See, I told you you wouldn’t have to wait too long for another one of these, eh?  Go ahead and drink from that there cup of heresy.  This week’s offerings: Becoming the Lion’s Turning Point and Pipeworks Brewing Company’s Petrified Forest.

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The Tunes: Becoming the Lion’s Turning Point

What once was a humble instrumental post-metal band has now shapeshifted into something that is quite unrecognizable from the inception of Milwaukee’s Becoming the Lion.  Turning Point is just that, in both a very real literal sense as well as conceptually.  Chief among the transitions in Turning Point is that Becoming the Lion is back to being the sole work of founder Ross Blomgren, as it was in the early days of the band.  Studio drums are provided by Craig Borcher, but the rest of the guitars, bass, and yes, vocals, are handled by Blomgren.  Which leads us to the second change on Turning Point: Becoming the Lion is no longer an instrumental project, and they have completely shed any metal influences.  Instead, Blomgren is forging ahead as a post-hardcore/alternative amalgam, ala Thrice or Thursday.  I gotta say, the mantle suits him well; while Turning Point isn’t, technically, the first Becoming the Lion release with vocals, it’s the first original release with vocals (the other two EPs are reimaginings of their old material).  With a voice that is as solid as solid gets, I’m surprised that this hasn’t been a part of their music since inception.  He sounds pretty eerily similar to a mix of Jonas Renske and Jake Snider of Minus the Bear and I really like it.  The songs themselves are a rousing mix of anthemic choruses, subdued verses and a full display of Blomgren’s talents across the musical and melodic spectrum.  The five tracks that make up Turning Point practically sound radio-ready, and they’d do numbers on the alternative stations here in Chicago.  Perhaps for me they are a little low energy, but if this is the beginning of the rest of Becoming the Lion’s life as a band, then I think the future looks pretty bright for Blomgren.

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The Booze: Pipeworks Brewing Company’s Petrified Forest

I like bourbon, what are ya gonna do about it?  I like an oaky chardonnay, so sue me.  I like oak!  I like the vanilla notes it imparts in all my favorite fermented beverages, but it’s not every day I find it in beer.  If anyone was gonna do it, though, it would be Chicago’s own Pipeworks Brewing.  Petrified Forest is an Imperial Double IPA that has been fermented in oak barrels, imparting those lovely toasty and vanilla notes that I love so much (courtesy of vanillin, one of my favorite organic compounds).  Of course, because it’s an IPA, you get a lot of the citrus and pine notes right up front with some bracing bitterness right behind.  The oak is very subtle, but right at the end of a sip, it blends so deftly with the bitter orange peel and other citrus notes you almost get a dreamsicle aftertaste from the vanillin coming through.  It’s not exactly a milkshake IPA, but there is a lot of depth and drinkability if you like a mix of bitter, sour and sweet that doesn’t overdo any of the components.  And at 7.3% ABV, it sits right in the sweet spot of being either a one-and-done drink to end a long day or the start of a really good weekend.  Pipeworks beers are everywhere here in Chicago, but I’ve never seen this particular brew before.  I’m quite glad I did.  Thanks, Trader Joe’s.

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Before too long then, yeah?  Cheers, and be good to each other.

— Ian