May 9th, 2026 - Fortunes Told Here With No Promises... No Debts

 

Hello and happy Saturday rockers, rollers, and beer fans!  The Meista here today rocking out with Golden Earring's underappreciated and excellent "No Promises... No Debts" album and a delicious Fortunes Told Czech Pilsner from the fine folks at Ogden Beer Company!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Golden Earring
• Title: "No Promises... No Debts"
• Recorded: 1979 in the Netherlands
  Release date: July 1979 (14th studio album by Golden Earring)
• Record company: Polydor Records
• Production: George Kooymans 
• Album cover art: Jeep Bunt
• Personnel: Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboards), Barry Hay (guitar, flute, and vocals), George Kooymans (guitar and vocals), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums)
• Additional musician: John Legend (harmonica)
• Musical style: Hard rock, rock and roll, power pop with elements of new wave
• Sound: Wonderfully complex, yet straightforward and rocking, "No Promises... No Debts" is another one of those great unsung rock albums of the late 1970s.  The songwriting is incredibly solid, the band's musicianship is fantastic (as always), and the execution is flawless!  It will get your feet moving and your fists pumping!
• Major themes: Love, lust, desire, rock and roll, relationships, loss, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Heart Beat"
2. "Need Her"
3. "Sellin' Out"
4. "Snot Love In Spain"
5. "Save Your Skin"
6. "D Light"
7. "Tiger Bay"
8. "Weekend Love"
9. "Don't Close The Door"
10. "Don't Stop The Show"
    
11. "By Routes"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden Beer Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: http://www.ogdenbeercompany.com/ 
• Brew: Fortunes Told Czech Pilsner
• Style: Czech Pilsner
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Pour: The Fortunes Told pours a clear, bright golden yellow color with a 1-finger, bright white, frothy head with great retention and lots of soapy, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a characterized by biscuity, bready, grassy, and slightly hop spicy aromas.  There are aromas of toasted white bread, crackery biscuit, freshly cut hay, Pilsner malt, and floral, grassy, and spicy Czech hops.
• Taste: Well-balanced, the Fortunes Told is a nice blend of malty, biscuity, and grassy flavors.  There are notes of bread crust, crackery biscuit, grassy hops, and white pepper with a spicy hop finish.
• Mouthfeel: Light in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp and smooth with a very dry, clean finish. 

Overall pairing: The bright, tasty, crushable flavors and aromas of the Fortunes Told Czech Pilsner are great for the big and punchy rock and roll prowess of Golden Earring's definitive "No Promises... No Debts" album!  Those crushable, straightforward lager notes go great with Hay's powerful vocals, while the spicier Czech hops go great with the licks of the late, great Kooymans's guitar work coupled with the rest of the band's eloquence and style!  'Nuff said! 

Proost!!  Gezondheid!!