June 14th, 2021 - Peppermint Patty Is A Master Of Reality

 

Good evening evil-doers!  The Meista here tonight getting dark and a little evil with a long-time favorite album of mine... Black Sabbath's "Master Of Reality"!  I'm pairing it with a limited release Peppermint Patty Pastry Stout from Uinta Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Black Sabbath
• Title: "Master Of Reality"
• Recorded: February through April 1971 at Island Studios in London, England
  Release date: July 21st, 1971 (3rd studio album by Black Sabbath)
• Record company: Vertigo Records
• Production: Rodger Bain
• Album cover art: Mike Stanfod
• Personnel: Geezer Butler (bass guitar), Tony Iommi (guitar, synthesizer on "After Forever", and flute and piano on "Solitude"), Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), and  Bill Ward (drums and percussion)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, hard rock, doom metal, stoner rock
• Sound: Heavy, haunting, brilliant... Black Sabbath's 3rd album is maybe the all-time definitive doom metal/stoner rock album!  Drummer Bill Ward called it "an exploratory album".  And that it is!  Revolutionary in approach, the down-tuned guitars and bass created an "heaving-lung sound" that had never been heard before.  Good lord, that guitar work of Iommi is both brutal and beautiful!!
• Major themes: Marijuana, happiness, sadness, death, darkness, evil, impending doom, solitude, etc.
• Notes: Of the album, Ozzy once stated, "apart from the fact that Tony detuned his guitar to make it easier to play, Geezer wrote 'Sweet Leaf' about all the dope we'd been smoking, and 'Children Of The Grave' was the most kick-ass song we'd ever recorded."
• Tracks:  

1. "Sweet Leaf"
2. "After Forever"
3. "Embryo"
4. "Children Of The Grave"
5. "Orchid"
6. "Lord Of This World"
7. "Solitude"
8. "Into The Void"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Peppermint Patty Pastry Stout
• Style: Flavored Pastry Stout
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 8.5%
• IBUs: 18
• SRM: 32
• Ingredients: Apollo hops, Midnight Wheat, Golden Naked Oats, Chocolate Malt, C-40 Malt, Flaked Oats, and lactose
• Pour: The Peppermint Patty pours a deep, opaque black chocolate with a thin, but well-sustained and creamy, light mocha-colored head.
• Nose: The nose is rich, sweet, minty, chocolatey, and complex.  There are notes of peppermint, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cocoa bean, vanilla bean, cream, and light espresso.
• Taste: The taste is multi-layered with minty, sweet, deep roasted malt flavors, and velvety chocolate.  There are big flavors of refreshing peppermint and rich milk chocolate, along with more subtle flavors of dark roasted Colombian coffee mixed with baker's bitter-sweet dark cocoa, and  marshmallow, vanilla bean, and very subtle hints of black licorice.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with very low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Peppermint Patty is velvety thick, creamy, and smooth with some light bitterness, and like "Master Of Reality," the finish is mellow and satisfying. 

Overall pairing: Trying to describe the complexity and brilliance of Black Sabbath's "Master Of Reality" and how it pairs so well to Peppermint Patty Pastry Stout from Uinta Brewing Company is like trying to describe the color red to a blind man.  You just have to listen, you just have to taste. 

Hails!!