Category: Monthly Features

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A Book & A Beer – Normal People by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney has gotten a lot of press for her books but it took me awhile to hear about her, and so instead of picking up her latest book ” Beautiful World, Where Are You?”, I chose an earlier one, Normal People.

It follows Marianne and Connell two high schoolers about to leave County Sligo for college in Dublin and how they weave in and out of each other’s lives as the years pass.

Normally, I am not fond of the will they – won’t they being stretched past all reasonable bounds. If you can’t write past meet cute then I lose interest. But the two leas characters in this book are moving, both through life and emotionally and by making them three-dimensional, what could be contrived re-meetings are more akin to two people orbiting each other. I thought the book ended well and would be up to have Rooney re-visit these characters when she and they are older.

Because this book moves through the lives of it protagonists, a flight of beers from your cellar might be in order. Maybe a flight of Anchor Christmas or the Anniversary beers from Firestone Walker.

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Needed or Not? – Fried Ice Cream beer

Now, on the subject of needed or not, it primarily revolves around beer gear and paraphernalia but this time out is a beer itself…

…State Fair as beer? There are beers done as gimmicks. Your pickle beer and back in the day hot chilli beers. But this is taking pastry stout to an outer edge and only really helping out the makers of industrial sized vats of lactose. So, the verdict is Not.

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In the Tap Lines for November 2021

header_attractionsThe penultimate month of the year. We will start the month with some Central Coast beverage coverage. And as we slowly dig out and start to holiday like it is 2019 again, let’s ramp up the festive beer coverage to close out the month.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries that won in the fresh hop competitionat GABF
~ special featured reviews of beers from the Central Coast of California
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Normal People by Sally Rooney
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Jacked Ramsays
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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The Firkin for October 2021

My wife rolled her eyes a bit when she saw the above post, and I get it, most Facebook aphorisms are corny in the light of day but in terms of looking at beer, the above can be helpful.

I think it is healthy to balance the trio of the past, the now and the future. Drift to far into the now and you are doomed to repeat mistakes, living in the future deprives you of the present. You get it.

Here are three ways to keep that teeter totter even:

At your next beer get-together, talk about your favorite brewery that you have visited.

Instead of chasing after those low quantity, highly posted about beers, instead, reach for that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a Fat Tire or a Duvel.

When you plan your next big beer trip, add in the places that you know will be solid.

Simple stuff, that, but it will help keep you on track.

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Best Beers of October 2021 + IPA Rankings

Some months, the best beers arrive unexpectedly throughout the month, this time though, my three favorites were had on one day just before the month went ghostly.

I can always count on Enegren to make a crisp beer and their 2021 Festbier hit the markers at every turn. Crisp, malty with a touch silky sweetness.

I followed that up with the last fresh hop can of Arachne from Ogopogo and Three Weavers which had held up quite well. Nice fresh fruity notes.

Lastly, a gray day outside asked for a gray label and Change of Plans is one of the best hazies that El Segundo has put out though I know they prefer West Coast clear.

3. Chapman Crafted Old Towne Block Party Year 5 DDH DIPA

2. Offshoot Beer Co. DDH Visions

1.Beachwood / Highland Park Natural Born Shredders

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A Book & A Beer – A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet

Well, well. This is not a book for parents who are worried about their parenting skills. Nor is it a book for anyone with a summer home. Both of those parties are grouped together as the antagonists to the heroes of Lydia Millet’s A Children’s Bible.

And that is taking into account a deadly hurricane that puts the kids in peril and firmly in charge. This book is blunt. Old people, you are fuck-ups and the kids should be holding the reins.

This is a cracking read though. Plenty of tension and whipsmart dialogue to paper over that bluntness. I do really like the narrator but more intriguing to me was the younger characters who were providing the counterpoint to the older kids. I wish there was a little more to them to sand off their stubborn streak a little.

Considering the obscene amount of drinking (and drugs) the parents do during the course of the book, best to head to the N/A choices for this one or you could find an organic beer or upcycled beer or any environmental beer to put your money to that cause.

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A Podcast & A Beer – The Great James Bond Car Robbery

James Bond is famous for martinis, gadgets and his super classy Aston Martin DB5.

The Great James Bond Car Robbery takes you from 1986, where a film used DB5 sold for $250,000 to a Florida airfield where it went missing in 1997, and still be missing to this day.

The story (I am four episodes in) moves along a bit haphazardly bouncing from back story to side topic to theory and some of the cuts seem odd, I don’t need to have, “she continued” interjected. A pause is fine.

That being said, this is fun and mysterious and it moves along and is perfectly timed for those who want to see the latest Bond, No Time to Die.

I don’t know who the beer sponsor for Bond25 is but we will skip past whichever large company bought their way into product placement and instead set a challenge to drink beers from breweries that are older than 25 years. Bell’s maybe Alaskan or Deschutes. Or maybe globe trot like Bond to many locales. I am sure you can find an old Belgian or German brewery.

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Best Beers of September 2021 + IPA Ranking

Let’s reverse order and cut to the IPA chase, there was a close contender to crack the Top 3 but the collaboration between Ogogopo Brewing and Three Weavers on a Strata Fresh Hop ale didn’t quite climb the heights so the list remains

3. Chapman Crafted Old Towne Block Party Year 5 DDH DIPA

2. Offshoot Beer Co. DDH Visions

1, Beachwood / Highland Park Natural Born Shredders

Other than Arachne, the Strata beer previously mentioned the other winners for September were Radiant Beer Co. and This is Happening DDH, There Does Not Exist’s Vague Future Black IPA and then my winner, Single Fermented Duvel. Damn, this is a beer that I need to drink way more often. Best two words to describe it are sparkle and spice.

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A Podcast & A Beer – Gene and Roger

It is true that I watched a lot of Siskel & Ebert growing up and that the famous duo and their thumbs are now the subjects of a “look back” at podcast, which is another stark reminder of my age and how things have changed in the movies and in movie reviewing.

Gene and Roger the podcast is bundled inside The Ringer’s The Big Picture overall podcast and it is a fascinating eight part journey from the origins of the show to the deaths of the main pair and to the death of TV criticism with it. The host, Brian Raftery, keeps it moving along while adding in asides and personal connections and each thirty minute plus episode just whizzes by which is a strong plus in my book.

Now if there was a brewery in Hollywood, I would say that would be the perfect choice, or if there was a readily available, not owned by a huge conglomerate brewery from Chicago, that would be good too.

Instead, let’s take a different direction. See how hard it would be to sum up your next beer in under two minutes and then, give that beer a thumbs up or down, even if that beer is in the middle.

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A Book & A Beer – Tell the Machine Goodnight

I chose this book because NPR recommended it, read HERE. And this slightly in the future sci-fi novel from Katie Williams really works well in spots. The lead character, as it were, shifts every one or two chapters to show a broader portrait of the group of people being focused on and the happiness machine, Apricity, that brings them together.

Apricity is owned by what appears to be a better run morally tech company. You swab your cheek, place the saliva into the machine and it will spit out three suggested actions that you should do to achieve happiness. Simple as “get more sleep”, “get a dog” and others much harder and scarier.

But this book isn’t about the dark edges so much. It is more involved with Pearl, the Apricity tech, her ex, her son and a celebrity Calla Pax. Those chapters are the weakest.

There is life at stake but nothing huge like life v death. Even the corporate espionage was soft pedaled. Everyone is mostly nice if odd. The conceit and the machine are the best part of this tale.

Humans and Americans in particular tend to not do what is in their best interest. I would love to see the results of a beer Apricity on me. Would it go way off in one direction, would it tell me to drink an old favorite long forgotten or would it shield me from hops that I do not like. Interesting thought experiment for sure.