11/17/10

beeradvocate.com- B+

Goose Island India Pale Ale- Euro Market, 31 St. Astoria, NY- 12 oz. Bottle into Brandy Snifter- 5.9% ABV- Chicago, IL-Tried a new beer store this week in Astoria, Queens and was pleasantly suprise. I think this store has been around for a while and had a pretty extensive selection of brews and they will sell you single 12 oz. bottles which is cool. This weeks beer is Goose Island IPA which I had once before in the form of a post record shopping pint. I had only planned on one pint but ended up having three since I ended up enjoying it so much. This is described as an English IPA and poured a golden, orange. Dense creamy, head which layered upwards above the rim of the glass. Retention was strong, and the head was still around well after I started drinking. Strong grapefruit aroma. Lots of small sparkling bubbles. Great medium bodied mouthfeel. This beer is great! For me this is what I want when I am drinking an IPA. It has some nice bitter qualities but not so much so that it turns into an Imperial/ Double IPA. Also, the ABV is just enough that it won't knock you on your ass and you can sit back and enjoy a few of these.This beer is definitely a beer I would go back to if I find it on tap or in a store.



On the turntable is This Girls In Love With You- Aretha Franklin- Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami- 1970- Its hard sometimes getting past preconceived notions regarding artist you don't grow up with. The Aretha Franklin I grew up knowing was far different from the Aretha Franklin of the 60's and 70's. Just the other day I saw her in a Snickers candy bar commercial!? I a few years back, maybe in the late 90's, I saw her sharing the stage with far less interesting characters like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguliera. I realize this a way to market her to a younger audience but in my opinion she shouldn't even be on the same stage as them. Aretha Franklin when she was a young woman was the real deal, a contemporary of Sam Cooke and an extremely expressive artist the like of which we don't see to much these days. I bought this record on the strength of Dark End of the Street, a favorite of mine. It is a nice version of the song but didn't have quite the power of the original or other versions I have heard. However I was very impressed with her version of Son of A Preacher Man which blows the doors off the more commonly known Janis Joplin rendition. Let It Be by The Beatles is also included and her version is probably the best version I have heard besides the original and it brings out religious undertones that wouldn't make this song seem out of place in church. The Weight by The Band is also here and is reminiscent of the Staple Singers version preformed in the studio for the film the Last Waltz. A familiar sounding slide guitar sets the stage in the first few bars of the song and is most likely being delivered by Duane Allman who is listed as on of the session musicians. This is a really cool record, unfortunately my copy is very scratched and the audio suffers a bit as a result but not enough to detract from the overall experience of these songs.