Like the last beer, this one is also a lager, more specifically a Helles Bock. The Landscape series is a a series of Lagers by IABC featuring New York State ingredients and has always had a philanthropic bent to it - all of the profits from this beer are donated to a non-profit of the brewery's choice! The series started in the summer of 2018 and continues each season with a new beer. This season's beer is brewed in support of Sky High Farm,  a non-profit increasing access to fresh, local food.

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A Helles Bock is also known as a Maibock, and is an offshoot of the Pilsner. It is German in origin and typically brewed in the winter to be drank in the spring. "Mai" is German for "May". It is a great transitional beer style between the heavier beers of winter and the lighter beers of summer.

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Tasting Notes:

• Brilliant gold in color and near bright in clarity

• Sweet cereal, malty, and warmy honey aroma with a slight herbal hop character

• There is a slight bitterness upfront which gets washed away quickly with a malty sweetness before retuning to a slight bitterness that lingers in your mouth

• It has a light to medium body with a smooth, coating mouthfeel

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Industrial Arts says, "This beer is weirdly perfect for these bizarre weather days. It has just enough of a malt backbone to keep you warm in the harsh winds, but the bright hop character keeps it bright and crisp. Exactly what you need when the weather seems as confused as you." and I would tend to agree. It is just the right amount of interesting and contrast to make it enjoyable without being overbearing.

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Musical Connotations:

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As opposed to many of the pieces we've done at sonic tastings, this one specifically is about the color of the harmonies. It is a rotating array of different modalities each based on the same interlocking musical pattern. I'm using a technique pioneered by Frank Zappa known as Xenochrony - where I am taking a musical section out of context and putting it into another piece. In this instance, it is the beautiful and often dark vocal harmonies provided by another local New York state musician - Allie Forlini (@Allieforlini on instagram.) Her voice helps create these intense colors where depending on how it clashes with the other parts, we get different emotional responses from the same set of notes. Much like the beer, this music is perfect for this really bizarre winter where we really have no idea what each day will bring.