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.
Life & Limb is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head. The original collaboration was a Strong Ale brewed with maple syrup produced in 2009 and then again in 2011. It is still a rotating production, versus other collaborations that are usually one and done. Most recently though, Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head brewed a version of Life & Limb called Rhizing Bines, which was an Imperial IPA that utilized hopping methods that each brewery is known for. Rhizing Bines was hopped continuously like Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA line giving a full range of each hops bittering and flavoring properties and then dry-hopped using Sierra Nevada’s Hop Torpedo, a device which carefully circulates fermenting beer through whole cone hops.
Death Proof is Quentin Tarantino’s half of the Grindhouse Double Feature released alongside Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. Death Proof stars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Zoë Bell, Rose McGowan and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Kurt Russell plays a guy with a killer steak who drives a stunt car that is reinforced to allow the driver to survive crashes. He eventually runs into the rest of the cast and conflict ensues. The movie is produced to emulate Grindhouse films from the 70’s, with distressed film reels and an over the top story. Everything plays well together to make Death Proof a fun watch.
Passengers riding in the Death Proof car are risking life and limb. Death Proof is a fun ride that is meant to be experienced alongside Planet Terror for maximum effect. Collaborations between Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are frequent just like the collaborations between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head. Besides Grindhouse, Tarantino and Rodriguez have worked together on Four Rooms, an anthology of shorts connected by a bell hop played by Tim Roth working in a hotel filled with unusual characters. All of the film and beer collaborations done by these men and breweries are great examples of having a love for their craft and taking it in unusual directions.
