The Moody Brews

This has been patiently waiting for the right moment for quite some time. The right moment was now. While watching Bubba Ho-Tep, a movie that will never let you down. Nor will this beer. Perfect.

Brian Tyler: All Is Well

This is actually a very decent beer but once you see that label, you just cannot unsee it. I’m sorry. There is simply no way around it.

Immortal: The Call Of The Wintermoon

There’s really nothing I can say that would not be better communicated by this following bit of brilliance. You’re welcome.

Falco: Der Kommissar

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This beer is ancient. Any beer that lasts over a year in my cupboard might as well be from Memphis. The rich taste and runic lettering on the label of this imperial stout renders a picture steeped in tradition and much like the pyramids it has an alien aspect to it.

The people at Nøgne Ø may have had the Edda in mind when putting this forward but for me it’s all about Sinuhe, the Egyptian.

MNTTT (Eevil Stöö & Aztra): F.A.A.R.A.O.

Just a quick post without too much thought behind it. It was a really hot, lovely day, the beer was good for that and here’s an obvious musical match for it. Enjoy.

Jimmy Cliff: Gold Digger

Bellerose is for enjoying the summer in a more active manner. This, however, is ideal for enjoying it another way.

A pils made with fresh birch leaves, it instantly takes my mind to a summer house somewhere. Sitting at the end of the pier, the waves fondling my feet. Sauna later on, skinny dipping in the lake. Not a care in the world. Good times. The best of times.

A massive cliché, I know, but, for me, this is the Finnish summer in a bottle.

J. Karjalainen: On kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Okay, I don’t know how accurate this whole idea the general public has about Iceland as a desolate yet beautiful island of wonder is. I’ve never been there. We’ve all seen the photos though and when it comes to music, they’re not really trying that hard to dispute it, are they? So I’m just gonna ride with it and you’ll just have to deal with it.

And that is fine by me, because this beer fits that image perfectly. A dry and roasty porter, a masterpiece of bitterness. A cruel and brutal barren landscape that you cannot but love for the sheer beauty of it. And, not surprisingly, that’s where the prefect soundtrack comes from. And get this: It’s not even Sigur Rós!

Sólstafir: Ritual Of Fire

Although not the first IPA I had way back when I started getting into craft beer, Punk IPA will always have a special spot in my heart (or liver more likely). It was truly a watershed moment, a point of no return, an unconditional surrender before the spearhead of The Craft Beer Revolution. It completely changed the way I think about beer forever.

A similar upheaval happened years ago when I was playing a lot of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. Rage Against The Machine’s Guerrilla Radio was on the soundtrack and it blew my teenage mind. Sure, I’d been listening to a lot of music before, some good stuff too, but this was just something else. It taught me music can be so much more than entertainment and it usually gets better the more it breaks the norm. Like most things.

Rage Against The Machine: Guerrilla Radio

So far I’ve only ever had two of these but it’s already one of my absolute favourite summer beers. The smooth groove of a saison, sour notes of a lambic and the crisp crunch of an APA, all in one bottle of pure awesome. Love it to bits.

Black Twig: You Are Summer Wind

If I’m honest, I like the can more than the content. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the beer. Just not quite as much as I hoped I would.

Having said that, it does convey a pleasingly nonchalant swagger. It’s a delicate balancing act between trying to look extremely cool and looking like that’s not what you’re trying to do at all. Whatever you do, make it look like you ain’t even trying. That’s cool. I think I’ve read that on the internet so it must be true.

Chromatics: Tick Of The Clock

Incredibly raw, absolutely brutal and astonishingly refreshing. No nonsense whatsoever. It is, indeed, time to kick out the jams. Motherfuckers.

MC5: Kick Out The Jams

This is probably as refreshing as a smoked beer can be. On the one hand it’s a perfect choice for a sunny day like today, but on the other hand the smokiness brings in that little bit of melancholy. It’s like the summer is yet to truly begin but I feel like I miss it already.

New Order: Dreams Never End

Smoke is an interesting concept. It’s got that little je ne sais quoi about it, that makes me instantly feel like I’ve been around for long enough to have a good general idea about the grand scheme of things. Honestly I don’t have a clue, but then again with a nice smokey beverage in my hand it’s easy to realize that in the cosmic scale of the universe it is utterly irrelevant whether I do or don’t. This usually leads to a massive existential crisis, but as I’m currently preoccupied by typing these very words, I haven’t quite gotten round to that just yet. But when I inevitably do, I might try and pick myself up with this song.

Kosmikud: Viska Mulda

Murky. Bitter enough. Malty, a bit stuffy. Stagnant but not stale. Not very fruity but... Earthy.

Earth: Introduction

Relatively light in terms of ABV and, consequently, body, but not short of attitude. A very good entry level beer for those ready to make the step up to the harder stuff but serves just as well as an enjoyable session drink for the fatty livered craft beer veteran.

Masshysteri: Låt dom hata oss