The Mutt That Got Left Behind: Flying Dog's Horn Dog Barleywine

Barleywine is a strange beast. Especially some of the West Coast versions that are like triple IPAs or something, positively stuffed with hops and maxing out in the double-digit ABV.

I wrote a feature on barleywine last summer for the latest issue of Imbibe magazine and part of the story involved tasting notes on 10 different examples of the style from various US brewers. Well, it should have been 11 US brewers, but Flying Dog didn't get their sample of Horn Dog to me in time. So, I figured rather than writing tasting notes about it on the blog last summer, I'd wait until the issue came out and it was more seasonally appropriate.

Had I been able to include Horn Dog in the article's tasting notes, it surely would have been one of my favorites (not that they were rated, but I'm just sayin'...). First of all, I should mention that the bottle they sent is the 2007 vintage so it's had some good bottle time. Flying Dog describes Horn Dog as an English-style barleywine, which basically means that it is not defined by a huge hit of hops. This is all about big malt character. The color, a rich auburn brown, is the first indicator that this is a little different. Though the ABV is 10.2%, you don't really get much of an alcohol hit from the nose. There is a rich, malty, grainy character that suggests sweet things to come. On the palate it's pretty well balanced—there's hops there on the finish, but the time in the bottle has softened the bitterness nicely. You get a tasty mouthful of bittersweet chocolate and loads of dried fruit. Tasty.

Scott Ian And Jerry Cantrell Open Dead Man's Hand in Vegas

Guitarists Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) are promising to bring some "grit" to the Las Vegas bar scene with their new endeavor, Dead Man's Hand, set to open in early Nov. The focus is apparently on "great music, cool atmosphere and affordable drinks all year long."

We're just wondering what beers they'll have on tap. PBR? Bud? Anything good?

It doesn't sound like the focus is going to be on hosting live music, but there will be a stage and apparently Cantrell and Ian will be part of the "house band" with some of the as-yet-unrevealed partners. Gotta wonder, with that name, if Lemmy is one of those partners.

Creem Was There First...

I might as well admit that Creem Magazine (R.I.P., sort of) pretty much provided the blueprint for everything I've done as a rock writer...including its original version of "beer and heavy metal."

They did a series of "ads" for a fake beer (see below) that featured a different band in each one. The one above is Kiss, uh, obviously. Most of the bands featured in the ads were punk and new wave artists, but Aerosmith was also in one. As was the Greatest American Rock Band of All Time™, Cheap Trick.

Best Use of Beer Cans in a Metal Video

And a pretty damn good song, too.

Beer as a Wine Substitute?

Where did July go? Can't believe it's been three weeks since my last post. No excuses here.

Been meaning to post this for awhile because I found it kind of curious. The beer is called INEDIT and it comes from Spanish brewer Estrella Damm. It first came to my attention because renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria was apparently involved in its creation. The idea was to make "a beer specifically created to accompany food." Uh, is that because all the other ones we've been drinking aren't any good with food? I don't get it.

So, I had to try it. Put in a request with the publicist and was sent a 750ml bottle with a press release talking about everything other than what kind of beer this is. It talked extensively about how it pairs with food, but there were no details about the beer itself. Very odd.

So I popped open the bottle and gave it a try—with some pizza. I figured that if it's made for pairing with food, let's see how it does up against a pizza. Well, as it turns out, it's basically a witbier. And pizza is probably not what they had in mind when they were brewing this beer.

Anyway, here are my unedited notes:

Pours a big head that dissipates almost immediately
Hazy straw yellow color
Nose is medicinal and farmy, like fresh cut hay
High carbonation
Nice typical witbier flavors: cloves, spices
Citrusy notes on the finish
Not much hops or malt
Pretty clean and refreshing
What little finish it has is light, citrusy and dry

The pizza pretty much obliterated this beer, but it was still refreshing enough. The people marketing this have to do a better job of figuring out who's going to buy it, though. They clearly don't think that beer drinkers will be interested in it. Maybe they're right.

Mastodon Premium Lager from Mahr's Bräu

Festival season is in full swing in Europe and the July 4 Sonisphere date in Germany saw Mastodon presented with their own beer brewed by Bamberg brewery Mahr's Brau (whose brewer, Stephan Michel, is apparently a fan of the band). Two hundred bottles of this "premium lager" were made just for this appearance. No word on whether the band consumed all 200 before their appearance, but I'm sure they tried.

Shameless Self Promotion (sort of)

OK, I only contributed two chapters to this just-published book, but I gotta get in a plug for the rest of the Decibel crew. Here's the lowdown, per the listing at Amazon.com:

"Precious Metal gathers pieces from Decibel magazine's most popular feature, the monthly “Hall of Fame” which documents the making of landmark metal albums via candid, hilarious, and fascinating interviews with every participating band member.

Decibel's editor-in-chief Albert Mudrian, has selected and expanded the best of these features, creating a definitive collection of stories behind the greatest extreme metal albums of all time."

My chapters—on Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell and Diamond Head's Lightning to the Nations—just happen to be the first two in the book and both were extensively expanded from the original versions that appeared in the magazine in 2008.

Publishing date was supposed to be July 13, but I think Amazon is already selling them.