HopHeadSaid Food Pairing Blog - HopHeadSaid

Hops & Horrors #31: Halloween

10/31/2013

A Halloween horror movie list would not be complete without this iconic movie. That is all.

The perfect pairing for Halloween is Hop Slayer from Wild Onion Brewing Company. Be careful, though, one of these beers can impair your running ability causing you trip and fall down on smooth ground where you're sure find some strategically placed garden tool ready to pierce your soft flesh. So, if you're going to have one you may as well have two and then you won't care a bit that Michael is searching the house for you.

BTW, you might recognize a young P.J. Soles who played the love interest to Bill Murray in Stripes.

Hops & Horrors #30: Ghostbusters

10/30/2013

One of the best movies of all time and is one of the few first run movies I saw as a kid. You see, I grew up in South Dakota where it could take 6-12 months before a new release would reached my little hometown.* But we were on vacation in the big city, Bismarck, ND; and so we all went!

The perfect beer pairing for Ghostbusters is Ninkasi Brewing Company's Total Domination. Given that Gozer was a god (not the GOD. Like that? A Groundhog Day reference) of the Hittites, Mesopotamians, and Sumerians; and Ninkasi is the brewing goddess of the Sumerians. Ergo, the movie and beer connection. However, if you need another connection, remember that Gozer the Gozarian, with help from Zuul and Vinz Clortho, are in town to exert their total domination over the mortals by destroying the world.

*Back in the good old days, when you couldn't rent the movie online before it was released.

My favorite scene... I think he can hear you, Ray.

-Do you want some coffee, Mr. Tulley?
-Do I?
-Yes, have some.
-...Yes, have some.

Hops & Horrors #29: Alien

10/29/2013

Alien is one part isolation, one part evil corporation, one part technopathic android, and one part hungry alien, with a healthy dose of what you can't see is what scares you. This movie is still as scary as it was 34 years ago, yes it has been that long. In fact, it's so scary that you don't even mind that the futuristic computers are all text based.

The perfect beer pairing for this movie has to be Subspace Session Ale from Intergalactic Brewing Company. If it hadn't been for that subspace transmission that Mother picked up, Ripley and the rest of the Nostromo would all be sitting at their local pub throwing back beers (using their share of the credits, I'm sure).

Just for fun.

Hops & Horrors #28: 28 Days Later

10/27/2013

28 days later is a great twist on the zombie genre. Jim wakes up from a "coma" (Sound familiar, Walking Dead fans?) Not quite zombies -they can be killed without removing or destroying the brains- but rage filled beings that will not stop until they have torn every living "unraged" thing to pieces.

I struggled for a couple days trying to pick the perfect beer pairing for this movie and in the end, it was one of those palms on the forehead kinda thing. Furious from Surly Brewing Company is one of my favorite IPA's. It is one of the few beers I miss, living in SoCal-when I lived in South Dakota, I had many opportunities to drink it. While I might be grumpy that I can't get the beer out here it certainly doesn't fill me with a viral-like rage contagion. Which is good for everyone.

Hops & Horrors #27: Child's Play

10/27/2013

I never really understood why people found this movie horrifying. The concept (a serial killer is killed in a doll factory and his soul is transplanted into a doll) is so over the top ridiculous, that I think it may have been the one that put slasher movies to bed for many years.

This perfect beer pairing for this movie is Arcadia Ales' Cereal Killer. Get it? Cereal? Hehehe. One of these 10% beers will help make the movie more beleivable and two of these beers... well you won't care what movie is on.

Hops & Horrors #26: Nightmare on Elm St.

10/26/2013

A horror movie list wouldn't be complete without A Nightmare on Elm Street. I found it surprising how familiar this movie was to me, seeing as how I haven't seen it in 25+ years. The clip below contains one of the most iconic scenes* - the one where Freddy stretches his arms out to scrape his finger-knives on the wall.

Immort Ale from Dogfish Head Brewery is the perfect beer pairing for this movie. If any of the pscho-killers (Freddy, Jason, Michael) is the most believably immortal, it is Freddy. At 11% this beer will make you feel pretty invincible, up to the point where it will put you to sleep. Sweet dreams.

*The scene also features Amanda Wyss, who you might remember her better as Beth from Better of Dead.

**On a side note, Johnny Depp was in this movie, too.

Just for fun.

hops & Horrors #25: Aaah! Zombies!

10/24/2013

I love zombie movies, so when I discovered this movie on Netflix you know I was all over it. This movie has a great twist on the zombie genre (told from the zombies point of view) and it's pretty funny, to boot. I love the zombie vision throughout the movie, it makes total sense!

How can you not pair Zombie Dust from 3Floyds with a zombie movie, right? A 6.5% undead pale ale*, full of hop flavor and aroma will be a welcome refreshment after all the nutritious, mineral-y brains you've been eating!

*Their description.

Hops & Horrors #24: Paranormal Activity

10/24/2013

This is THE scariest movie I have ever seen and in my opinion, it is the reigning king of the "what you don't see is what scares you" genre. The movie does a great job of freaking you out with shadows and low-tech special effects - the most effective horror graphics in my opinion. I've only seen the movie once* and that may be the only time I ever need to see it.

The beer pairing for this movie gives a nod to the scene where the beast/ghost walks through the baby powder and leaves the first empirical evidence, besides the shadows and air puffs under the sheets caught on video. At 15%, The Beast from Avery Brewing Company could be as frightening as the movie. Good thing it only comes in 12oz bottles.

*Although I've seen all the sequels, they're pretty scary but nowhere near as scary as the original.

The lighter side... although they still give me the chills.

Hops & HOrrors #23: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

10/23/2013

This is one of the best "disturbing" horror movies, in my opinion. Sure, the whole Leatherface is gonna cut you up with a chainsaw and his crazy Grampy is gonna put you in the best damn chili you ever tasted is pretty crazy, BUT, I think the skinny, metal-plated-skull guy is way more disturbing than Leatherface. I'm not sure why it is. Maybe it's that he looks kinda normal, or that he carries around a wire hanger, or that he uses said hanger to pull pieces of his scalp off and eat it OR that he finds enjoyment hitting people on the head with a hammer that I find disturbing. Yep, that's probably it.

Chainsaw Ale is the perfect beer pairing for this movie. The name and the fact that it's the imperial or double version matches the fact that I picked a sequel* to feature here. Chainsaw is a limited release beer from Left Hand Brewing so if you can't find it at your local beer store, you can always pick up it's little brother, Sawtooth Ale. I wonder how scary or lethal, Leatherface would be if he had to use on of those giant tree cutting hand saws you see in the label?

*Because I haven't seen the original.

Hops & Horrors #22: The Thing

10/22/2013

The Thing epitomizes the horror movie, seclusion setting. You can't possibly be anymore secluded than living in a research station in Antarctica. Add a man-eating alien to the mix, especially an alien that takes on the appearance of the person it consumes enabling it to live among us undetected until it needs to eat again, is horror movie gold.

For this hops&horrors beer pairing I picked an old seasonal favorite of mine, Snowstorm from Schell's Brewing Co. in New Ulm, Minnesota. One of the things I like so much about this beer is that the recipe changes each year. The brewery compares this beer to a snowflake, but for this series I will compare it to The Thing, changing its appearance each year. Whichever version of Snowstorm you get, this year's style is a 7% Belgian Golden Strong, you know it will warm you from the inside.

or ... the Lego version.