Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company, has had a rough go of it for the past couple of years. At least, as rough a go as a white, male billionaire can have. You see, his Sam Adams beers no longer get the respect they deserve (in his opinion). Many craft bars don't carry them, mostly because many serious craft beer lovers don't drink them. Sam Adams has an image problem. Yes, they were one of the pioneers of the craft movement in the early 80s. And yes, they remain the second-largest craft brewery in the US. But here's the thing: their beer isn't that great. It isn't bad by any stretch, but it takes more than that to survive in the current beer market. At this point, Sam Adams is getting by on ubiquity alone. They don't have a big event beer, like a Dark Lord or a Hunahpu (unless you count Utopias, which you really shouldn't). They don't have a seasonal beer that people wait all year for. And they don't have a solid year-round lineup. Their year-round lineup is mediocre at best, with their flagship being the tried and true Boston Lager.
Which brings us to our pairing beer: Sam Adams Rebel IPA. Now, I don't have a problem with this beer per se. It is well-balanced, easy-drinking, hop-forward; everything an IPA should be. It was also a long time coming, as IPAs have been the beer style of choice for craft drinkers for years now, and Sam Adams never had one in their rotation. The reason for this is simple: Jim Koch doesn't like IPAs. Fair enough. But after years of refusing to make a wildly popular style of beer because he personally didn't like it, and years of his people telling him that IPAs were in high demand, Jim Koch finally caved in to popular demand and kicked out a line of IPAs he (unironically) called Rebel IPAs. And therein lies my problem. A rebel is someone who stands up against the establishment, who goes against the tide to fight for what they believe in. A Rebel IPA is a cash-grab in which Jim Koch forgoes his principles and does something for purely financial gain. He is a late-comer to the IPA trend, but he insists on making it seem like he is at the forefront. The only thing Rebel IPA is rebelling against is Jim Koch's taste. Which brings us to Frozen, which is the highest-grossing animated film of all time and is largely regarded as one of the best Disney movies ever. Maybe you have heard of it before. A big part of its success (the part that isn't "Let It Go") is due to the supposedly progressive storylines of the two leads, Elsa and Anna. But, unfortunately, Frozen is about as progressive as Sam Adams is rebellious. Take, for example, Anna. She is beautiful in that homogeneous Disney princess way. But she is also clumsy, because she isn't fully developed enough as a character to have any real flaws. And she doesn't really have any other defining characteristics. Her main goal seems to be finding true love. She isn't far removed from being a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Elsa, on the other hand, is a repressed sociopath who can't deal with the abuse she suffered as a child, so she refuses any help and runs away from her problems. She isn't an empowered individual who owns her sexuality; she is a dangerous social outcast who, once she "lets it go", dresses like a horny cosplayer with stiletto heels made of ice. I don't think progressive is the right word for that. Anyway, that's a lot of ranting for two things that I really don't mind. There's no reason you can't enjoy a cold Rebel IPA while singing along with a pathologically antisocial ice queen. It's not the movie or the beer that I have issues with; it's the surrounding storylines they are a part of that make me cringe. But, if you can look past the hype and the spin and enjoy these two for what they are, I think you will find a lot to like with them.
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Movie Tagline: There are two sides to every lie
How can two beers have the same name? Furthermore, how can two beers that share a name be so different? Is one of them an imposter? And, if so, which one? This week's pairing brings with it a slew of questions, as you can see. Questions about identity, dark family secrets, a web of lies, and possible foul play. That's because we're talking about the 2012 documentary The Imposter, which centers around French serial imposter Frédéric Bourdin, also known as "The Chameleon". In 1997, Bourdin assumed the identity of missing Texas teen Nicholas Barclay, first by impersonating a Spanish police officer who claimed to have found the child, and later by pretending to be Nicholas himself. Despite having brown eyes and a French accent (Nicholas had blond hair and blue eyes), he was taken in by the boy's family. He lived as Nicholas for nearly five months, even attending high school as him. All of which begs the question: How did this family not realize this wasn't Nicholas? The movie provides some answers. Those, naturally, lead to even more questions. There is closure, but no definitive proof of what really happened to Nicholas. But the movie is not about Nicholas. Not really. It's about the imposter. What could possess a man to do such a thing to a family that has lost someone? Is he being sadistic? Exploiting their grief? What does he get out of all this? Again, more and more questions. Here is what could be the most important question: What beer could possibly be paired with such a tale? What beer could conceivable match the complexity, the twists and turns, the drama of The Imposter? The answer, my friends, is Alter Ego. The problem, my companions, is choosing which Alter Ego. Should you go with the hazy, citrusy goodness of Tree House, or the dark, foreboding hoppiness of 4 Hands? How can you ever know that you have chosen the right one? Let's break it down, piece by piece, beginning with the Tree House offering. Basically a super citrusy Julius (thanks to the Mosaic and Amarillo dry hopping), this one pours a hazy golden color with a nice, fluffy head. The smell is like citrus overload, but in the best way. The taste follows suit, with a bitter backbone that holds it all together. This is a perfect example of the new and improved East Coast IPA, which is all about turbidity and dry hopping. They all smell amazing and look like a swamp. Anything could be lurking in those murky depths. But if you want true darkness, you have to go with the 4 Hands version. A Black IPA, this one isn't so much murky as it is completely dark and opaque. No light is getting through this one. You can definitely taste the dark malt in here, despite the prevalent piney hop characteristics and the faint notes of citrus. While medium bodied, it still finishes very dry and bitter. So, there you have it. Two beers. One name. Thankfully, they both go well with The Imposter and they are both very tasty, so you can't really go wrong. It's not like one of them is an imposter bent on erasing all trace of the other so it can more easily slide into its place, taking over its existence, until all memory of the original is forever lost in the ether of the past. I'm sure that's not the case at all.
Movie Tagline: A New-England Folktale
Mephistopheles, named after a demon from German folklore, is an Imperial Stout from Avery's The Demons of Ale series. According to their website, "Mephistopheles is the crafty shapeshifter, the second fallen angel; he who does not love light. Herein he patiently lies, waiting and willing to do your bidding, but for a price. Enter into his darkness, a tangled and intricate labyrinth of bittersweet rapture." That is a solid description of Mephistopheles, but it is also a decent enough description of The Witch. The directorial debut of Robert Eggers, The Witch tells the story of an exiled family of Puritans in 1630s New England. They are isolated at the edge of a foreboding, impassable wilderness. Their day-to-day is full of hard work that yields little benefit, and soon things go from bad to worse. With winter approaching, their crops wither and their animal traps remain empty. Throw in the unspeakable evil that hovers all around them and the family soon starts to unravel. Lies are told, trust is questioned, and loved ones are lost. For Thomasin, the family's eldest daughter, all of this could lead to her being sent away to live with another family. And that's really the best case scenario for her. We, the viewers, see the events of the movie largely through her young eyes, and it is difficult to watch as her family slowly turns on her. Even harder to watch are the short bursts of horror that punctuate scenes of building dread. This is the kind of movie that will have you squirming in your seat as you watch it through your fingers. One way to make the terror on your screen easier to handle is to get good and buzzed while you watch it. Thankfully, Mephistopheles is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16% ABV (it varies from year to year). Even sold as a 12oz single, that's plenty for one person. It pours like motor oil and smells like roasted coffee and molasses with a potent boozy aroma that comes through in the taste. Indeed, this is a demon of a beer. It is sweet, but never cloyingly so. It is bold and boozy, intense and aggressive, but also balanced and delicious. Its nature is to seduce and eventually overcome you, making it the perfect beer to drink while watching the provocatively evil The Witch.
Movie Tagline: NONE
Our last pairing in our David Bowie Retrospective is a little different. We considered doing another Bowie movie, but so many of his acting roles were supporting roles (Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ, Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Andy Warhol in Basquiat, Himself in Zoolander), and while he was always a highlight, we felt that wasn't good enough for this final pairing. We also thought about doing the 1998 Todd Haynes movie Velvet Goldmine, which is a glittery love letter to Bowie in his glam rock years. But that isn't enough, either. We have settled on the 2013 Bowie documentary Five Years, which chronicles the five most important years of Bowie's career: 1971, 1975, 1977, 1980, and 1983. It is an intimate look at his most influential and creative years, told mostly by the people who were there. It is not a concert film, like D. A. Pennebaker's 1973 Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, nor is it a brutal, raw depiction of Bowie's addictions and poor mental state, like the 1974 Alan Yentob BBC project Cracked Actor. Five Years, by virtue of spanning so much time, gives us a look at the Bowie as a whole. It shows us not only what Bowie was up to in '75, but why, and where he was going after. It shows us how the artist in Bowie is more akin to a shark; to stay the same is as good as dying. How do you possibly pair one beer with all that? Well, you don't. Like we said, this one is a little different. Instead of pairing a single beer with an entire career, we are going to go right ahead and pair the entire catalogue of a single brewery. And what brewery reinvents themselves as often as David Bowie? What brewery has managed to stay relevant through the years, all the while cranking out quality beers year in and year out? That would be Stone Brewing. Founded in 1996, Stone has always been at the forefront of the craft beer industry. They are the 9th largest craft brewer in the United States, and they operate under the philosophy that complacency is the enemy of quality, that the status quo is for other, not them. They are essentially the David Bowie of craft beer. Just take a look at their recent special releases. A Triple IPA, a chai-spiced Russian Imperial Stout, a Smoked Porter with chocolate and orange peel, are you kidding me? And they don't just make beers alone. Their collaborations are some of the most exciting beers out there. They have made special release beers with Sierra Nevada, 10 Barrel, Wicked Weed, Heretic, 4 Hands, even Wil Wheaton has collaborated with Stone. Stone likes to get together with talented people in their industry and make art. Again, just like David Bowie. He collaborated with people like Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, John Lennon, Klaus Nomi, Mick Jagger, Queen, Trent Reznor. That is an epic list of musicians right there, and many of them did their best work when they were under Bowie's guidance. Granted, some of them did some pretty embarrassing things while under Bowie's guidance, too, but that's what made him so great. He was not afraid of looking silly. He was willing to try anything. So do yourself a favor and watch Five Years. It will open your eyes to what made him a truly transcendent artist. And drink some Stone Brewing beers while you do it. They are the closest thing to an artist like David Bowie that craft beer has to offer.
Movie Tagline: Good food. Fine ales. Total annihilation.
Unibroue is iconic. There is no other way to say it. They have been making stellar beer since the early 1990s. No other Canadian brewery has won more awards than Unibroue, and with good reason. Using a brewing method inspired by Trappist monks, Unibroue has taken great care to stay faithful to its origins even as it expands and changes. It is a brand that wears its roots proudly on its sleeve, from its Quebec heritage to its Belgian inspiration. When you see a bottle of Unibroue beer, there is no mistaking it for something else. You know it when you see it. In a lot of ways, that is also how I feel about an Edgar Wright movie, especially one starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. There's just something inimitable about this trio of British nerds. They have made three features and one television series together to date, and all three are collectively the best work any of them have ever done. Sure, Pegg is a lot of fun in the Star Trek movies, and Edgar Wright directed the shit out of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but when you get them together and throw in some Nick Frost, that's when the magic really happens. Much like a Unibroue beer, an Edgar Wright movie wears its roots on its sleeve. You can see so much film history in his choices, but his movies never seem derivative or hacky. He never seems to be ripping anyone off. He is paying homage, as he does so by taking something he loves from another movie - a camera move, a line of dialogue - and recreating it organically in his own work. This is his way of paying tribute to what came before. But he is not content to just copy other people's work. He always puts his own spin on things. And his own sensibilities are so unique and he is so full of enormous creativity that nothing he does seems half-assed. He fully commits to everything he does, and that is what makes him such a special director. The World's End is full of life. It is hilarious, but there is a very real undercurrent of melancholy that adds so much depth to the movie. The characters feel real, the world feels lived in, and none of the things that happen take you out of the movie no matter how far-fetched they are because everything stays true to the reality of the movie. It is a movie that knows how to follow its own rules. La Fin du Monde goes so well with The World's End not just because of the symmetry of their titles (although that helps), but because both are examples of two masters of their craft performing on the world stage. If you want the best beer Quebec has to offer, you drink a Unibroue. If you want some of the best contemporary movies England has to offer, you watch anything from Edgar Wright. It's what you do.
Movie Tagline: Everyone's got a secret
Did you ever wonder how Jennifer Lawrence landed the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games? It wasn't for her star turn on The Bill Engvall Show, I can guarantee you that. Odds are the producers of that Young Adult juggernaut with its bullshit four-movie trilogy saw young Jen playing Ree in Winter's Bone and thought, "This is the girl." Seventeen-year-old Ree is dogged in her search for her meth-cooking father. She remains steadfast in dangerous situations that would make most adults quiver in fear. And it's not that she's unafraid; she just knows that she has to press on no matter what. If she can't find her father and get him to show up for his court date, her entire family is doomed. But Jennifer Lawrence, while awesome in this and everything else, is not the inspiration for this pairing. No, that distinction belongs to Teardrop, played by the inimitable John Hawkes. He is truly the backwoods bastard of Winter's Bone. Which is funny, because my first introduction to him was as meek, polite Sol Starr on HBO's Deadwood, a show on which everyone is a bastard but him. But that is why Hawkes is so fantastic. He can be small and quiet or big and scary. He can be the sweetest guy in the world or a manipulative cult leader who preys on young girls. He can be the straight man or a jokester. In Winter's Bone, Teardrop is perhaps the most dangerous thing in a world that is nothing but danger to young Ree, and he is her uncle to boot. But, as we come to learn, Teardrop is not a one-note villain but a complicated individual with a skewed moral code. Nothing is as simple as it seems in this world of meth-cookers, crooked cops, and the families caught up in the middle. Yes, the world of Winter's Bone is stark and unforgiving, but thankfully the Founders Backwoods Bastard is just the opposite. A bourbon barrel aged version of their already-delicious Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, Backwoods Bastard is the perfect companion to a bonfire on a brisk autumn evening, or as a way to warm up after a long day of toiling outside. Warm and inviting, it smells of smoky Scotch, oaky bourbon barrels, and earthy spice. As you sip, it opens up to reveal vanilla, toasted malts, caramel, and even some dark fruit flavors. This highly sought after beer is one that easily lives up to the hype surrounding it and, in many ways, exceeds expectations. This one may be a bastard, but it's one that I would invite to my family reunion any day.
Movie Tagline: NONE
This pairing comes about because of one particular scene in the German gross-out movie Wetlands. The movie is about a disgusting yet attractive girl who has divorced parents and medical issues with her butt. None of that is important as far as this pairing goes. You see, Brew Cocky is a play on the term bukkake. For those of you who don't know, bukkake is when a number of "gentlemen" encircle a "lady" and proceed to "finish" themselves atop her face and chest. It's not pretty, but there you have it. Sorry, but we had to cover that to get to the Wetlands scene. I know you're excited about it now. So there's a bit in the movie where Helen, the protagonist with the butt problem, relates a story to the male nurse she's got the hots for about an urban legend she once heard involving a local pizza place. Apparently, after dealing with an especially rude customer on the phone, the men who work at the pizza place decided to bukkake the customer's pizza before sending it out for delivery. The scene is beyond explicit, but it's also pretty hilarious, with shots of slow-mo ejaculate and an over-the-top, operatic musical score. There's no other beer in existence to pair with that scene, so Brew Cocky wins the dubious distinction of being the "Best and Only Beer to Drink While Watching Some German Dudes Sexually Defile a Pizza". Congratulations to the guys at 2nd Shift Brewing for that one. Thankfully, I think they will take that as a compliment.
Movie Tagline: Two worlds. One hero.
Sometimes pairings are difficult. It can be hard to find a movie that complements a beer's depth and flavor while still being accessible enough to make it worth finding and watching it. Sometimes there's a pairing that seems perfect, but the beer is 13% ABV and the movie is three hours long. That's never going to work. There are many factors to take into consideration, and it can often be hard to find just the right pairing that brings everything together. This one presented no such difficulty. Thor is about an arrogant god (also named Thor) who is cast out of his home world of Asgard (for being a jerk) and forced to live on Earth amongst the puny humans who inhabit it. Thor makes some friends, but he also makes some enemies. In the end, he becomes one of Earth's finest defenders. And he gets a human girlfriend. Don't get me started on the problems inherent in that doomed relationship. Just as Thor is the only one who can wield his mythical hammer, Mjölnir, not everyone is going to be able to handle this fantastic Imperial IPA from 4 Hands Brewing. With layers of complex flavors, a symphony of sweet and bitter citric hops, and a surprisingly present and biscuity malt backbone, this beer will smack you right in the face like a slap from an arrogant Norse god. Hyperbole? Sure, maybe a little. But if the God of Thunder showed up at your door and demanded a refreshing beverage, this would be the one to give him, and that's not hyperbole, that's a stone-cold fact. It is pungent, but well-balanced. It is big and hoppy and bitter, but shockingly drinkable. Even all-business Agent Coulson would marvel (see what I did there?) at this beer's perfect marriage of full flavor and refreshment. What I'm trying to say is this: if you want to drink beer like a god, you must drink 4 Hands War Hammer. That's all there is to it. |
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