kevy metal's cassette tapes and craft beer blog

cassette tapes + craft beer = this blog

[kevymetalworld]

Molto Bella Espresso IPA (Tree Brewing Co.)

Kelowna, British Columbia’s Tree Brewing Co. has been responsible for some of my favorite brews, including their India Pumpkin Ale, and this one, the Molto Bella Espresso IPA. It should goes without saying that IPAs certainly don’t need to be tinkered with or toned down with anything that would cover up the bitter, flavourful kick all of us “hop heads” look for in this style. ♫ Oh, give me hops, lots of hops, dank and piney citrus punch, don’t skimp on them ♫

Anyways… this is where the folks at Tree, in all of their wisdom, know how to give their take on an IPA a little extra twist that accentuates all of the things you love without ever distracting from them. The thick tan foam and cloudy, honey-brown hue look promising, and it’s only after the first sip that you realize that all is well as the spicy hops and caramel malts are complemented by the espresso’s roasty bite, making this brew both earthy and creamy, but never anything but an impressive IPA worthy of the name.

(http://www.treebeer.com/)

[kevymetalworld]

The Beer Necessities - June 4th

(left) Red Velvet Nitro Stout by Ballast Point Brewing Company

(right) The Fuzz Milkshake IPA by Bridge Brewing Company

https://www.ballastpoint.com/

https://www.bridgebrewing.com/home1

[imalibeerian-deactivated2020041]

I like road trips.

The reason I like road trips? 

Beer, of course.

On my way down to Florida, I wanted to stop in two places. One, Savannah, Georgia. I’d never been, it looked gorgeous, and I wanted to eat a boatload of seafood (I got my wish).

Two? Richmond, Virginia.

Why Richmond? Some may ask. Ohohoho, plenty of reasons! It’s beautiful, the weather is great, my AirBnB on a lake was only $35 a night, but most importantly: Beer.

First Brewery: The Veil

The Veil is one of the biggest names you’ll hear in craft brewing. Why? Well, according to their website, it’s because they focus on hop forward beers, high gravity and barrel aging, lagers, wild ales, and spontaneous fermentation. But mostly, people speak highly of their hazy, juicy IPAs.

When planning my trip, I noticed that The Veil was closed on Mondays (the day I was set to arrive). Whatever should I do? Extend my trip, of course! Arriving late on a Sunday evening, the first place I went was The Veil. Before even checking into my AirBnB. I needed some of that sweet sweet nectar.

While there weren’t many options on tap (two, to be precise), I grabbed one pour, my husband grabbed the other, and we set out on the patio to enjoy dogs, people-watching, and the gorgeous weather of Richmond. My brew was Cat Boy IPA, a simcoe-ridden juice explosion. Thick due to the brewing with oats, this brew uses 100% simcoe for apricot, citrus, and pine flavors. My husband’s brew was a chocolate milk stout known as Hornswoggler (w/ Oreos & Reginald’s Bourbon Pecan Peanut Butter). While he enjoyed it, I found it to be a little thick and cloying (but man could you taste those Oreos).

Next Up: AirBnB

SHAMELESS PLUG FOR AIRBNB! $35 a night in Richmond got me an entire King suite to myself, with an attached bathroom, office, hot tub use, lake rights, boat usage, breakfast, the works. It was gorgeous and I fully endorse the use of AirBnB. SHAMELESS PLUG OVER.

Second Brewery: Strangeways

If Strangeways didn’t open at 12pm, I don’t know if I would have made it over there. But I’m glad it does, and I’m glad I did! Known for their odd creations (some would call them “strange” lol get it), the selection didn’t disappoint. However, it’s kind of like a Greek diner – great options doesn’t always mean great quality.

The beer itself was fine. It wasn’t extraordinary, but it was fine. I give them credit for trying new things. My flight went something like this:

Sour Cherry Cobbler

Lucky Charms

Red Sangria

Smuckers Jelly Uberlin

Sugar Shack Samoa Porter

Ape Armageddon Brandy Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Gwar Blood

Excellent selection, eh? Nothing wowed me. While my husband was impressed with the Lucky Charms sour (”it TASTES like MARSHMALLOWS”), everything to me was a little too artificial. And flat. And not as sour as I’d like. Again, the brews aren’t bad, and I had a great hour sitting there playing Joking Hazard (Cyanide & Happiness game, try it if you haven’t!) with my husband, but if you’re going to skip a spot on this Richmond tour, maybe skip this one.

Third Brewery: Triple Crossing

Now, Triple Crossing is another story. Their tap list isn’t as broad, but what they do, they do well. With a super cool patio, bocce set, and brick-oven pizza offerings, they know their audience. Sitting outside sipping on Clever Girl IPA (crisp, clean and juicy American IPA with citrus and mosaic hops) and Waxing Poetic with Mango and Grapefruit (berliner weisse, tart and fruited with mangoes and grapefruit), enjoying the sun, petting some dogs, watching kids play bocce… it was warm and welcoming. Grabbed myself a 4 pack each of Clever Girl and Waxing Poetic because man do I love a good beer to go.

Last Stop: The Answer

Oh, The Answer. I had no idea you existed, and now I can’t get you out of my mind. You do everything right. From your Asian fusion menu (pho at a brewery? homemade jerky? and bacon fried rice??) to your Andall brews to your Foosball table to your trait of having customers create namesake beers, you know exactly what we want. Opened by An Bui in September of 2014, The Answer is gaining ground in the Richmond beer scene like no other brewery.

And my god, those Andall brews. I was able to try six of them, but if I could go back each day and keep cramming your beer down my gullet, I would. 

What are the six that I tried?

Jose Ocampo:  Bourbon Barrel Dark Barleywine with toasted coconut, vanilla beans, cacao nibs, dry Ancho and dry Habenero

Mike McIlyar’s Hangover Cure: Canadian Breakfast Style Imperial Stout with Bewdly smoked bacon coffee beans, dark Canadian maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and Ancho chili (fun fact, I know Mike McIlyar through a beer group I’m in on Facebook - hi, Mike!)

Lychee Creamsicle: Gose with Lychee and Mandarin Orange

Double Scoop Passionfruit: Sorbet style Gose with lots and lots of PASSIONFRUIT

Single Scoop Raspberry: Sorbet style ale with raspberries

Kromer Juice Mango: Mike Kromer magic lemonade with mangoes and lots and lots of Passionfruit

Their dark beers were outstanding, spicy and deep and sweet and balanced, but with high ABVs (11%) we had to limit ourselves. The sours were bright and flavorful and thick and I could drink a pitcher of each one, easy.

We also decided to partake in the Nightengale Ice Cream sandwiches that were sold behind the counter – one with cookie dough, and the with beer straight from The Answer.

So. I mean. Honestly. Hit Up The Answer Youse Guys. I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

Richmond is up-and-coming in the beer community, and I can’t wait for everyone to head south to Virginia and tell me about all of the fresh hazy IPAs, beautiful thick sours, and Andall barleywines you meet. 

Resources:

The Veil: http://www.theveilbrewing.com/home

Strangeways: https://strangewaysbrewing.com/

Triple Crossing: http://www.triplecrossingbeer.com/

The Answer Brewpub: http://theanswerbrewpub.com/beer/

[kevymetalworld]

The Tragically Hip - Fully Completely/Day For Night (MCA)

When most people talk about The Tragically Hip, the conversation usually begins and ends with how the Kingston, Ontario, quartet are “our” band, like Canada’s very own version of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. This view makes sense when looking back on the Hip’s discography and realizing just how many memorable songs came out during the first few albums of their career.

Game-changing third release, 1992′s Fully Completely, is the band’s crown jewel, which saw them take their jangly bar band rock and give it an overhaul without ever losing their rootsy grit. Songs like “Pigeon Camera” and “We’ll Go Too” remind me a little of The Meat Puppets’ playful bounce while classics such as “Courage”, “Locked in the Trunk of a Car”, and the title track succeed by slowly tightening their grip before exploding into pure cathartic glory.

Day For Night (which I’d repurchased two years ago at a Value Village on Bloor Street in Toronto, for bonus Canadian points) acts as a moodier mirror image to the previous album’s muscular rock power by not stepping backwards, but by moving slightly more to the left. Opening with instant classic “Grace, Too”, everything immediately feels a little looser and less polished than before, allowing for more of an unpredictable vibe to soak into some tracks (Fire in the Hole, Thugs) while also revealing moments of vulnerability in others (Scared, Nautical Disaster).

While I’ll always favour Fully Completely a little more, time has been kind to Day For Night and it’s proven itself to be not only a worthy successor, but also a sterling example of those times when music can transcend borders and nationality.

[kevymetalworld]

When you’re Storm Brewing, one of the city’s longest running independent craft breweries, you can pretty much do whatever you want. Apple Pie Ale? Yup. Pineapple Jalapeño Pilsner? Sure. Molé Stout? Done! 

But when you also have on tap something as majestic as their Imperial Flanders Red Sour Ale (11% ABV), you don’t take shit from anyone, so the next time you’re in the neighbourhood of Commercial Drive and East Hastings, stand in line, get your wristband (good for six samples), grab a cup, and enjoy the offerings from one of the best and most unique breweries Vancouver has to offer.

(http://www.stormbrewing.org)

[kevymetalworld]

Second Hand News AKA “Kevy dug through a box of dusty old tapes and this is what he found”

——

Dokken - Dysfunctional (Columbia Records) / Tesla - Bust A Nut (Geffen Records)

The early-to-mid ‘90s were not kind to many bands, especially those lumped in with the hair metal variety, and these two definitely don’t deserve to be compared with the groups of that genre. Dokken’s Dysfunctional saw them reuniting after a four-year split while Tesla’s Bust A Nut was one last kick at the can before breaking up, so what do they have in common with each other? A very respectable batch of songs that fit in perfectly with their established styles (ie: riffy, guitar-centric hard rock) while avoiding the pitfalls of mimicking the back then in fashion grunge trends. Press play, rock out.

[kevymetalworld]

Dark Ale Two-fer: Absolute Horizon CDA (Bomber Brewing) / The Obsidian Dagger IPA Noire (Dead Frog Brewery)

While the swirling chaos featured on the label of Bomber Brewing’s Absolute Horizon Cascadian Dark Ale may look somewhat ominous, this hearty brew draws you in with dark roasted malts and a choice variety of hops, swirling together rich notes of pine and tobacco along with an earthy bitterness. Add to this an awesome label packed with imagery that includes a TARDIS and a TIE Fighter (among other visual treats) and you have the perfect beverage for both beer and pop culture fans to geek out over.

The Obsidian Dagger IPA Noire comes from Dead Frog Brewery, home of their Super Fearless Imperial IPA, along with one of my recent entries, the award-winning Nutty Uncle Peanut Butter Stout. Dead Frog’s take on this style is kicks in hard from the first mouthful with a thick hoppy bite of flavour, bursting with notes of chocolate and caramel along with a spicy, bitter, roasted edge that stays around long after the bottle has been emptied and enjoyed.

http://www.bomberbrewing.com/

http://www.deadfrog.ca/

[kevymetalworld]

The Beer Necessities - March 1st

Whether it’s Dead Frog Brewery’s Reina De Fuego Mexican Chocolate Porter or Strathcona Beer Company’s Left Imperial IPA, my beer yap is cruising for a mouth punch of big flavours.

http://www.deadfrog.ca/

http://www.strathconabeer.com/

[lestateur]

[kevymetalworld]

Twisted Sister - Love is for Suckers (Atlantic Records)

Considering all of the Twisted Sister albums I could’ve talked about, I chose Love is for Suckers, their final album before disbanding in 1987 and the dying gasp of a band I only knew about through my childhood friend Jason. You see, Jason loved them when during the time when everyone seemed to love them, which was when Stay Hungry made the band MTV superstars. He wore the shirt, listened to the album, and would even walk around town terrorizing the locals with songs like “Burn in Hell” screaming out of his ghetto blaster.

If I still knew Jason today, I’m pretty confident he’d say that Love is for Suckers is no Stay Hungry, but it’s also not as bad as I’d been lead to believe when it was first released. “Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)” rules with just its chorus alone, while the title track is straight-up power metal, which pleases me to no end every time I hear it. The rest of the album is perfectly serviceable and rockin’, but it’s the programmed/processed drums that end up being slightly distracting from what is essentially a not-all-that-bad, last swing at glory.

[kevymetalworld]

Spotted on the Shelf...

(Left) Powell Street Craft Brewery’s Cheeky Session West Coast Social Ale

(Right) Melvin Brewing’s Melvin IPA and 2X4 DIPA

https://www.powellbeer.com/

http://www.melvinbrewing.com/

[kevymetalworld]

Second Hand News AKA “Kevy dug through a box of dusty old tapes and this is what he found”

——

Spinal Tap - This Is Spinal Tap Original Soundtrack (Polydor) / Break Like The Wind (MCA)

It’s good to know that I wasn’t alone in believing that the band featured in the Rob Reiner movie/mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap were a real band. Although, real or not, I was hooked at a young age and my lone VHS copy became the means by which I turned all of my friends onto this gem.

Come to think of it, Spinal Tap were a real band as far I’m concerned, especially when you consider that the main creative trio (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) actually wrote and played on both This Is Spinal Tap and the follow up, Break Like The Wind.

The concept of a fictional band doesn’t mean shit if the songs aren’t worth a damn, and luckily, these two releases are packed with genuine, stick-in-your-brain classics. Everyone involved knew what they were doing and made sure that even though these tracks mimicked the lunkheaded swagger of ‘70s hard rock/heavy metal, they had the songwriting and comedic chops to back them up.

[sadgalari]

this is one of the best parks intros 

[kevymetalworld]

Today I decided to start a new post dedicated to any cool/interesting/badass growlers that cross my path, so without further delay, I present to you...

Growler in the Yard (If you’re a Pig Destroyer fan, you know what I’m talking about)

First up: Holy Mountain Brewing

https://www.facebook.com/HolyMountainBrewing/

https://www.instagram.com/holymtnbrewing/?hl=en

[kevymetalworld]

The Beer Necessities - February 1st

When in doubt, only a couple of favorites (both new and old) will scratch that itch for big, bold, mouth-punching flavours, with Green Leaf Brewing’s Animal Farm IPA bringing the hop and funk while Phillips’ The Hammer Oak Aged Imperial Stout keeps it dark and boozy smooth.

http://www.greenleafbrew.com/

https://phillipsbeer.com/

[imalibeerian-deactivated2020041]

Hudson Valley Brewery Day!

This past Saturday, my husband and I hopped in the car with my two friends (and their pug) and took the 3 ½ hour drive down to the Hudson Valley.

First of all, the Hudson Valley is gorgeous. Secondly, the day itself was a beautiful, 50-degree snowless day in mid-January here in upstate NY (that is unheard of). 

Third, we went for the beer.

The most important thing to note for the Hudson Valley breweries is that these are farm breweries; meaning, wear shoes you don’t care about, because you will get muddy hiking your way to the barn/tasting room/brew floor.

The first stop on our journey was Plan Bee brewing. Owners Evan and Emily Watson take great care to use only locally sourced ingredients to brew 100% New York State ingredient beer. 

Emily poured our samples for us while patting our welcome dog, and educated us on their brew process, their commitment to local ingredients, and the beer progression, as we tried their Farmstand Ale, Dandeliaison, Pickle, Beet, and Karnl beers. Karnl (a tart & funky orange-red hued sour ale partially aged atop of NY Montmorency Cherries in a Hillrock Double Rye Barrel), receiving a perfect 5-star rating from me on Untappd, was the favorite.

From the Plan Bee website, this brewery “features an original 3-story 1830’s barn which fully renovated houses their stainless steel 10BBL steam-fire brewhouse, local HV open oak fermenters, coolship, and a barrel aged sanctuary for wild, 100% NY ingredient farmhouse & sour beers tied directly to the farm & the Hudson Valley.”

I purchased Karnl, Amour, Farmstand Ale, Barn Beer, and… Pickle (a sour ale, aged in their solera sour barrel with collections of local microflora from 3 years. After 8 months of aging Plan Bee added local cucumbers & dill). 

I figured it would be delicious on a hot summer day with grilled burgers and friends.

Next on our stop, we traveled an hour north to hit Suarez Family Brewing. Husband-and-wife duo Dan Suarez and Taylor Cocalis Suarez are the stars of this outstanding brewery in the Hudson Valley. 

Dan’s background includes brewing experience at  Greenpoint Beer Works, Sixpoint, and most notably 3 years at the legendary Hill Farmstead, which shows in Suarez’s work. Crisp, clean, aromatic hoppy ales are served in small pours similar to Hill Farmstead’s servings. Standouts include East Camp (hoppy blonde beer with huell melon), Hecto (aromatic dry-hopped pale ale), and Homespun (hoppy spelt pale ale), as well as their flagship Palatine Pils, which was hoppy and balanced, making me rethink my stance on the “boring ol’ Pilsner.” 

The best part of this brewery was the all-inclusive family feel; Dan was pouring in the back, and Taylor was helping, with their baby swaddled against her chest. Chicken, their dog, wandered the brewery, making friends with the other dogs who were allowed inside. You can tell this family puts their heart into each and every brew.

The next (and last) stop on our journey was Sloop Brewing Co. Founded in 2011 by Adam Watson and Justin Taylor, the Sloop Brewing Co. began brewing in Justin’s garage. In 2015, Sloop entered a partnership with Vosburgh Orchards, opening a 30-barrel brew system and tasting room in a restored post-and-beam barn.

Walking into the brewery, you get a sense of home. To the left is a farmstand, serving hot cider, home-grown apples, doughnuts, jams, and other assorted locally sourced goods.

Straight ahead you’ll find the taps, with wooden tables and chairs surrounding the area. The gentleman at the farmstand showed us a cooler full of local cheeses and meats, and offered a cutting board and knife. 

We partook.

Aside from the chance to sit down, inside (dogs once again welcome), the beers were also notable. Some favorites included Cloud Jumper (unfiltered wheat IPA), Sangria Red (a sangria sour), Confliction (dry-hopped sour ale) and Down Under Bomb (an IPA with New Zealand and Australian hops: Galaxy, Rakau, and Motueka).

Though the drive was tedious, we had good friends and good company (with the regal pug) for 7-8 hours round-trip on a beautiful Saturday in January. I’m looking forward to making the trip again, hopefully when Sloop begins canning and I’m prepared to drop $ on each and every Suarez fill. Which.. I will. 

New Yorkers - we have a Hill Farmstead in Suarez right in our own state. We have a De Garde in Plan Bee. We have local products that are being used to their full potential. 

It’s magic, you guys.

Resources:

http://www.planbeefarmbrewery.com/

http://www.suarezfamilybrewery.com/

http://www.sloopbrewing.com/

[kevymetalworld]

Spotted on the Shelf...

(Left and Middle) To Øl Final Frontier DIPA and Black Malts & Body Salts Black Coffee IIPA

(Right) Howe Sound Brewing Ascension Triple IPA

http://to-ol.dk/home/

http://www.howesound.com/