Bustling ruddish-hazed khaki-headed medium body with fruitful pining reminiscent of IPA styling (and biscuit-y caramel roast conjuring Rogue Dead Guy Helles Bock). Dry wet-leafed hops saturate resinous pine sapping and spiced-up lemon-limed peach, apple, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, watermelon and mango tang to cereal-grained baguette-buttered caramel-chocolate malting. Almond, praline, and chestnut augment pasty marzipan sweetness.
ANCHOR STEAM “OUR SPECIAL” 2010 ALE
Wintry purple-browned 36th anniversary seasonal retains darker spicing and deeper mocha penetration than most previous versions. Gingerbread, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice leave loud impression on sarsaparilla wake. Belgian chocolate, cola nut, and cocoa butter illusions peak through mild orange-peeled bittering. Crisp tobacco roast and ashen cigarette remnant waver.
DU CLAW BREWING COMPANY – BEL AIR
DU CLAW – BEL AIR
Situated inside a red-bricked, green-trimmed mall center, DU CLAW BREWING COMPANY’S inaugural Bel Air pub opened 1996. Locations in Bowie, Hanover, and BWI Airport’s Southwest Terminal came into prominence post-millennium and continue to flourish. As for my three-hour January 2011 Bel Air fling, I examined the efficient soft-hopped alacrity of ten tangibly diverse brews, meeting Du Claw’s owner, Dave Benfield, while enjoying a few untried libations alongside some previously reviewed fare.
The high ceiling interior, centered by a huge wraparound bar, included front and side dining areas with multiple TV’s (and a billiards table to far right). An enclosed front patio near the front entrance suits sunny day feasting. The clean Industrial setting draws sports fans, businessmen, and party people. A separate dining area to the left satisfies families with children and the char-broiled burgers are damn tasty.
Newly discovered gems included peculiar fish-oiled hop-frisked Exile Belgian Pale Ale, with its mild orange-dried date souring receiving latent honey glaze. Red-orange-fruited perfume-wafted nicety, Old Flame Old Ale, enjoined fig-dried crystal-caramel malting to tingly hop spicing. Buttery smooth Serum Double IPA snubbed brisk stylistic bitterness for sugar-spiced peach-apricot-grapefruit tang and pine-combed maple malting.
Chocolate lovers will unite over two wonderful dessert treats. Euphoria Toffee Nut Brown Ale worked toffee sweetness into rye-malted chocolate-browned almond-pecan cluster coupling vanilla, cocoa nibs, crème brulee, and coffee ice cream illusions above astringent hop bitterness.
Better still, velvety smooth Black Jack Imperial Stout drenched brown-sugared oatmeal cookie theme with macadamia-hazelnut pleasantries, Blackstrap molasses sapping, black chocolate richness, espresso milking, crème brulee sweetness, and raspberry-blackberry souring.
While previously tendered Venom Pale Ale retained aggressive orange-peeled grapefruit-skinned bark-dried bittering, its supplemental nitro version maintained soft-watered caramel-malted creaminess and delicate spicing for mild grapefruit-juiced Mandarin orange prod.
Misfit Red Amber Ale upped the caramel roasting and Bad Moon Porter increased the stove-burnt coffee-roasted creaminess and dark chocolate malting from initial Fells Point sampling. And best selling Bare Ass Blonde Ale developed a lemon-soured floral peach briskness and peppery hop tingle since inceptive ’05 offering.
The following tasting notes were from initial ’05 visit of defunct Fells Point brewery:
Du Claw’s well-detailed brews showed tremendous diversity. Lightweights will adore citric-sweet cereal-grained Bare Ass Blonde Ale, caramelized barley-roasted apple-persimmon-spiced Misfit Red, tangy soft-fruited Ravenwood Kolsch Ale, and blanched Australian-hopped stone-fruited golden lightweight Kangaroo Love Lager.
Ripe quince-peach-melon tang, spiced Bosc pear sugaring and tart lemon-hopped bittering braced Venom Pale Ale.
Robust dessert treat, Bad Moon Porter, weaved roasted coffee and toasted hops around addictive Godiva dark chocolate sweetness.
More sophisticated tastes will lean towards expressive coffee-toned Naked Fish Chocolate Raspberry Stout (sporting a raspberry seed-ripened mocha-sweet hazelnut-walnut confluence). These are only some of the more than dozen selections available at any given time.
BARE BONES GRILL & BREWERY
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND
Located at Ellicott City’s St. John’s Plaza mall on bustling Route 40 since 1996, I visited BARE BONES during two-day January 2011 jaunt to Baltimore vicinity. (Note: A second Bare Bones facility is in Stuart, Florida.)
Not necessarily a brewpub, since brewing operations ceased when tanks were removed circa 2008, but a clean blue-collar sportbar specializing in ribs and reasonably priced pub fare (if not diversified beers and ales).
Perched west of Baltimore City, its wood entry with green awning leads past waiting area to low-ceiling central bar sidled by right side dining and elevated left seating. A separate family-styled dining space was off to the far right.
During early afternoon visit following one-hour Ellicott Mills Brewery stopover, I downed a crock of white chili (skinless chicken with navy beans, herbs, and spices) alongside seven contract brewed house beers crafted by Oliver (Pratt Street Brewery) and Clipper City Brewery. Great classic rock by Yes (“Siberian Kutra”), The Who (“Join Together”), and Alice Cooper (“No More Mr. Nice Guy”) played in the background as I dipped into my sampler tray.
Best of the middling light-to-moderate-bodied ales was probably approachable red-orange-fruited licorice-perfumed spice-hopped Old Frederick IPA. Other mainstream standard fare included distantly floral-pined orange-lemon-apricot-teased Tiber River Red, Saaz-hopped crystal-malted lemon-limed wheat-corned hop-fizzed pilsner-styled Patapsco Valley Gold, and citric-blanched maize-dried soft-hopped white-breaded cardboard-like astringency Hunt Valley Light.
Though Savage Mill Porter lacked typical robust nature, its slick oily-hopped nut-charred ashen-backed mocha malting might appease milder thirsts not ready for prime time porter-stouts. Perhaps the soft-buttered nuttiness and minor hop-charred spicing of pecan-fig-rigged Chesapeake Brown Ale would better suffice.
Mild lemon-fizzed pepper-hopped malt-toasted Old Ellicott Ale (an English pale ale) and lemon-wedged apple-spiced lime-lined white-breaded Seven Hills Hefeweizen were clearly mediocre (with the latter beer in need of banana-clove injection).
HOFBRAU DUNKEL
Slick molasses-malted caramel toasting, disruptive metallic astringency, and acetous iodine driblet thankfully outdone by streamlined chocolate-cocoa spicing. Subsidiary tobacco-roasted gingerbread, pecan pie, dehydrated fig, raisin, almond, butternut and hazelnut illusions penetrate dry rye breading. As bottle drains, ample mocha prominence dissuades blunt alkaline acridity of wildly variable, thickheaded, coppery bronzed, medium-bodied dark lager.
BREWER’S ART GREEN PEPPERCORN TRIPEL
Don’t obsess over herbal-spiced peculiarities such as green peppercorn bittering and black-peppered rosemary-thyme-alfalfa seasoning enhancing well-integrated golden-hazed tripel since sweet Clover honey malting overrides every extraneous eccentricity. Mild lemon rind souring, hemp-oiled raspberry vinaigrette tartness and floral zucchini-flowered hibiscus-lotus-jasmine reminder reach zenith at fruitful ginger-snapped mango-peach-pineapple-nectarine midst. Tertiary banana liqueur, brandy wine, and lemon meringue illusions further sweeten busy elixir. Just as advertised, “an ale of mythic proportions” (bottled at Sly Fox Brewery’s Royersford facility.)
PENDULUM SWINGS TOWARDS PROTRACTED ‘IMMERSION’
After The Prodigy helped manufacture post-Nirvana rave culture for Britain’s underground masses, a swarm of inventive laptop musicians sprung up and found fame in England, hoisting Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers atop the next ‘big beat generation.’ Then Daft Punk absorbed these influences and gave a metallic sheen to the heavy groove line, ushering in the new millennium for hotshot modern beat-masters like LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, and the more rock-oriented Pendulum.
Leaving Perth, Australia’s early drum and bass alliance to relocate in the United Kingdom during 2003, Pendulum have slowly, but surely, taken over the current club scene and beyond with their impetuously infectious techno-rock concoctions. Led by sturdy original crew, Rob Squire and Gareth Mc Grillen (from unheralded Tool/ Deftones-styled Aussie rockers, Xygen), plus seasoned DJ, Paul Harding, Pendulum expanded their lineup over time, magnifying the enthusiastic electro-percussive soundscape twofold since formative ’05 debut, Hold Your Colour, and its rockier ‘08 follow-up, In Silico.
Full of confidence, swagger, and stacked electronic gadgetry, they’ve now made a perfectly bombastic 66-minute nightclub masterpiece recalculating, redirecting, and re-calcifying 30 years of decadent post-punk discotheque maneuvers for a joyous ecstasy-laced journey beyond the galaxies. Truly, the magnanimous Immersion features something for everyone to get into. Placing thrillingly overwrought mantras inside flashy nu-metal guitar frays, monst0rous dance floor romps, and cybernetic phase-shifting burbles, its plush interior design supports a deliriously cryptic water theme.
Commencing orchestral march, “Genesis,” opens the mammoth set, drifting directly into engrossing genre-bending anthem, “Salt In The Wounds,” a first-rate state-of-the-art rock-blocked techno-Industrial instrumental just about as fascinatingly phantasmagorical as Hollywood’s greatest espionage capers. Moving through a streamlined synth-drum pulse with furious adrenaline, this phosphorescent seven-minute opus shoots gooey electronic taser spurts and spritz-y laser gun squirts into an insanely megalomaniacal potpourri where Frankie Goes To Hollywood-meets-“Frankenstein” at an intergalactic Star Wars convention.
Without sounding guardedly superficial, Pendulum oft-times enjoys salvaging ‘80s musical vagaries from vinyl wreckage throughout Immersion, forging ahead with one foot in the past on “Watercolour,” which could be mistaken for posh arena-ready prog-rock by overblown supergroup, Asia, despite its utterly techno-derived rhythmic crush. In a similar vein, “Crush” revisits not only Asia, but also Europe and Damn Yankees arena rock, reaching deeper emotional heights and gaining wider mainstream access than ‘Watercolour” (an instant ’09 Brit hit single).
Though “Witchcraft” and “The Island – Pt. 1 Dawn” nearly overload the cheesy art-rock tendencies, mesmerizing mantra “The Island Pt. II Dusk” fries the brain with piercing synth-string spikes sunk into a ceaselessly overwhelming bass-drum backbeat that boggles the mind devising trippy modulated oscillations and lofty robotic machinations. Likewise, “The Vulture” bites off a few syncopated rhythm ideas from high-tech disco producer, Giorgio Moroder, with jubilant results.
Pendulum also got the opportunity to employ a few varied musicians that have gained their respect over the years. Prodigy’s Liam Howlett, a veritable techno-rock mentor, provides profuse pyrotechnic percussion blurts to floor-shaking rattler, “Immunize.” Swedish death metal band, In Flames, fling a guitar-trebled bass rumble at corrosive gut-wrenching changeup, “Self Vs. Self.” Purcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson brings a hint of psychedelic intrigue to symphonic piano-based space-rock illumination, “The Fountain.”
Not to be outdone, the dauntingly rancorous assault of “Comprachicos” fucks you like Nine Inch Nail’s “Animal,” ultimately spiraling out of control as sizzling guitar riffs and heated synthesizer jabs battle it out until the guys vindictively scream ‘throw it away/ ‘cause I got no patience.’
It may’ve taken two years to assemble Immersion, but Pendulum definitely realized their enormous potential. Every track’s been handled with grandiose Epicurean care and each cluttered performance is given utmost conviction.
I spoke to Pendulum’s Rob Swire mid-January 2011 via phone.
Did you plan on making Immersion into a gargantuan epic during the planning stages?
ROB SWIRE: No. It did take awhile though. We wrote it in the space of two years on and off bus tours. But we really cracked down on it in the last five months of making the record.
How’d you come up with the album title, Immersion?
There was a subconscious water theme running through the lyrics. Then, we were going back into the studio and it felt a bit like being immersed in itself. So it came naturally.
How has Pendulum’s live show evolved over the years into an absolutely mesmerizing extravaganza?
It definitely got bigger. I don’t think we ever noticed because when you’re in the middle of it you’re not conscious of it developing. Since we didn’t see our families for the better part of two years, the show got really pumped up.
How’d Pendulum build an early audience from the once-thriving drum and bass scene Down Under?
There was a small drum and bass club scene in Perth. We were just trying to make tracks for local producers that would get airplay at local clubs. That’s how we met Paul (Harding), our DJ. We were supposed to play a live set that day, but one of our computers went down so we asked him to set up the decks and play our tracks.
How do your first two albums compare to Immersion?
I think it’s the sound of Pendulum knowing what they’re doing now. To a large extent, the first two were good, but we were experimenting. We didn’t have a clear conscious idea about that the music we were making or the sound we were after. We got to a point where we were happy enough to be called a band then. On Immersion, we knew what we were doing and understood what album we wanted to make.
The opening track, “Salt In The Wounds,” was a major English hit. But in the United States, there probably hasn’t been a substantial Top 10 instrumental hit since Harold Faltenmeyer’s “Axel F” from Eddie Murphy’s 1984 film, Beverly Hills Cop.
It’s funny. Over here in England, you could get a lot of stuff on the radio, especially if it’s electronic.
On the other hand, “Watercolour” drudges up comparisons to ‘70s/ ‘80s prog-rock.
Actually, I’m a big prog fan – Yes and King Crimson. But more than that, Porcupine Tree, which started in 1997. I’ve listened to their second album a lot and picked up on them. I’d never really been a big fan of Pink Floyd until I worked myself backwards to older bands. We like Porcupine Tree so much we actually asked Steve Wilson to work with us on “The Fountain.”
“Crush” may be Pendulum’s most accessible track. Does that tune best captivate the mainstream audience?
We can’t play a show without doing it or we’ll hear about it online. General fans in England love “Watercolour” and “Witchcraft.” But in the States, “Crush” is the most liked. And our cult fans have also fell in love with that.
One of the mightiest Industrial-metal-styled cuts, “Comprachicos,” recalled Nine Inch Nails or System Of A Down at certain junctures.
We were trying to make something with a Nine Inch Nails intro to begin with. The word comprachicos (coined by novelist Victor Hugo in The Man Who Laughs) loosely means child molding. It was born out of a Spanish fable that had guys who’d take children and put them into these forcible constraints that would deform their bodies as they grew and keep them as ornaments.
Has Pendulum ever considered doing soundtrack work or movie scores? Your music would totally suit some sci-fi adventure.
Yeah. We’d love to do it. We get envious when we hear Trent Reznor doing The Social Network or Daft Punk on Tron.
Have you begun working on the next Pendulum album? If so, how will it differ from previous endeavors?
We’re working on the next album currently. But we’re not using those songs in our shows. We do have some stuff lined up for the States tour, though. It’s getting very ‘in the moment.’ We’re not trying to spend too much time on things because we’re trying to be less affectionate and bring a sort of punk edge to it. We want to keep it visceral and possibly contrast Immersion with shorter songs.
Do you feel comfortable when your band is considered a natural and direct descendant of outstanding musical paragons, Prodigy? After all, you sought out Liam Howlett to co-write “Immunize.”
We grew up listening to those guys around ‘97/ ’98. They were my favorite band.
(NEW JERSEY BEER CO.) HUDSON PALE ALE
Refreshingly straightforward moderate body brings crisp-watered hop-spiced citric intrigue and affable crystal-caramel malting to buttered baguette base. Initial grapefruit peel bittering tails off to misty red apple, peach, and pear sweetness. Unquestionably a fine middle-of-the-road session beer that holds its own against better known fare.
(NEW JERSEY BEER CO.) 60 SHILLING MILD
Traditional English pub ale made from “the stripped down second runnings” of Jersey brewery’s excellent Wee Heavy maintains apropos moderate body. Faint orange compote waft emanates from coppery liquid, followed by mild earthen fungi tongue and milder peat-smoked pale-crystal malting. Root vegetable notes line soft Columbus hop bittering.
(NEW JERSEY BEER CO.) 1787 ABBEY SINGLE
Scoffing traditional Belgian-styled candi-sugaring for ‘golden sessionable’ witbier (minus the wheat) perfect for sunny day lunchtime boat cruise alongside light dishes such as sautéed whitefish and freshly barbecued scallops. Grassy-hopped white-peppered herbal spicing lingers through rye-malted burnt orange, banana bread, and extracted vanilla illusions given a teasing ethanol burn.
(NEW JERSEY BEER CO.) WEEHAWKEN WEE HEAVY SCOTCH ALE
Robust Scotch-styled winter solstice celebration with robust black chocolate urgency and coarse resinous hop roasting brings expectant mesquite-smoked Scotch malting and dewy peat graining to surging fig-dried date-sugared cocoa sweetness. Its backend alcohol burn reinforces sullen whiskey musk, subsidiary stone fruiting, and tertiary dried tobacco roast.
(NEW JERSEY BEER CO.) GARDEN STATE STOUT
Dependable mahogany-hued chocolate stout maintains soft tone despite sharp roasted hop char and pungent espresso-coffee leanings. A milder alternative, its rich brown-sugared black chocolate opening gets reinforced by oatmeal raisin cookie illusions, gooey anise sapping, and cherry puree undertones contrasting oily tar-like molasses bittering.