Category: Monthly Features

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A Book & A Beer – Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia know how to bring out dread and horror in her novels and Silver Nitrate is no exception.  You have three people down on their career luck and an unfinished horror movie with occult and Nazi leanings might be the reason why.

Montserrat and Tristán are our main protagonists switching from lead to sidekick in different chapters.  Montserrat is stuck in a deteriorating job as a sound engineer and Tristán is damaged goods as an actor due to a terrible accident ten years before.  But the childhood chums can (mostly) count on each other for support fighting an oncoming evil.

Silver Nitrate has a lot of set-up and character work to get through before the action can really take off as the book finishes.  I would have liked to see that action take place earlier as the revelations and new characters pile up near the end but I do understand that the relationship section needs to be built up to create sympathy for the leads.  I found both of them a little too annoying until the end when they come to a new part of their journey.  

But that is the only mark against what is a fine gothic horror story and a very appropriate book for October.

For beer, I would start off with the obvious. Mexican craft beer. Here in L.A. we get a few beers from small producers in Mexico so they would be perfect. Since it is a creepy book, you might want to get something that creeps you out. Maybe you don’t like Gose. Find one with American adjuncts like sea salt and cucumber.

Just make sure to not jump in fright. You don’t want to spill precious beer.

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Needed or Not – Coors Light Tap Lounger

Sorry, the subject line says Tap Lounger when Coors call it a Chill Throne. Honestly, back massager cool, tap extra cool. Everything else is a hard pass. Plus, I gotta think that when you plug this in it is gonna be hella loud, right?

If I could re-upholster and re-tap handle, then yes. Gimme. Otherwise, no.

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Needed or Not? – CandyCorn Whiskey

Look, I know you see Fireball selling like, well, fire and yes, spooky season is here but goddamn no one wants candy corn flavored whiskey.  

Two alternative names, free of charge: call it sugared up beginners whiskey and leave it at that.  Or just label it, whiskey that was passed over as inferior by everyone else so we dumped a but ton of sugar in it and are now trying to recoup the cost of the sugar.

And to breweries, do not even think of a candy corn beer.

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The Firkin for September 2023

I do not remember which brewery finally put me over the top but this month, I am officially done with photos and videos of spilled beer.

First is was the glamour shots of beer caught in freeze frame like a reverse waterfall flying up out of a glass, then it was the varied and sundry contests where beer ended up on the floor and lately it has been brewery staff drinking from a can but ending up with more on them and their clothes.

Maybe it is a sign of approaching geezerhood but as craft beer prices rise, wasting beer for a few digital thumbs up seems wrong. As a viewer, I wonder how many takes were needed for these videos. And as someone in a drought zone, I am heavily conscious of the amount of water it takes to brew beer and then add in the water needed to clean up after each Tik Tok stunt.

Then I break out my list of things breweries should do before uploading these videos like have an up to date tap list available, have your opening hours consistent on all platforms, keeping your website updated. Ya’ know, the basics.

I know that stuff is boring admin and doing video shoots is more fun and doesn’t seem so much like work but this beer fan is going to scroll right by spilt beer because that shit is sticky.

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Best Beers of September 2023

It was grand to have some draft Trillium this month so I need to put Headroom Hazy DIPA on the best of list for the month. I also have to shout out a dopplebock from Ventura Coast Brewing, Earth Day for being such a pleasant style change from all the hops. Speaking of, I was shocked to see that my AmaWhole FoodsZon had bottles of Russian River’s Hop Growers IPA – CLS Farms edition in their cooler. It was light and delicious.

But my winner is from Oregon, Cascade Brewing’s Tartini. Sour but not puckeringly so. And by goodness, it had botanicals not only in the beer description but in the beer itself. Lovely light spice note. On the nose for gin fans.

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Sports & A Beer – Stop the Hot Takes

For someone like me who has established favorite teams and the agony that goes along with rooting for said teams, this is a bit of a golden age.  I can call up highlights with a touch of the finger, dig up arcane facts and get all the hot takes a fan could want.

Lately, I have wearied of the onslaught though.  The Summer of Lillard with YouTube videos of what must be 942 trade scenarios and podcasts claiming Chelsea is a broken team before three games are complete have me desiring the old days when I would have to wait until the next days sports page to get information.

Now, are these tweets and rants wrong?  No.  But they serve no purpose seemingly other than filling in an empty gap in time and space until actual solid information arrives.  Sound and fury, signifying nothing as a famous fan of Stratford-Upon-Avon FC once opined.

Or maybe I just need to take a break from the pundits and just watch the action.

For beer, it is the summer heat remnants and the best way to enjoy a game is with a session beer.  Dribble Belt from Russian River is a particularly good Session IPA for watching the World Basketball Championships or for football Angelenos, find a refreshing pilsner from Los Angeles Ale Works or Common Space before a Rams/Chargers game at SoFi.

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Sean Suggests for September 2023

Small town breweries can get lost when you live in the big city of Los Angeles but sometimes you have to drive away and find the out of the way spots. Here are three worthy of trying….

Heater Allen Bobtoberfest – 5.6% – from my college town of McMinnville comes this excellent example of a festbier from brewer Lisa Allen.

Bright Spark Good Natured Saison – 6.6% – giving off flavors of clove, yarrow flower and peach from a family owned brewery just south of downtown Ventura.

RT Rogers The Crystal Gazers Hazy IPA – 6.7% – The Monrovia brewery tucked up in the mountains has joined the haze craze with this new IPA.

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A Book & A Beer – Circe

When I was in Portland, my wife was lent this book by my Mom, and I decided to read it too. It is Circe by Madeline Miller.

This tale follows Circe a daughter of Helios, the God of the Sun and a Titans. Circe is a strange and not like the other children of Titans. Nothing like her parents either. She has the power of witchcraft.

It is a book that puts the narrative into Circe’s point of view. You see how she reacts to the day-to-day activities of her fellow Titans and the Gods as well. Most of the book finds her banished to a deserted island where she deals with visitors who mostly interrupt her peace. Most get turned into pigs.

This is one of those books where having a list of characters at the back is very helpful. My college days reading of Greek tragedies only took me so far. I have a predilection for stories told by a not major character elsewhere. It fleshes the world out and you gain new insight on people you think you know but you really only know from their narrative.

For beer, I would look for beers with either botanicals such as juniper, sage and the like to represent the ingredients for many of Circe’s spells or look for a wine barrel-aged sour beer because there is a lot of sour grapes between parent and child, between siblings, between sea creatures and sailors and practically everyone in this book.

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A Podcast & A Beer – Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers

I know it is the tail end of the family vacation season and that means it is time to look back at that vacation and then listen to Seth and Josh Meyers as they talk vacation memories with celebrities.

There is a great rapport between the two and you can tell that they enjoy each others company as well as their parents who are frequent targets of jibes. The guest choices are good too. Timothy Olyphant was really funny questioning their questions and, as usual, John Oliver was very funny and sharp tongued.

I also like that the last question is Grand Canyon – Yea or Nay? It just leads to interesting answers.

For beer, check out your local bottle shops or online purveyors for beers from cities or vacation destinations that you want to go. For me Prague is up there so I would be looking for Czech Pilsners. Or, since Maui has been in the news for the wrong reason, you might pick up some of their mainland beers as a nod to one of the great American vacation spot that will hopefully get tourists back sooner rather than later.