An American IPA In Denmark

Meant For You- The Beach Boys MP3



Friends- The Beach Boys MP3



Passing By- The Beach Boys MP3


7/20/11

beeradvocate.com- B+

Mikkeller Citra Single Hop IPA- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint, Brooklyn- 32 oz- Poured in to Belgium Beer Glass- 6.8% ABV

Head- Frothy, 2 finger head. Hung around quite a bit with some thick lacing

Color-Dark orange, a bit cloudy

Mouthfeel- Medium but actually more towards the light side. Carbonated but not extremely active

Aroma- Hoppy, sticky citrus

Tatse/ Overall- This beer was brewed in Denmark and was brewed with a single hop, Citra, and is described as an American IPA. I don't know to much about this Hop or its components . This is my first foreign brewed American style IPA. The aroma has all the hallmarks of an American IPA but the taste is kind of different and not what I was expecting. This is a pretty smooth drinker with a bitter sweetness to it if that is possible. It also has a dryness to the finish I don't usually experience with IPA's from here. This is a pretty drinkable brew with some depth to it that I like. The only drawback is it was $14 for a 32oz. Growler which is more than what I like to spend but I initially saw the wrong price so I just went with it. It was nice to try a Denmark American style IPA and would be open to it in the future for the right price but I don't forsee seeing it to often.

On the turntable is Friends- The Beacdh Boys- Recorded largely in Brian wilson's home studio in 1968. I have been slacking on the posts lately but I had some issues with my MP3 posts and I switched to a DivShare music player so hopefully that alleviates my playback issues.

Music wise it has been a lot of fusion and prog rock as of late. Not wide spread fusion and prog but, more specifically, Billy Cobham and Genesis. But I have also been in a Beach Boys state of mind as well. Maybe it has something to do with the oppressive summer heat as of late. I have had quite a few Beach Boys phases over the years dating back to the late 80’s when I had a cassette of their greatest hits which I listened to on my walkman when I was mowing lawns in the summer. My second period of Beach Boys came when I first heard Pet Sounds around 1999. We were having some beers at my friends apartment in Brooklyn and he played it for me. I had heard it mentioned by Paul McCartney saying it had inspired The Beatles Sgt. Pepper LP and honestly at the time I didn’t really understand the context of the statement. It took me a few years of listening and learning before I truly understood how these influences were expressed and how the careers of the Beatles and the Beach Boys intersected. I became a fan of Pet Sounds that night and I soon purchased the CD at the old HMV on E. 86TH St. in Manhattan.

A couple more years down the road I bought the LP Sunflower by the Beach Boys and soon realized they had some great music following what many deem their greatest achievement, Pet Sounds. Their post Pet Sounds catalog has been long neglected, except for true fans, and only now is being positively reassessed. This purchase inspired me to seek out most of their pre and post Pet Sounds albums and at current count I have 11 or 12 of their LP’s. Most of them are reissues from the 1970’s and 1980’s but I have a couple of originals. I am surprised I have so many, I didn’t set out to have all of them but most of them were surprisingly inexpensive. I may have more Beach Boys LP’s than I have of any other one group/artist which is strange because I certainly like a lot of other groups more.

The Friends LP escaped me for awhile and was the one I was most interested in since B. Wilson has said in interviews it is one of his favorites. I still look in the Beach Boys bin to see if I can find another pressing and I have yet to find one. I really enjoy this LP and my main complaint with it is its brevity. It clocks in somewhere around 35 minutes and one or two songs are kind of weak in my opinion, Transcendental Meditation and Anna Lee, The Healer. There is a relaxed, contemplative feel on this LP and is composed around themes like the environment, home and a sense of spirituality. And what this LP lacks is made up for with imaginative instrumentation reminiscent of exotica albums, Dennis Wilson’s first contributions as a songwriter and some really sweet organ tones. MP3’s include above are “Meant For You”, which leads of the album, is a transcendent piece which mixes vocals, piano and possibly organ and clocks in at 38 seconds (again, too brief) and leads into the cornerstone of the LP “Friends”. These are followed by “Passing By” one of a handful of instrumental pieces, with some wordless vocals, in the Beach Boys catalog could have been a toss off from the Pet Sounds sessions and adds a nice, whirling resolution to the first side of this LP.

There will probably be more Beach Boys sessions in the future...