March 22nd, 2026 - Plump & Perfect Strangers

 

Hello and happy Sunday rockers, rollers, and craft beer lovers!  Your pal the Meista here today pairing Deep Purple's fantastic "Perfect Strangers" with a fruity and smooth Plump Huckleberry Helles Lager from Bombastic Brewing!  Oh, yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Deep Purple
• Title: "Perfect Strangers"
• Recorded: July through August 1984 at "Horizons" in Stowe, Vermont with Le Mobile Studio
  Release date: October 29th, 1984 (11th studio album by Deep Purple)
• Record company: Warner Bros.
• Production: Roger Glover and Deep Purple
• Album cover art: Glenn Dean
• Personnel: Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (organ and keyboards), and Ian Paice (drums and percussion)
• Musical style: Hard rock, progressive rock, heavy metal
• Sound: A favorite of mine and a heavily influential album for me from the mid-'80s, with "Perfect Strangers", Deep Purple re-established themselves as a force of reckoning in the realm of hard rock and metal!  It had been 9 years since Deep Purple had released an album and 11 years since this particular lineup had released anything, but they came in swinging!  They didn't try to recapture their 370s sound; rather, they developed a very relevant and progressive identity as a band with new ideas and an evolving sound.  Pure magic!
• Major themes: Life, rebellion, desire, revenge, anger, etc. 
• Tracks:  

1. "Knocking At Your Back Door"
2. "Under The Gun"
3. "Nobody's Home"
4. "Mean Streak"
5. "Perfect Strangers"
6. "A Gypsy's Kiss"
7. "Wasted Sunsets"
8. "Hungry Daze"
9. "Not Responsible"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Bombastic Brewing (Hayden, Idaho)
• Website: https://www.bombasticbrewing.com/
• Brew: Plump Huckleberry Helles Lager
• Style: German-style Helles / Fruited Beer
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• IBUs: 16
• Pour: The Plump pours clear, bright golden-yellow hue with thin, yet frothy, bright white head that slowly dissipates to a thin ring with light, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is fruity, grainy, floral, and lightly malty.  There are aromas of sweet huckleberry, wildflowers, soft and bready malt, pale grains, and light, grassy hops. 
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste of the Plump is grainy, malty, fruity, and slightly tart.  There are notes of cracked wheat, crackery biscuit, light and bready malts, sweet huckleberries, light raspberry and blackberry, light, grassy hops, with a hint of honey.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is crisp and slightly tart, yet very smooth with a soft, dry, fairly clean finish.

Overall pairing: The Bombastic Plump Huckleberry Helles Lager is a bright, slightly fruity, and easy drinking brew.  Those bright flavors are great for the for the hard rockin' goodness of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers"... and specifically works well with the head-bobbing, fist-pumping power of "Knocking At Your Back Door"!   'Nuff said!

Cheers!!  Rock on!!