December 24th, 2023 - A Christmas Joy Bomb!

 

Hello and merry Xmas everyone!  The Meista here today on this chilly Christmas Eve pairing a deliciously tasty and bold Christmas Bomb Imperial Stout Brewed with Spices from Prairie Artisan Ales and dUg Pinnick's latest fantastic album "Joy Bomb"!  Cheers and happy holidays to you!!

Album Info: 

• Artist: dUg Pinnick
• Title: "Joy Bomb" 
• Recorded: 2021 at The dUg Compound and IRONSIDE Studios
• Release date: 2021 (5th solo studio album by dUg Pinnick)
• Record company: Rat Pak Records
• Production: dUg Pinnick
• Album cover art: Jean Michel at DSNS Art
• Personnel: dUg Pinnick (vocals, bass, guitar, organ, piano, and music samples)
• Additional musicians: Tommy Baldwin (guitars), Scot Little Bhilman (percussion and gang chorus), Frank Falbo (slide guitar), Alex Hines (gang chorus), Matthew Kjorvestad (drums), Ben Lerner (gang chorus), Randy McStein (guitars), Gray Trainer (guitars and gang chorus), and PhilX (guitars)
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy blues rock, funk rock, soul, R&B
• Sound: Blending multiple styles of music, the sound on "Joy Bomb" is pure Pinnick!  In other words, it is AMAZING!  It is richly textured, soulful, and it just plain rocks! 
• Major themes: Life, love, fear, loss, music, joy, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Jon Boy"
   
2. "A Long Way From Home"
3. "Key Changer"
4. "Equally Divided"
5. "I Can't Fight This Feeling"
6. "Like A Wolf"
7. "Social Distancing"
8. "Love And Fear"
9. "Long Live Love"
10. "Slaves"
11. "The Poison"
12. "Making Sense Of The Bones"
13. "Life A Wolf (Reprise)"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales (Oklahoma)
• Website: https://prairieales.com/
• Brew: Christmas Bomb Imperial Stout Brewed with Spices 
• Style: Imperial Stout
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 13%
• Ingredients: Imperial stout made with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg
• Pour: The Christmas Bomb pours an opaque, deep, dark brown (almost ink black) with a creamy, light mocha, half-finger head that slowly dissipates to a thin ring with virtually no lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very spicy, chocolaty, and earthy.  There are big aromas of gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, along with more subtle notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, toffee, tobacco, and rich booze.
• Taste: The taste of the Christmas Bomb is characterized by spicy, earthy, and rich flavors.  There are notes of spicy gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, black licorice, vanilla bean, cream, dark chocolate, sweet toffee, and a boozy finish of rum or bourbon.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Christmas Bomb is thick, chewy, and velvety smooth with a dry, spicy and somewhat boozy finish.

Overall pairing: The Christmas Bomb Imperial Stout Brewed with Spices from Prairie Artisan Ales is a tasty, juicy, punchy, very complex, yet inviting brew... perfect for the complexities, intricacies, and beauty of Pinnick's great "Joy Bomb" album!  The flavors and aromas of this tasty brew blend wonderfully well with Pinnick's amazing and soulful vocal prowess, as well as the explosive guitars and thunderous intensity and depth of the bass and drums!

And make sure to check out my interview with dUg Pinnick here: https://youtu.be/mJ2qVdeoDXM

Cheers!!  Merry Xmas!!