Beers to Watch Star Wars to: The Original Trilogy

The day is here! The day so many of us have been waiting for with varying excitement and skepticism has finally arrived. Yes, technically Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out tomorrow, but now that the premiers start at 7 p.m. the night before, I think it only makes sense to say today is the day the movie comes out, right?

If you’re still watching the original movies today to prepare, you’re either not going tonight, or you just have nothing better to do today (in which case, get a job!). But for those of you who are in for a little day drinking, here’s your list of beers to drink with each of the original three Star Wars films.

Episode IV: A New Hope

The one that started the story. Or continued it from the films that hadn’t been made yet. Because this movie was never supposed to be a standalone film or the beginning of the saga. And don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise. (Hehehe)

Beer choice: Something fizzy and yellow

Yep, that’s right. I just told you to go out and get a macro lager and not pour it down the drain. This movie reeks of the 70s, and the 70s (I have been told) reeked of cheap beer. Okay, you’re allowed to cheat and grab a nice craft pilsener or Czech or German import if you must. But there’s no shame in grabbing a sixer of Bud just this once. Just please don’t get anything lite.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

What can I say? It’s everyone’s favorite movie in the franchise, because if it’s not your favorite you aren’t really a true fan, or something along those lines. It’s the movie that brought us the Battle of Hoth, Yoda, that huge and painfully misquoted reveal, and of course the one black guy in the universe.

Beer choice: Colt 45

Works every time.

Sorry, had to do it!

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Fun Fact: ROTJ stands at only 1% higher than Revenge of the Sith on Rotten Tomatoes. This film marks the point at which George Lucas decided he really liked money and needed to shape the final film in the Original Trilogy to the will of the almighty merchandising rights. Hey, you can’t complain unless you stop buying the stuff.

Beer choice: Holiday beers

Nothing goes with a movie designed around selling Ewok dolls and dozens of action figures based on aliens no one actually remembers seeing in the movie like a beer designed around your inexplicable compulsion to buy things that remind you of the time of year it is. Drink up that capitalism, baby! (You can also drink this with the Star Wars Holiday Special, as long as you ‘definitely don’t’ download it illegally off the Internet).

 

So that’s it. That’s all you get. I could’ve done the TV shows, radio dramas, novelizations, etc. etc., but there’s no time to get that technical. I’ve got to go get in line so I don’t end up staring straight up for two hours straight.

May the Force be with you!

 

 

Beers to Watch Star Wars to: The Prequels

The day is nearly hear when millions of us geeks go line up outside theaters hours early to get a seat that doesn’t suck too bad so we can enjoy the latest Star Wars movie without having a sore neck for the next week. Yep, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters tomorrow night, and I like many already have my midnight premier ticket. Oh, wait, the movies premier earlier now? Like at 10? What?! 7:30?!! Back in my day we had to wait in line until 12 a.m. and stay up until the wee hours just so we could be the first to get on the Internet and say how bad the prequels are and blah blah blah something something Jar Jar.

Anyway…

As you go back through and prime yourself with the first six films (in internal chronological order of course, because who wants to watch the not as good ones last?), here are the beers that go with each film. Today’s post will cover the prequels.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

And so it begins with the universally hated first part of the series. I’ve never had much of a problem with this movie. I mean, yeah, Jar Jar is annoying, but you know what? When I was 10 I loved him. And so did you, so stop pretending like you were the one child in America who didn’t only start hating this movie when you were old enough for your parents to let you read Internet forums.

Beer choice: Sculpin IPA

Ah, Sculpin. You have fond memories of when this beer used to be one of the best IPAs anybody made. But then Ballast Point started getting obsessed with expansion and increasing their profit margin, and Sculpin just didn’t have that same flavor of the original. It couldn’t just be because your tastebuds have changed over the years. Nope, definitely not that. Now, Ballast Point has been sold to Constellation Brands, the corporation responsible for such mass-produced brews as Corona and Modelo, and you want to believe that the resources and reach this company brings to the table will help bring back the product you used to love. In any case, you’ll hold off your judgement until you taste it.

If you’re still reading, congratulations, you’ve passed the test. You may continue.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Once again, I couldn’t truthfully tell you that I hated this movie when it came out, though I was admittedly less impressed than I had been a few years before. And yes, I did go through a phase of hating it before I stopped caring about having the ‘right’ opinion. Look, it’s not great, but its not an atrocity either. Oh, and contrary to popular belief, this movie along with Return of the Jedi are the only two George Lucas didn’t have a major part in writing the screenplay for. So there.

Beer choice: Anything over 10%

I said it wasn’t an atrocity, not that it isn’t hard to watch at parts. But if you get enough beer in you, it actually becomes quite watchable. Hell, it’s downright fun! Trust me on this. Just grab a 4-pack of your favorite double/imperial whatever that clocks in in the double digits, sit back on the couch and watch Anakin’s creepy antics as he tries to woo that girl he knew for like two weeks ten years ago. If you want extra fun, make a game out of it. Take a drink every time Hayden Christensen makes you cringe.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Oh come on, you’re really telling me you hate this one too? Now I’m starting to think you’re full of shit. Yes it’s still not the shot-for-shot identical remake of Empire Strikes Back you seem to be expecting, but it’s a good movie. Admit it.

Beer choice: Something really dark

Break out those imperial stouts, Baltic porters, and black IPAs, cause this movie is dark. With several beheadings, a Jedi extermination, and Anakin slaughtering children and then attempting to murder his wife and unborn twins and then  being severely maimed and burnt to a crisp by the closest thing he ever had to a father, it’s no wonder this was the first film in the franchise to earn a PG-13 rating. A dark movie deserves a dark beer. It doesn’t matter if it’s a stout or a nice hoppy black ale, just be sure it has that sweet, soul-crushing darkness as you sip it and watch the movie that more or less sort of redeemed the sequels (as far as rational fans are concerned).

So there’s your prequel beer list. If you’re watching/drinking all of these in one go, you better not be driving anywhere afterwards. Tomorrow I’ll do the Original Trilogy. See ya then.

My First Homebrew Competition – 4th Place!

Sunday marked the very first homebrew competition hosted by my neighborhood (for the next couple of weeks at least) brewery Woodcreek Brewing Co. This competition was open to all homebrewers with the only restriction being that it had to be an imperial stout. First prize was the opportunity to brew the winning beer at Woodcreek and have it for sale on tap in the brewery.

There were nineteen entries overall (at least a few of those were multiple entries by the same homebrewer), and, while I didn’t get to try any of the beer, I’m fairly certain the competition was stiff. That is to say, considering I have less than a year of experience and haven’t even made the upgrade to all-grain brewing, I was far outmatched by the experience and technical skill of most of those in the competition. I entered just wanting to get the experience of the competition, never really thinking I had a chance.

Imagine my surprise when I found out I was a finalist!

The beer I submitted was my imperial coffee stout (no nifty name, but you can be sure that will be coming on the next batch!). This was the second iteration of this beer–the first, which I reviewed here, needed some major improvements. The coffee made it way too bitter, and my malt bill needed tweaking. This time around, I ground the coffee beans up with some cocao nibs and cold-brewed it with a little vanilla for 12 hours, then I filtered it and dumped it into the secondary fermenter. It worked, to say the least!

I knew from the moment I popped the cap off my first bottle and got a taste that this was the best beer I’d ever made. Still, no one was as surprised as me when they called my name as the 4th-place honorable mention. My prize was five beer tokens, and the chance to brew my beer in the brewery in the case that the top three finalists would not or could not brew theirs. Noah and Brad (the owners) were fans of my brew, and it meant a lot to earn the approval of legitimate professional brewers. It made me realize that this isn’t just a hobby or something I like doing. It’s something I’m actually kind of maybe a little bit good at.

Thank you Woodcreek for hosting and for giving me validation. Next time I’m going for first, and this time I’ll know I have a chance. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some new recipes to work on.

See ya!

What I Learned at Untapped Dallas

I would’ve liked to have had this post up by Sunday, when it was still more relevant, but oh well. Untapped Dallas was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and I’m still eager to talk about it, so hopefully you’re eager to hear about it. This isn’t a review, though. I don’t really need to say anything in that regard other than the festival was awesome. There were lots of good beers, lots of cool bands, lots of tasty food, and lots of fun people; nothing more really needs to be said as far as a critique goes.

As fun as the beer tastings and the concerts were, this festival–my very first Untapped–was primarily a learning experience for me. Here I’ll share some of the knowledge I gained that I’ll take with me to future Untapped fests–and of course post some of those sloppy, one-handed phone pics I took.

VIP is Totally Worth It

It’s not just worth it, it’s essential.

This year Untapped had four ticket price levels: GA (concert only), Tasting, Tasting Plus (VIP) and Stout (‘Super’ VIP). Both VIP packages let the eager beer nerds get in a full hour before the rest of us to get first dibs on some of the really rare stuff. “That’s alright,” I said to myself. “The breweries brought plenty of beer for us non-VIPs as well.” Nope. At least not in the case of Goose Island, who ran out of their Vanilla Rye BCBS before they got through their initial line of VIP tasters, and they were out of the Coffee BCBS too by the time I–one of the first non-VIPs through the gate–got there.

And they weren’t the only ones who had lines soon after I got in.

And this isn’t even close to the number of people who showed up closer to the bigger musical acts.

Lesson learned. Will only go with the VIP ticket from now on.

Untapped Dallas: Come for the Beer, Stay for the Music

It’s early November in North Texas, which means that the third annual North Texas Beer Week is upon us. NTX Beer Week is a long week (actually 10 days) of celebrating craft beer all across the Metroplex. According to the NTX Beer Week Facebook page, this year’s festivities include over 400 events at over 100 DFW-area locations. That’s a lot of beer!

As usual, the party officially kicks off with the Untapped Dallas Festival on Saturday, November 7th. This year’s Untapped boasts over 400 different beers from over 100 breweries, most of whom will have booths at the festival. These breweries come from Texas and beyond, and many will be tapping special one-offs and rare limited releases. Just look at this amazing beer program!

I (along with about a thousand other people) will be heading for the Goose Island booth right away to snag some ’14 Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout, and then getting back in line to get the regular BCBS–and then going back once again to get the Vanilla Rye. These three will go quick, so I have to make sure I get them early! After that, who knows? There are a lot of great limited tappings by Community, Lakewood and Peticolas that I’ll want to get to. Then there’s Velvet Merkin, Higher Math, and Backwoods Bastard that all deserve tastings. Even with a plan to taste 24 different beers, I’m going to have a hard time narrowing the rest of the list down.

As exciting as this list is, the beer is only half of the fun at Untapped. The festival has always been as much about music as it is about beer. This year’s headliner is…The Flaming Lips! Oh boy am I thrilled about this. The rest of the lineup is pretty impressive as well with Dr. Dog, Cloud Nothings, Elle King, The Pharcyde (what!?), Lights, The Mowgli’s and more playing on three stages. As you can see, this festival is serious about its music. Untapped is the perfect balance between beer festival and music festival.

Rockwall, Royse City and Beyond – Come Taste Pliny the Elder

At last! AB Beer & Wine, my favorite local bottle shop, is back from its nearly yearlong sabbatical to once again bring us the widest and most impressive selection of craft and import brews this side of Lake Ray Hubbard. And to mark this joyous occasion, they will be offering a tasting at the grand opening of one of the Holy Grails of American beer: Russian River’s insanely hoppy DIPA, Pliny the Elder!

About a year ago I took a short trip to Colorado and stayed in Denver for the night. Obviously my first stop after settling into my hotel room was the nearest tap house. In this case, the Falling Rock Tap House right in the middle of Denver’s LoDo nightlife hotspot. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they had just tapped Pliny the Elder literally moments before I walked in.

This beer makes an appearance in Denver and in California (where it’s brewed) about once every five weeks, and it’s known for disappearing from shelves and taps within hours. Perhaps Ninkasi blessed me with her favor that night, or perhaps it was just luck. All I knew at the time was that it was quite possibly the best beer I had ever had, and I had no clue when or if I would ever get to taste it again. Now, thanks to Harry at AB, I can.

You may not get a lot (AB’s tasting cups were always pretty small), but if you’re in the area you NEED to go try this beer. And while you’re there, check out the amazing selection and grab something nice for your fridge (or your cellar!).

I’ll see you there!