Locust Reign DIPA

Locust Reign DIPA
32 oz Growlette, $?, 8.3% ABV
Secured by my man Jay

Ahh, good morning. Here’s another NEBCO review, another perfect DIPA, another blissful hoppy nectar of the Woodbridge gods.

LOCUST REIGN IN BLOOD!

That’s all you need to know, right? I mean, you hear “NEBCO” and DIPA” and if you are a Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or New York beer nerd, you now it’s going to be good.

Oh sure, there are forums where wankers wank about Gandhi vs. Locust Reign vs. Fat Ten-Er #2 and even wankier wanks wank on about how you either have to include the IPA’s like – OMGOMGOMG – Fuzzy Baby Ducks and Coriolis and Sea Hag and Supernaut in the discussion and —

Shut up.

They are all great beers, and they all have their own characteristics. I am just so sick and tired of – what’s that? My favorite? Oh, I believe the Fat Ten-Er #2 was my favorite NEBCCO DIPA but that may be because it was so fleeting and – SHUT UP.

I can’t believe you got me into that discussion.

NEBCO Says:

Double IPA with a lot of Galaxy hops.

Now go listen to this.

That was just what I needed to calm down. The melody really drew me in, but let’s be honest here; it was the harmonies that kept me around.

That was Converge and their song “Locust Reign” (which, if you’re curious, absolutely is where this beer’s name come from). Converge are four chaps from none other than Salem, Massachusetts. They are old heads when it comes to hardcore metal/metalcore or whatever you want to call it. Some have called them mathcore, because of their often tricky time signatures, but the band will have none of that:

Jacob Bannon of Converge stated: “I really don’t know what mathcore is. Converge is an aggressive band. We have elements of hardcore, punk, and metal for sure. But I think trying to define our efforts and other bands with a generic sub-genre name is counter- productive. We all have something unique to offer and should be celebrated for those qualities rather than having them generalized for easy consumption.”

Totally, Jacob. It’s almost like… like… hmmmm… like craft beer fans getting all crazy about the sub-genres of beers and arguing ad nauseum about which beers fall into which categories. i hear you.

But you know what I don’t hear? When I listen to your band’s “Locust Reign,” I don’t hear these words at all. Go ahead y’all, go listen to it again. On BLAST.

Here are the alleged lyrics:

Awaken from the bliss of sleep
The daybreak haunts you in such a subtle light
I hear them, they tell me these roads we have travelled fork up beyond the bend
Beneath the flutter of desperate wings they sing a song of reclamation
Where tomorrow’s hanging horizon interrupts the hum of electrical towers
Here – there are the shallow graves
The shallower romances
And the shallowest of words still to be spoken
And there you are with open ears
Locust reign on your parade

Now I’m a fan of aggressive music, having grown up in the east coast hardcore scene, from DC to Philly to NY to the beloved Tune Inn in Connecticut. I like metal and yes, that’s my Slayer CD at the top. And I can appreciate Converge and even get into them a bit. But c’mon with the lyrics.

So yeah, Locust Reign DIPA is like NEBCO’s Galaxy Pale ale on – you know what, let’s go for a different metaphor here. Galaxy pale ale is Black Sabbath (chosen because of NEBCO’s Supernaut IPA, which is a Sabbath song) and Locust Reign Converge. It’s hardcore hops, in your face, loud and unrelenting.

Yet, as NEBCO has become so good at tempering such things with the proper malt bill and skills, it’s not a stupid beer. It’s a very well-crafted and delicious beer. There was something limiting with it though, for me. Perhaps there was just not enough of that counterbalance to the hops, I’m not sure, but it was a bit grainy and grassy and full of resin.

Still, I’m happy to see they are doing this one again and we can continue to enjoy it during its periodic year-round releases.

Overall Rating: A-
Rating vs. Similar style: n/a

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