Front Page Reviews & AIR

I, by myself, could not hope to purchase, enjoy, or even sample all of the most outstanding beers that surged to the forefront of the beer aficionado’s cognition in 2011, even though all of them were recently showcased in one place: the Great American Beerfest in Denver in early October.  The idea of the festival, for many goers and brewers themselves, is to sample an enormous quantity of American beers (estimated 350 breweries represented), banter with the brewers, and ask them repeatedly to fill up a two ounce souvenir tasting glass.  I did not attend this festival.  I’m not into two ounce glasses.  I favored instead studying some of the prize winners and taking my sweet time to seek them out in full-sized servings.  Not surprisingly, I reacted in a similar way when the top music picks of 2011 began to be posted.  I’ve been picking them up slowly and sipping them from full sized glasses.

So in this spirit of contemplation of 2011’s best and brightest, I embark on a pairing adventure of the intellect, the ears, and the taste buds.  I have sought to pair an award winning 2011 beer with each of the albums in the Mule Variations’ Best of 2011, provided that the album appears on the list of more than one contributor (this nearly completely negates my own list!).  I will select a single song from each nominated album to pair with a medal-winning beer from the G.A.B.F. Trust me; I’m an expert on pairings.  Or maybe I’ve simply invented a kingdom so that I may be its king.

Ryan Adams: Ashes and Fire, “Lucky Now”  

paired with

Lexington Avenue Brewery’s Porter (Asheville, North Carolina)

Bronze Medal Winner.

Obviously, there’s a geographicial connection here, dating back to Ryan Adam’s N.C. existence in Whiskeytown.  And I just had to pay homage to this great musical and beer-brewing town, which I have longed to visit and did not manage to tick off my list for 2011.  When I do finally go, I’ll down the porter with gusto.

Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes, “Rich Kid’s Blues”

paired with

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, Cali.) DBA

Gold Medal from the Bitter Category.  

The adjective bitter seems to match this song and beer.  Also, mention of a ‘rich kid’ suits the Firestone Brewery, where ownership is by members of the wealthy family with the Firestone tire fortune.  I have tasted and trusted the reliable quality of Firestone’s bitter—under my car and over my tongue.   

Fleet Foxes: “Helplessness Blues”

paired with

Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham, Wash.) Kolsch

Gold Medal Winner from the Koelsch Category.

Once again, there’s a geographical match going on here.  There’s also an eerily fitting connection between the music and the traditional recipe for this summery light-bodied German beer, unchanged since the middle ages in Koln.  With 48 entries in the category all using very nearly the same recipe, it is also interesting to note the difficult nature of the task of judges to decipher the nuances of character among many iterations of a very homogenous product.  The Fleet Foxes is the antithesis of this, as their music has achieved a sound that is uniquely their own, and harkens back to medieval style harmonies, which are almost Germanic, in a way.  The Chuckanut Brewery took gold medals in two light-colored Germany styles and was also awarded 2011 Small Brewing Company of the Year.

My Morning Jacket: Circuital, “Circuital,”

paired with

Bourbon Barrel Johan (BBJ) from Sun King Brewery, Indianapolis, In.,

Silver Medal Winner in the Category of Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer.

MMJ with BBJ, this you have to like.Kentucky is the home of My Morning Jacket, and also, as most people know, famous for barrel aged bourbon. Their new album has been described as spiritual and contemplative. If you have never tried a bourbon barrel aged beer, you would find it to be such an experience as well—infused with spirit and long contemplation of the intricate flavors.

Wilco: The Whole Love, “One Sunday Morning”

paired with

Angry Birds from Haymarket Pub and Brewery

Gold Medal Winner in the American-Belgo Style Ale Category

So maybe I don’t exactly know what the category of American-Belgo Style Ale is supposed to describe. Also, I thought that Angry Birds was just an iPhone app and that Haymarket was in Boston, but hey, what I know about the Windy City could grow with time.  I do know, however, that above those Chi-town streets, the Wilco studio loft is issuing ever more fruitful recording sessions.  Based on recent studio work, many experts found this newest taste from Wilco to exceed gourmet expectations.  I find that when I’m challenged to find a pairing for a long song, like Wilco’s at 12 minutes, I just default to beer onces per minute (logical scale of beer ounces per minute is two ounces per one minute, varying by beer strength) A bomber sized 22 oz. bottle will last you and a friend through the whole song.

Bon Iver: Bon Iver, “Perth”

paired with

Raspberry Tart from New Glarus Brewing Co., Wis.

Gold Medal Winner from the Fruit Beer Category

Justin Vernon’s music often has a hopeless tartness, and the lyrical content, is often, well, fruity.  So I thought it a worthy match.  As is true with many fruit beers, the Raspberry Tart will often appeal to women, just as Bon Iver’s music should.  There’s a playful interaction with the emotions; its easy to stomach and tart overall, while still exhibiting more sweetness than bitterness.  Kudos to Bon Iver for achieving this same delicacy in 2011.

Tom Waits: Bad As Me, “Talking at the Same Time”

paired with

TAPS Schwartzbier (Corona, Cali.)

Gold Medal Winner in German-style Schwartzbier Category

From unlikely sources just east of Los Angeles, comes this dark beer whose brewers won Beerpub Group of the Year.  Also, Tom Waits comes from Pomona, a few miles away, and he’s been around the world; he’s even “big in Japan.”  To match a beer formulated for optimum balance of sweetness and darkness, only Tom Waits could serenade you adequately with his syrupy, sweet hush, abandoning for a moment his recognizable whiskey growls.

The Twilight Singers: Dynamite Footsteps, “Never Seen No Devil”

paired with

Provo Girl Pilsner from Utah Brewer’s Collective (Salt Lake City)

Gold Medal from the Session Beer Category

Greg Dulli and his new Twilight Singers are allegedly responsible for an outbreak of Jacuzzis being torn in half, due to the repeated mix of loud speakers and the beer mentioned in hot tubs.  The effect was only intensified when the blond girl from Provo pictured on the label bathed with me on cold Utah nights.