Distance And Time album art by Fink – Photo courtesy of FinkWorld.Co.Uk

Fink’s “If Only” is the epitome of the “What if..” mentality, especially in regards to a relationship. It’s a love song, or perhaps more so a lust-after song. It’s inevitable after a relationship dissolves that you happen to come about with a 20/20 hindsight, the thoughts of what you should have been doing or could have been doing. And you even begin to forget all the hurtful moments, the fights, the lies, or as Fink sings, “I ain’t got the memories of tears in your eyes” and instead replace them with all the fond memories, the first kiss or moving in with one another.

Starting anew is never an easy task, it is one that is easier said than done in fact. However, having the smooth vocals of Fink belt out “If Only” make the transition a tad bit easier, as does the easy-sipping Outburst by Pyramid, along with a strong support system of friends and family. And reading a beer and music pairing blog.

The trio hails from Brighton, England and “If Only” appears on their 2007 Distance And Time. Fink has a new live album out where they collaborate with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which is available on their website.

Pyramid’s Outburst – Photo credit: Lindsey Scully

Beer: Outburst

Brewery: Pyramid Brewing

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 8.5%

Pyramid Brewing’s Outburst is an imperial IPA that packs a lot of flavor into one single sip, similar to Fink packing a lot of emotions into one song. This particular imperial IPA has a stronger malt flavor than most other imperials out on the market, due to the use of Carared and Caramel malts which both aided in the more amber hue of the beer. According to their website, Pyramid dry-hopped Outburst with Falconer’s Flight and Zythos hops. The latter is not one I’m familiar with although upon researching Zythos it seems it has qualities similar to Amarillo hops with citrus and pine notes. The beer comes in at 80 IBUs (International Bittering Units) and it does have a strong hop presence.

Outburst pours a honey-amber color with a white head, that sticks around for a good while. Upon first whiff of the beer after pouring you get a combination of honey and floral hops, and the first sip is again full of honey and hops with a bitterness coming through. The beer leaves a coating on your tongue much similar to the dry Irish stouts.