These are the words, images, and beers that inspired the GBH Collective this week. Drinking alone just got better, because now you're drinking with all of us.
READ.// "It sort of affirmed these stories that I had been told, how I could do something in the world that had an impact." Kaitlyn Tiffany's interview with "Uncanny Valley" author Anna Wiener about her time working at start-ups strikes a chord. In the end, Wiener found that the allure of Silicon Valley came at the cost of being treated like a human being. Looking beyond this specific example, it's easy to get wrapped up in the perceived happiness of others in their jobs, relationships, or hobbies when you're searching for your own personal passion or mission. I've done it, and have only later realized I'm chasing the happiness they seem to derive from the thing vs. the thing itself.
LOOK.// It may be a clothing and outdoor goods company, but Patagonia sure doesn't post a lot of photographs of clothing. Instead, its Instagram feed depicts a series of surfers, mountain climbers, hikers, and landscapes. Its headline states: "We’re in business to save our home planet," and its feed is certainly a pleasant way to take a mental breather.
DRINK.// Jester King Brewery’s SPON 3 Three Year Blend
I’ve been sitting on this bottle of Jester Kings’s SPON for a while. GBH contributor Dave Riddile shared it with me a few years back, and it’s sat in my fridge ever since. As is the case with many “special” bottles, I’ve been saving it for an occasion—and a trip to New York with good friends seemed like the perfect time. Tart and only lightly funky, this beautiful beer helped bring a newcomer into the world of sour beer.
READ.// “But of course, it wasn’t just a big pop hit, and despite the song consisting of just a few repeated lines, the political manifesto under the surface went far deeper. In the album’s dense liner notes, ‘Tubthumping’ (along with all the other tracks) was paired with an extensive, eclectic patchwork of quotes and references, ranging from Malcolm McLaren, to McLibel, French graffiti, and Baudelaire.” After an argument in the GBH Slack turned to Kyle Kastranec slamming Chumbawamba, I revisited this fascinating look at one of the U.K.'s most iconic, supposedly one-hit wonders.
LOOK.// The walls of South London restaurant 40 Maltby Street are covered in posters advertising wine tastings and events of years past, all done by illustrators Anna Hodgson and Harry Darby. The playful, vaguely old-timey illustrations have stuck in my mind since my last visit, and I'm tempted to go back just to gaze at them.
DRINK.// The Kernel Brewery’s Bière De Saison Crab Apple
I love The Kernel's Table Beer as much as Dave Riddile loves Allagash White, but my last visit to the brewery’s taproom was all about the Bière de Saison Crab Apple. In a single sip, bracing tartness meets rich apple meets gentle Saison character. I strongly recommend buying on sight, if possible.
READ.// "In February 1858, one George Staats, a Brooklyn brewer and proprietor of a lager garden, went on trial on charges of violating the city's Sunday drink law. Staats's lawyer offered an ingenious defense: His client was innocent because lager beer was not intoxicating [...] Witness after witness testified to drinking excruciating quantities of lager—twenty to ninety pints a day—with no ill effects. The jury retired, debated the case for three hours (presumably without the benefit of lager to clear their minds), and returned to declare both Staats and lager not guilty.” Reading Maureen Ogle's “Ambitious Brew: A History of American Beer” recently taught me that defenders of American beer tried—and for decades succeeded—in making the case for Lager as the "safe" alcoholic option because, as they claimed, it wasn't intoxicating.
LOOK.// The Twitter account belonging to Lars Marius Garshol, whose work is almost single-handedly bringing the traditions of Norwegian farmhouse brewing to an international audience, is a goldmine of photos that make me say (in a good way), "What the hell is going on here?" Garshol frequently shares images of dusty Norwegian brewing cellars, with captions like, "Over the last few centuries Norway gradually transitioned to the lauter tun that has a tap in the side. But Olav never got the memo and is still using the older type with a rod and hole in the bottom.”
DRINK.// Boulevard Brewing x Modern Times’ Restless Nights
Restless Nights, a collaboration between Boulevard Brewing Company and Modern Times Beer + Coffee, has a quality that feels rare to barrel-aged beers: a certain moreishness. After I'd drunk the first pint of this bourbon-barrel-aged Coffee Porter (7.5% ABV), I wanted another. The beer’s complexity is likely the result of its careful production: it’s a blend of 50% fresh Porter (which rests for two days on coffee that is itself a blend of 40% bourbon-barrel-aged Colombia Silvia and 60% freshly roasted Colombia Heriberto), and 50% Porter that has aged for six months in bourbon barrels.
Curated by The GBH Collective
