), and Steven Wussow (bass)
• Additional musicians: Jeroen Goossens (whistles) and Valerio Recenti (backing vocals)
• 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 "Fire & Ashes"!  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, classical music, life and death, loss, dreams, adventure, love, power, mystery, hope, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Voyage Of The Fallen"
2. "Unembraced"
3. "In Remembrance"
4. "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" (Meat Loaf cover)
5. "Ravenheart" (2015 version)
6. "Now & Forever" (2015 version)
7. "Don't Say A Word" (Sonata Arctica cover)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Flötzinger Bräu / Privatbrauerei Franz Steegmüller (Rosenheim, Germany)
• Website: Alterskontrolle - Flötzinger Bräu Rosenheim (floetzinger.de)/
• Brew: Flötzinger Hell 
• Style: German Helles / Lager
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.2%
• IBUs: 18
• Pour: The Hell pours a clear, bright golden yellow with a fairly thin, but firm, bright white head with soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is bready, grainy, musty, sweet, and grassy.  There are aromas of pale grains, cereal grains, crackery biscuit, apple, summer grass, and soft caramel. 
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste of the Flötzinger Hell is grainy, grassy, yeasty, and semi-sweet.  There are notes of barley grain, apple, light corn, and soft caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium in body with lots of bubbly carbonation, the mouthfeel is very crisp and smooth with a rather clean, slightly sweet finish.

Overall pairing: The crisp, grainy, and sweet flavors and aromas of the Flötzinger Bräu / Privatbrauerei Franz Steegmüller Hell is the perfect foil for the bombast and overall symphonic depth of Xandria's "Fire & Ashes"!  The grassy and grainy notes are great for the more aggressive guitars, while the sweeter fruit ester aromas and flavors really compliment Dianne van Giersbergen's amazing vocal range and the overall performance of the band!

Prost!!  Hails!!