This is the artistic and intellectual inspiration that has burrowed its way into the mind of the GBH Collective this week. Great reads, stunning images, and beers that chart new territory. Drinking alone just got better, because now you're drinking with all of us.
Image from website of illustrator Dean J. McKeever
READ. // "Thanks to the people who made it, sold it, protested against it, rapped about it, and of course drank it, the history of malt liquor is a spectacular and uniquely American shitshow. And here it is, in all its glory." Chart course through the wild, surprising, and downright entertaining history of malt liquor. The Sleazy and Spectacular History of Malt Liquor
LOOK. // Illustrator Dean J. McKeever uses line work to create clean drawings that capture the imagination and inspire a curious state of mind. He's also the dude behind the artwork for Tree House Brewing Company, where a heavy emphasis on color comes into play with the black and white illustrations to create compelling and bright images for Tree House's beer cans.
DRINK. // Monkish Brewing Company's Run the Pigeon
The second canned IPA release from a Belgian-inspired brewery that historically brewed beers that were categorically not IPA. This juicy, hazy, hop bomb trends very much toward the New England/Vermont style. The soft mouthfeel and yeast-driven IPA character marry perfectly with the fruity and floral character thrown from the combination of Nelson, Amarillo, and Galaxy hops. A killer Monkish-made IPA, can't wait for more.
READ. // "Up to the point we add the sugar, we brew according to the purity law, but the agriculture ministry told me it could not be called beer. Because we were brewing on German soil, it could not carry the name beer – even though we’d been doing it for far longer than the purity law.” Medieval beer purity law has Germany's craft brewers over a barrel
LOOK. // Someone on Reddit made a comprehensive color-coded schedule of every beer New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin has ever made in a Google Doc, including year-round, seasonal, and experimental offerings.
DRINK. // Middle Brow Beer Co's White Light Apricot Witbier
I can't tell if I'm attempting to will the change of season by drinking all of these light and funky beers, but they're hitting the spot. It's delicate with a subtle fruit sweetness throughout with just enough spice bite and at 5.1%, it screams patio day drinking.
READ. // “Most animals are hiding, you actually never get to see them and you might be led to believe there’s nothing out there.” How photographers are using camera traps to illuminate the world's most elusive animals. (Thankfully capturing beer in the wild is a bit easier.) Photographing Wildlife Without a Photographer
LOOK. // You, too, can sound smart and give a rousing TED Talk.
DRINK. // Half Acre's Powder Blue IPA.
Like Steph, I feel the weather is heavily influencing my enjoyment of this Half Acre-Short's collab beer—an IPA featuring Mosaic, El Dorado, and 130 gallons of pureed blueberries. It has the slightest tang, the slightest tartness, and the slightest purple-red tinge to the head, all echoing the slight promise that soon we'll be in full-blown summer mode.
READ. // "'Greenterior: Plant-loving Creatives and their Homes' documents the homes of 18 designers and artists through the lens of their abundant houseplants." I stumbled upon this book at a boutique shop in Toronto and dug the photography, but was particularly keen on the plant life thread that ties the various creative people they profile together, displaying their spaces and the plants within them. Greenterior
LOOK. // Though released in 2008, it's a Swedish film and perhaps under the radar a bit. A cinematographer's dream, this is not your average horror movie. Attention to detail, framing and color palette restraint makes this film much more than your typical gor-hor movie.
DRINK. // The Veil Brewing's Crucial Taunt Double IPA.
Having just opened on April 16, The Veil comes out of the gate with a big, punchy, juicy double IPA. Drawing similarities to other Northeast IPAs, this one is a juice bomb and my absolute favorite when I tried it at the brewery. Crucial Taunt has huge tropical fruit notes up front while not shying away from some bitterness at the finish. The Wayne's World reference doesn't hurt it either.
Curated by The GBH Collective
