January 14th, 2023 - Berliner Weisse Heroes

 

Hello and happy Saturday rockers, rollers, and craft beer lovers!  The Meista here paring with the second album of David Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy".  Today, I'm pairing the brilliant "Heroes" album and a tart and tasty Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse from DC Brau Brewing!

Album Info:

• Artist: David Bowie
• Title: "Heroes"
• Recorded: July through August 1977 in Berlin, Germany
  Release date: October 14th, 1977 (12 studio album by David Bowie)
• Record company: RCA Records
• Production: Tony Visconti and David Bowie
• Album cover art: Masayoshi Sukita (photography) 
• Personnel: David Bowie (lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, saxophone, and koto) with Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar), Dennis Davis (drums and percussion), Brian Eno (synthesizers, keyboards, and guitar treatments), Robert Fripp (lead guitar), George Murray (bass guitar) 
• Additional musicians: Antonia Maass (backing vocals) and Tony Visconti (percussion and backing vocals)
• Musical style: Art rock, power pop, ambient, electronic, experimental rock
• Sound: Quite the departure from his earlier glam sound and developed from the sound and writing/recording approach of the previous album, "Low", "Heroes" is a "brighter" album, both lyrically and musically and includes some of his greatest recordings of the period.  And it of course contains one of Bowie's biggest hits (and a favorite of mine), the amazing title track, "Heroes", a timeless tale of two lovers meeting at the Berlin Wall.  The album also contains a couple of rather dark, gloomy, and very atmospheric electronic soundscapes, which are heavily influenced by the "Eno-sound".
• Major themes: Desire, life, love, separation, the Berlin Wall, Japan, modernism, tribute to American artist Chris Burden, facing reality, despair, desperation, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "Beauty And The Beast"
2. "Joe The Lion"
3. "'Heroes'"
4. "Sons Of The Silent Age"
5. "Blackout"
6. "V-2 Schneider"
7. "Sense Of Doubt"
8. "Moss Garden"
9. "Neuköln"
10. "The Secret Life Of Arabia"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: DC Brau Brewing (Washington, DC) 
• Website: https://dcbrau.com/
• Brew: Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse
• Style: German Fruited Berliner Weisse
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 4.5%
• Ingredients: Chico yeast and Falconers Flight hops, along with dried lemon peel and lemon puree 
• Pour: The Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse pours a hazy green/yellow pear color with a fizzy, thin, bright white head with lots of bubbles.  The head dissipates rather quickly leaving a very thin white ring with minimal lacing.
• Nose: The nose is tart, fruity, and floral.  There are aromas of lemon juice and zest, lime peel, cracked wheat, wildflowers, and a hint of honey. 
• Taste: The taste of the Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse follows the nose with notes of freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, lime peel, lavender, light biscuit, and a splash of honey.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied with high carbonation, the mouthfeel is dry, crisp, tart, and fizzy with a very clean and tart finish.

Overall pairing: The Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse from DC Brau is a wonderfully tart, flavorful, and complex brew that works perfectly with the sonic storytelling and musical mastery of the late, great David Bowie!  Those complex flavors really work well with the quintessential "Bowie histrionics" and of course the Berlin theme helps too.  

Cheers!!