Beer and a Movie

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On these blustery autumn days, sometimes you just feel like snuggling up with a blanket, a movie, and a delicious glass of your favorite beer.  Why not get the weekend started with these four tasty pairings?

Strange Brew / Sleeman's Cream Ale
Strange Brew (1983, MGM) is a cult classic favorite, and loveable Canadian's Bob and Doug McKenzie (played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) will provide all the laughs you could ever yearn for during this hour-and-a-half adventure that strangely mimics Shakespeare's Hamlet (note the "Elsinore Brewery", as Bob and Doug play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern).  Pair this with a few smuggled bottles of Sleeman Cream Ale or Sleeman Original Draught and you've got an afternoon of couchside delight.  For those of you who don't have access to this beer (and that's pretty much everyone I know), a flavorful Unibroue will beat out Molson or Labatt's any day. Favorite Quote: "This movie was shot in 3B - three beers - and it looks good, eh?"





American Beer / Chuckanut Brewery Rauch Bier
Road trip fun begins as a group of friends head out to visit a massive amount of breweries in this "bockumentary" -- and while we all know that road trip movies =  hilarious foibles and hijinx, this film is also pretty educational.  Pair American Beer (2004, Six Hundred Films) with a delicious Rauch Bier from Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham, WA), stoke the fire, and raise your glass to Chuckanut for winning Best Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.  Next, break out the maps and a highlighter because this film will have you planning your very own Beer Road Trip.


Beer Wars / Hopworks Urban Brewery, Organic Ace of Spades Imperial IPA
Another documentary, Beer Wars (2009, Ducks In A Row Entertainment Corporation) hit the theatres in the early part of 2009 and is now available for purchase through their website - http://www.beerwarsmovie.com/.  Director Anat Baron does a great job rooting for the underdog and exposing the truth of the craft brewing industry, so pair this film with a beer that has as much moxy as she does - the Organic Ace of Spades Imperial IPA from Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon.  This IPA took home a Gold from the 2009 GABF, and requires tasting faster than you can press the pause button.





And lastly,


Beer / Stone Cali-Belgique IPA
Take a trip back in time with Beer (1985, Orion) with Loretta Swit and Rip Torn and revel in the eighties, tasteless beer, and the rise of the female executive.  Add fizzy yellow beer and you've got the whole experience right at hand.  But for those of you who don't care to squander your afternoon or your taste buds with beer that lacks gumption, try a glass of San Diego's finest - a Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (limited release).  After all, this is the brewery that coined the advertising slogan, "Yellow Fizzy Beer is for Wussies."  Which is admittedly a better advertising slogan than used in the movie -- "Norbecker Lite. For whether you take it in a bottle or in the can."


Happy viewing, and sipping!