It's been a few weeks since I've had Beats and Beer Friday but I've drank/will be drinking too much good beer and listening to too much good music to skip it again this week.
Here are my latest recommendations:
Beats
Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4 Eva
It is too damn hot outside. It's the kind of hot where you don't even want to be outdoors, you just want to be inside, with the A/C blasting and slouching around on a comfortable couch or chair, cold drink in hand. Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4 Eva mixtape is the perfect music for lazy, laid back summer days. With a slow, molasses-like flow and a Southern drawl reminiscent of the late Pimp C (R.I.P.), this isn't your cookie-cutter, four to the floor dance club hip-hop. Big K.R.I.T.'s sample-driven, bass-thumping production (done by the man himself) takes it back a few years to the days of Southern hip-hop originators like UGK, Eightball & MJG, Goodie Mob, etc. It's hard not to listen to this mixtape and not take a trip into the past, and I mean that in the most complimentary fashion.
Recommended songs: R4 Theme Song, Dreamin, Made Alot, Get Right
Return of 4 Eva is a FREE mixtape that you can download here. While you're at it, you can follow Big K.R.I.T. on Twitter and Like him on Facebook.
Beer
Nebraska Brewing Company - Fathead
I know, I featured a beer from a Nebraska brewery last time; but what can I say, I was able to bring back quite a haul of beer from my recent trip to Omaha, and I couldn't NOT write about Fathead because it has easily become one of my new favorite beers.
Part of Nebraska Brewing Company's Reserve Series, Fathead is a barley wine that has been barrel aged. It has a pretty incredible balance of sweet and malty flavors, with just enough of a whiskey note to make it noticeable without being overpowering. It's definitely a boozy beer at over 11% ABV, but in drinking it you aren't overwhelmed with an alcohol taste. Thought barley wines may not be standard hot weather beer, this was an incredible sipper of a beer when I had it recently. I love that it's a 'big beer', but isn't so convoluted with ingredients that it makes the beer muddled and unenjoyable. It seems like the recent big beer trend has made a lot of breweries focus on putting as much crap as possible into their beers. Fathead is big, but simple at the same time. Does that make sense?
Quite frankly, I think I would love to enjoy a bottle of Fathead again while listening to Return of 4 Eva; forget syrup, I've got barley wine.
Check out Nebraska Brewing Company's website, follow them on Twitter and Like them on Facebook.
Here are my latest recommendations:
Beats
Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4 Eva
It is too damn hot outside. It's the kind of hot where you don't even want to be outdoors, you just want to be inside, with the A/C blasting and slouching around on a comfortable couch or chair, cold drink in hand. Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4 Eva mixtape is the perfect music for lazy, laid back summer days. With a slow, molasses-like flow and a Southern drawl reminiscent of the late Pimp C (R.I.P.), this isn't your cookie-cutter, four to the floor dance club hip-hop. Big K.R.I.T.'s sample-driven, bass-thumping production (done by the man himself) takes it back a few years to the days of Southern hip-hop originators like UGK, Eightball & MJG, Goodie Mob, etc. It's hard not to listen to this mixtape and not take a trip into the past, and I mean that in the most complimentary fashion.
Recommended songs: R4 Theme Song, Dreamin, Made Alot, Get Right
Return of 4 Eva is a FREE mixtape that you can download here. While you're at it, you can follow Big K.R.I.T. on Twitter and Like him on Facebook.
Beer
Nebraska Brewing Company - Fathead
I know, I featured a beer from a Nebraska brewery last time; but what can I say, I was able to bring back quite a haul of beer from my recent trip to Omaha, and I couldn't NOT write about Fathead because it has easily become one of my new favorite beers.
Part of Nebraska Brewing Company's Reserve Series, Fathead is a barley wine that has been barrel aged. It has a pretty incredible balance of sweet and malty flavors, with just enough of a whiskey note to make it noticeable without being overpowering. It's definitely a boozy beer at over 11% ABV, but in drinking it you aren't overwhelmed with an alcohol taste. Thought barley wines may not be standard hot weather beer, this was an incredible sipper of a beer when I had it recently. I love that it's a 'big beer', but isn't so convoluted with ingredients that it makes the beer muddled and unenjoyable. It seems like the recent big beer trend has made a lot of breweries focus on putting as much crap as possible into their beers. Fathead is big, but simple at the same time. Does that make sense?
Quite frankly, I think I would love to enjoy a bottle of Fathead again while listening to Return of 4 Eva; forget syrup, I've got barley wine.
Check out Nebraska Brewing Company's website, follow them on Twitter and Like them on Facebook.
