January 17th, 2025 - High Voltage Salvation in the PNW

 

Hello and happy Friday craft beer freaks and headbangers!  The Meista here today getting the weekend off to the right start with a pairing of the kickass "High Voltage Salvation" by hard rockin' supergroup Electric Temple and a tasty and a PNW Pils from Offset Bier Company!  Hell yeah!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Electric Temple
• Title: "High Voltage Salvation"
• Recorded: November 2023 through July 2024 at 
• Release date: December 6th, 2024 (1st studio album by Electric Temple)
• Record company: Eonian Records
• Production: Tony Childs 
• Album cover art: Tony Childs (artwork) and Eddi Calzada (art direction and design)
• Personnel: Tony Childs (guitars, mandolin, keyboards, and backing vocals), Mike Duda (bass), Andrew Freeman (lead vocals), and Matt Star (drums)
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy metal
• Sound: Embracing an '80s style hard rock vibe, but fresh and new, the sound on "High Voltage Salvation" is a powerful testament to the songwriting and musical prowess of these fantastic musicians!  This is powerful, heavy-duty rockin stuff my friends and an absolute joy to hear!  Of the album, Tony Childs stated: "I started creating music in a proper old school metal style that I loved but rarely heard anymore. It was quickly evident that it brought me back to my youth when Hard Rock & Metal became my religion and helped me cope with teenage problems. This genre of rock still has the same impact on me today and still has the healing power that "saves my soul. Electric Temple was born out of the need to express myself artistically, go to a place where I could “worship” freely and be able to share my mantra 'Rock is Religion.'"
• Major themes: Life, death, pain, loss, heartbreak, hope, overcoming fear, rebellion, etc. 
• Tracks: 

1. "Death Wish"
2. "Doomed"
3. "Big Black Hole"
4. "Streets Of Pain"
5. "Kill Or Be Killed"
6. "World's On Fire"
   
7. "Am I Damned"
8. "The Storm"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Offset Bier Company (Park City, Utah)
• Website: https://offsetbier.com/
• Brew: PNW Pils 
• Style: Pilsner
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 4.7%
• Ingredients: A blend of HBC1134 and American Noble Cascade hops with Steffi malts
• Pour: The PNW Pils pours a clear, bright yellow hue with a half-finger, frothy, bright white head with great retention and lots of sudsy lacing. 
• Nose: The nose is hoppy, citrusy, grassy, floral, and grainy.  There are aromas of summer grass, wildflowers, hay, light pine resin, grapefruit rind, lemon zest, crackery biscuit, and a hint of soft caramel.
• Taste: The taste is like the nose: crackery, grainy, grassy, and hoppy.  There are notes of citrusy and floral hops, lemon zest, lemongrass, crackery biscuit, minerals, and very light caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied with good carbonation, the mouthfeel of the PPNW Pils very crisp and dry, yet smooth with a clean, slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The delicious, bright, hoppy, and invitingly punchy aromas and flavors of the Offset PNW Pils are perfect for the hard rockin' punch that is the mighty Electric Tempe!  Those bright, crisp flavors go great with the screaming guitars and powerful vocals while the crackery backbone goes great with the heavy-duty rhythm section!  I highly recommend both the album and the brew!  In fact, even though "High Voltage Salvation" was released at the very end of 2024, I'd put it in my top 10 list of 2024 albums!  'Nuff said!

Make sure to check out my interview with Electric Temple guitarist Tony Childs here: https://youtu.be/_cDaVOVeehI

Cheers and hails!!