Tag: A Book & A Beer

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A Book & A Beer – Night Boat to Tangier

Two men sitting around a dock waiting for a relative to arrive (or maybe depart) by boat may make some think of the famous play Waiting for Godot and you would be right to think that the slim Night Boat to Tangier treads that territory. Two aging Irishman with a past of misdeeds and sexual dalliances are looking for the daughter of one (or is it the others) who left three years ago and hasn’t been heard of since.

The book made the New York Times Best of the Year list but it was a little too cold and calculating and left chunks of the two leads lives open to interpretation. There were repetitive lines as well that I understand were part of a poetic musicality, keeping up a pace but it did not work for me. Overall, I was more interested in the daughter character and her arc and with an interlude at a haunted housing development in Ireland than in Tangier.

To drink with this book, I would recommend finding a flight of Witbiers that utilize different spices. Eagle Rock Brewery has their Manifesto as well as variants (one with lemongrass) that would mimic some of the spices used in the food that you might find in Tangier.

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In the Tap Lines for December 2019

header_attractionsNow we get into the meat of the holiday ales.  Each day until Christmas there will be a new holiday beer to learn about along with other beer-y tidbits from both Los Angeles and the world.

~ e-visits to (3) from the Craft Beer and Brewing magazine Best Of Lists
~ special featured reviews of Christmas beers of course!
~ 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 Night Boat to Tangier
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Battle of 187
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your December started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) December 7th – Brewyard’s 4th Anniversary Pajama Jammy Jam
2) December 8th – El Segundo Christmas Parade

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In the Tap Lines for November 2019

header_attractionsWe are close to the end of the decade but we have two big holidays left on the calendar.  So some holiday beers will be seen popping up plus a bunch of other fun stuff.

~ e-visits to three breweries from Portland, Oregon to honor the start of the Portland Trailblazers 50th season in the NBA
~ special featured reviews of Saison Dupont matched against other Saisons
~ 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 Full Throttle by Joe Hill
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Startup to Storefront
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 2nd – Field of Drafts Festival in Lancaster
2) November 16th – Highpoint Brewing 1st Anniversary

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A Book & A Beer – Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

I am not a big memoir reader (except for this year it seems) but as the author of Hillbilly Elegy states at the beginning of his book, this isn’t really a memoir.

It is a hybrid memoir with scattered bits of social policy thrown in. To me, the history of the J.D. Vance’s growing up is fascinating with one of the key take-aways being that the skills that he needed to survive childhood are not the same ones that he needed as an adult. I found the political and how to help the poor (aka hillbillies) to be a bit simplistic at times though Vance does go out of his way to say that the problem doesn’t have a one size fits all solution. Those thinking that he is some staunch Republican would find little in common with the current powermongers in DC or with most Republicans. He is basically right-center on the spectrum.

I will be highlighting breweries in Ohio and Kentucky where the book was primarily set this month, so for my recommendation, I would suggest (if still made) have a beer that was around when you were growing up. For me, I would find some Widmer or McMenamin’s to take me back to my past and the places that made me who I am.

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In the Tap Lines for October

header_attractionsHave we entered Fall?  L.A. has seen 90+ then practically shady temps, then back up again.  The weather whipsaw might be best suited to those lighter Oktoberfest beers.  Now onto what is coming up this month….

~ e-visits to three breweries from Ohio (see A Book & A Beer below)
~ special featured reviews of the Firestone Walker Hoppy Lion Variety Pack
~ 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 Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Eaters Digest
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your October started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) October 1st – MacLeod Ale night at Tony’s Darts Away
2) October 13th – DTLA Brewers United Fest

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A Book & A Beer – The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead seems to be able to move from genre to genre seamlessly so I felt in good hands when it came to his latest, The Nickel Boys.

It is a slim book but it does pack a punch in telling the stories of Elwood and his fellow Nickel inmate Turner. Whitehead could have gone overboard with the violence but he has modulated it so that it stays horrifying instead of numbing the reader. The fact that a place like this existed creates enough sadness on its own as well. The two main characters come through vividly and the twist at the end leaves a pit in the stomach. There is no universe or karma coming to punish the violent men in this book while the scars show both physically and emotionally on the boys and men from Nickel.

There is no cool or fun beer link for a book like this but since it does leave a bad taste in the mouth, I would suggest finding a beer brewed for charity and putting some good into the world to offset the crap the kids in the book had to put up with. Or, even better, instead of buying an overpriced 4-pack, donate that money to a charity to help the Bahamas recover from Hurricane Dorian like the World Central Kitchen.

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In the Tap Lines for July 2019

header_attractionsIt has been an up and down climate change type of weather year here in SoCal.  Lots of cloudy and not hot days leaving one free to not just desire lighter beers but heck, even barrel-aged north of 10% beers.  I can’t predict the weather but here is what is coming on the blog…

~ e-visits to three breweries with 4th of July patriotic ties such as Talea Beer Co., Backwards Flag Brewing and 14th Star Brewing
~ special featured reviews of Topa Topa canned beers
~ 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 This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to 13 Minutes to the Moon
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your July started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) July 4th – 4th of July at Angel City Brewery
2) July 13th – Lagerville at Figueroa Mountain

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A Book & A Beer – Best American Mystery Stories 2018

Count me as a huge short story fan. I gobbled up any Stephen King collection that I could find and when I saw the Mystery Edition of 2018. I snapped it up.

There are good, bad and ugly in any collection but this one had a higher fun ratio than most. I really like “Y is for Yangchuan Lizard” was both funny but stuck the landing with the bad girlfriend twist. I was excited to see a T.C. Boyle story but it was a superficial and weirdly not aged well elder theft story. Another top 3 story was Smoked which combined BBQ and the witness protection program and a long range shooter you don’t see coming.

There was a Jack Reacher story which was solid and movie like. You can easily tell why the character resonates. It was good to see an old Western included and not good to see ye’ Olde Jack the Ripper trotted out again.

Probably my favorite was a piece entitled Windward. About a missing 3rd wife to a hotshot film producer. It had good PI language and a fun Venice setting.

For the beers, I am going to say that you look for really sessionable beers. Dark English milds would be good, maybe a dry hopped lighter lager. Since the stories are shorter the ABV should be lower. A German Helles might do the trick since some of these characters are probably bound for the hotter place.


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In the Tap Lines for May 2019

header_attractionsYesterday, I re-capped the 3rd Anniversary of the Propagator branch of Firestone Walker and that was just a small taste of the FWIBF coverage that will appear in the run up to the 2019 festival as well as my coverage of the actual fest itself.

~ e-visits to three breweries that will be pouring at FWIBF 2019
~ special featured reviews of from Four Corners Brewing
~ 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 The Best Mystery Stories of 2018
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your May started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) May 4th – Yorkshire Square 2nd Anniversary
2) May 15th – May 22nd – Naja’s Place IPA Festival

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In the Tap Lines for April 2019

header_attractionsHope you are ready for pranks today.  I fell for one briefly already before catching myself.  Hopefully, the beers you have this month are not pranks.

~ e-visits to three breweries that made the Fastest Growing Breweries like Werner Brewing of Tillamook, Oregon, Humble Sea of Santa Cruz, California and Oak Road Brewery of Summerville, South Carolina
~ special featured reviews of Orange County beers since it is there month for beer week.
~ 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 The Milkman by Anna Burns
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your April started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) April 9th – Tuesday’s at Tonys features the beers of Enegren Brewing
2) April 20th – Smog City Anniversary Party