As a beer lover, I often find myself selecting out a brew to fit my mood. And as a movie lover, most of the time the two go hand in hand. So I decided to share some pairings of film and beer that I think go great together. Take a look at my pick of the month and hopefully you will enjoy it.
Lagunitas IPA
Lagunitas is a brewery with a very peculiar name that makes a very dank IPA. The malt in their IPA takes a backseat to the hops, which in on par with the West Coast style. Lagunitas also extensively dry hops their hoppy beers, so the smell is fantastic. Since most of tasting a beer comes from the scent, this really helps set their beers off. Lagunitas IPA is a very clean, crisp beer that is satisfying if you only have one or if you have a few. It falls right into that sweet spot. Lagunitas is also constructing a second brewery in Chicago this year to help guarantee fresher beer is distributed throughout the country.
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a bit of a mindfuck the first time you watch it. It’s one of those movies that you’re probably going to want to watch again as soon as you finish watching it. Written and directed by Richard Kelly, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as title character Donnie Darko, a teenager who constantly sees a man in a grotesque rabbit costume named Frank. The first time Donnie sees Frank, he is told the exact time remaining until the end of the world. Every time that Frank shows up something bad happens. Future occurrences cause issues in school and with Donnie’s classmates. The movie can get pretty hard to follow at times, but the concentration you need to watch is well rewarded.
Lagunitas is a pleasantly weird brewery. They definitely do things their own way. The owner of the brewery, Tony Magee, is very vocal on Twitter and in industry meet-ups about keeping small breweries independent. Their website gives a good idea of what type of business they run. Overall, Lagunitas is strange company for being one of the top ten breweries in the US. On a related note, Donnie Darko is a strange movie. There is a lot of weird imagery and theories brought up in the film. It deals with things like mental illnesses and time travel. The themes are very rich and helps this movie hold up over multiple viewings. And odds are, you will want to watch this movie a few times. Lagunitas IPA will hold up just as nicely.