April 5th, 2023 - The N'ice Winter Warmer Kills!

 

Hello and happy Wednesday headbangers and craft brew freaks!  The Meista here in snowy Utah (yes, snowy in April!) pairing and a bold, complex, and delicious N'ice Chouffe Belgian Dark Beer Brewed with Spices from Brasserie d'Achouffe with "Winter Kills", the 6th kick-ass album by DevilDriver!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: DevilDriver
• Title: "Winter Kills"
• Recorded: 2013 at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida and Dez Fafara's home studio
• Release date: August 27th, 2013 (6th studio album by DevilDriver)
• Record company: Napalm Records
• Production: Mark Lewis and DevilDriver
• Album cover art: Ryan Clark (layout) and Dean Karr (photography)
• Personnel: John Boecklin (drums), Dez Fafara (vocals), Jeff Kendrick (rhythm guitar), Mike Spreitzer (lead guitar), and Chris Towning (bass guitar)
• Musical style: Groove metal, melodic death metal, thrash metal
• Sound: Aggressive, fast-paced, in-your-face, and heavy, with "Winter Kills", DevilDriver delivered yet another powerful collection of tracks!  The blending of groove elements and melodic death makes for a captivating sonic journey!  Of the album, Fafara stated: "We delivered our signature California Groove sound alongside a Raw and Biting guitar tone, mixed it with massive hooks, added in thunderous drums to rethink, and reshape another different sounding unique piece of Rock-N-Roll! Cutting our own path is something to be proud of."
• Major themes: Life, death, desperation, rage, violence, introspection, sorrow, etc.  
• Tracks: 
1. "Oath Of The Abyss"
2. "Ruthless"
3. "Desperate Times"
4. "Winter Kills"
5. "The Appetite"
6. "Gutted"
7. "Curses And Epitaphs"
8. "Caring's Overkill"
9. "Haunting Refrain"
10. "Tripping Over Tombstones"
11. "Sail" (Awolnation cover)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Brasserie d'Achouffe (Houffalize, Belgium)
• Website: https://chouffe.com/en-gb/brewery-achouffe/
• Brew: N'ice Chouffe Belgian Dark Beer Brewed with Spices
• Style: Winter Warmer
• Serving: 11.2 ounce bottle
• ABV: 10.0%
• Ingredients: Orange peel, curaçao, and thyme
• Pour: The N'ice Chouffe pours an opaque caramel brown with a light mocha, very frothy, soft and fluffy 2+ finger head with great retention and intricate lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by spicy, fruity, malty, and boozy notes.  There are aromas of dark fruits (raisin, date, fig, cherry), thyme, orange peel, hints of milk and dark chocolate, boozy spiced rum, light vanilla bean, light herbal hops, and sweet toffee/caramel.
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste of the N'ice Chouffe is characterized by fruity, spicy, boozy, and pronounced maltiness.  There are notes of dark fruits (rum raisin, black cherry, plum, fig), Tootsie Roll, burnt toffee, thyme, hints of vanilla, and spiced rum. 
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is very smooth and thick with a dry, slightly bitter, sweet, and boozy finish.

Overall pairing: The N'ice Chouffe is a very complex and very flavorful, yet crushable brew that demands your full attention... a perfect companion to the intense metal attack of DevilDriver's killer "Winter Kills"!  

Prosit and hails!!