June 2nd, 2021 - The Beautifully Haunted Oaks & Orchards Of Blackwater Park

 

God kväll and hails!!  The Meista here tonight pairing a tart and tasty Oak & Orchard Sour Ale Aged in Oak Barrels with Blueberry and Boysenberry from Epic Brewing Company and Opeth's amazingly haunting "Blackwater Park" album for ya!  Hells yeah!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Opeth
• Title: "Blackwater Park"
• Recorded: August through October 2000, Fredman Studio in Göteborg, Sweden
• Release date: February 27th, 2001 (5th studio album by Opeth)
• Record company: Music for Nations/Koch
• Personnel: Mikael Åkerfeldt (vocals and guitars), Peter Lindgren (guitars), Martin Lopez (drums), and Martin Mendez (bass) with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame (clean and backing vocals on "Bleak", "Harvest", "The Funeral Portrait" and "The Drapery Falls", keyboards, mellotron, additional guitar, production, engineering, and mixing)
• Album cover art: Travis Smith
• Musical style: Progressive death metal, progressive metal/rock
• Sound: A wonderful rich, and textured album, at times it is soft and warm, and at times angry, aggressive, and decisive.  There are elements of Pink Floyd and elements of Morbid Angel all tightly and masterfully woven into a fantastically engrossing and heavy tapestry!
• Major themes: Death, loss, solitude, loneliness, etc.
• Note: The album's title is named after the German progressive rock band of the same name.  Opeth actually came up with the title for the album before they even started recording.
• Tracks:

1. "The Leper Affinity"
2. "Bleak"
3. "Harvest"
4. "The Drapery Falls"
5. "Dirge For November"
6. "The Funeral Portrait"
7. "Patterns In The Ivy"
8. "Blackwater Park"
9. "Still Day Beneath The Sun"
10. "Patterns In The Ivy II"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Oak & Orchard Sour Ale Aged in Oak Barrels with Blueberry and Boysenberry
• Style: Flanders Oud Bruin / Sour Ale
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.8%
• Pour: The Oak & Orchard pours a very cloudy, violet-red with 1-finger, fizzy, light pink head that dissipates to a thin, yet sustained ring with light lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very tart, fruity, floral, sweet, vinous, and slightly funky.  There are aromas of freshly picked blueberries, boysenberries, black currant, fresh plum, red wine, lemon, Belgian yeast, oak, a hint of rock candy, a hint of barnyard funk, and light honey. 
• Taste: The taste of the Oak & Orchard is fruity, acidic, tart, slightly sweet, and slightly boozy.  There are notes of tart boysenberry, blueberries, fresh plum, cranberry, lemon juice and zest, black cherry, red wine vinegar, very subtle burnt toffee, smoky oak, light Brettanomyces funk, and a hint of honey.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, very tart, very refreshing, and smooth with a dry, lip-puckering tart finish.

Overall pairing: The exceptionally tart, sweet, complex flavors of the Oak & Orchard is the perfect mate to the beautifully and brutally crafted brilliance that is Opeth's "Blackwater Park"!  The sweeter flavors go great with the lyrics and themes, while the lip-puckering tart punch goes great with the more aggressive elements of the album.

Skål... prost!!