And The Beer I Had For Breakfast....

9/23/10

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale- New Beer Distributors, Chrystie Street New York, NY-12 oz. bottle into 10 oz Brandy Snifter- 7 % ABV- Another first this week...pumpkin ale. I've never had a pumpkin ale and have always been a bit skeptical of this seasonal brew but I finally decided to try one. I have another one to try in the coming weeks but I'm gonna try and wait till October. Orange copper in color. About 3/4 inch of head with very strong retention. Not much in the way of lacing. As the label implies the nose on this beer smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and maybe some brown sugar but the aromas aren't as powerful as I expected. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with nice light fizzy carbonation. I thought this ale would have a heavier body but it does have a hint of creamieness which is nice. Suprisingly this does not have an overpowering pumpkin taste. I was imagining it was gonna be like drinking a pumpkin milkshake but really it tastes more like an ale with some "complexities". I like this but I was hoping for more of a pumpkin taste to it. It would definitely be interesting off a tap and maybe better but this is a pretty fresh bottle so its taste should ring fairly true. That said I wish I had another bottle of this I would like to try another bottle served slightly warmer.

On the turntable is Border Lord- Kris Kristofferson- The third solo album for Kris Kristofferson recorded for Monument records in 1972. There are a number of studio musicians on this album but the only one I recognize is Pete Drake on Steel Guitar. I put this record on because I was speaking to a friend at work who recently saw him in a movie and remarked that he was "hot" even thought he is much older. I asked her if she liked his music and she didn't know that he was a musician/ songwriter. I told her his most famous song was "Me and Bobby McGee", she was shocked. U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Rhodes Scholar, songwriter, etc. This guy has done alot in his life. He is also the star of two of my favorite movies of the 1970's Cisco Pike and Alice Doesn't Live Hear Anymore. The following 4 lines from his song Sunday Morning Coming Down are some of my favorite song lyrics ever written:

Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.

He was and is a hardcore ramblin' guy and there is an indefinable autonomy present in his songs. Are guys cut from the same cloth as this guy anymore? This record makes me wish I was around and on some type of road trip through the American southwest when these songs may have been played on the radio. Suffice to say I had this LP out and decided to put it on. I'm not sure if this is my favorite record of his but its a very good one. I don't really know what my favorite song on this album is but the Burden of Freedom is definitely up there and so is When She's Wrong. Really though there are no stinkers here. As far as the music goes it rides that fine line between genres. It incorporates country, gospel, blues and rock n' roll into something which rises above definition. For me there are alot of qualities I look for in songs on this album in general and these feelings are the emotions that Mr. Kristofferson excels at describing: frustration, inner turmoil, contradictions and redemption to name a few. Human imperfections and their spiritual ramifications.