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.// Whenever anyone asks: “If you could see into the future, would you want to know?” my answer has always been a resounding no. I think that’s why I’m drawn to stories about time travel—it forces me to experience a false reality that both intrigues and repels me. “Recursion” by Blake Crouch isn’t a typical time-travel tale of linear interruption. It’s a narrative spanning multiple lifetimes, lived in tandem with one another, each blurring into the other until the entire world burns in collective insanity. I couldn’t sleep until I broke free of its paralyzing grip. It’s the perfect escapist mirror of the world crumbling in a different, parallel manner around us.
LOOK.// Unashamed bucket list concert: The Backstreet Boys. I was set to see the aging boy band this October for the first time (finally), but I’m not feeling optimistic about that happening in the midst of this year’s shitshow-ery. In the meantime, the cockles of my elder Millennial heart are warmed by rewatching old music videos of their hits, including “I Want It That Way” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” Don’t judge me.
DRINK.// Burning Beard Brewing Company’s Get Thee to a Nunnery Trappist Single Ale
When one walks into a taproom anywhere in Southern California, they’re typically faced with a paralysis of indecision: do I pick this Hazy IPA, this Hazy IPA, or this Hazy IPA? But in the wake of COVID-19’s halt on our collective habits, I find myself reacquainting my palate with Old-World styles that are more heavily dependent on malt or yeast expression. I now have Hefeweizens, Dry Irish Stouts, and Amber Ales aplenty, but this Trappist Single Ale divinely marries the best of European monastic traditions with the freshness of my local neighborhood brewery.
READ.// “What’s your story? It’s all in the telling. Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of a world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or soft ice.” The award-winning author Rebecca Solnit’s personal stories are woven throughout her new release, “The Faraway Nearby.” The book also includes a running footer exploring a parallel narrative. The hybrid work is ultimately part-monologue, part-travelogue, and a lesson in storytelling.
LOOK.// Adobe runs an annual open call for artists and designers to submit their takes on the English alphabet and Arabic numerals. The result is a collection of international artists participating in a daily design charrette. This year’s contest is coming to a close, so be sure to take a look at the submissions—you may just find your next favorite illustrator. To quote Michael Kiser in Read.Look.Drink 199, “Who knew I’d be middle-aged and just waiting for the letter J to drop on Instagram tomorrow?”
DRINK.// Tree House Brewing Company’s Baby Bright
Though Tree House is known for its New England-Style IPAs, the brewery’s Baby Bright is an American IPA without a lick of haze. It goes against the style the brewery is internationally celebrated for, and instead of tasting juicy, it’s dry, clean, and has low turbidity. Tree House describes the beer as “a study in balance, elegance, & restraint,” and hopefully it—true to name—signals brighter days ahead.
READ.// “I easily imagined sparks drifting into the night sky, and gusts of laughter as friends sat in folding chairs, holding chilled Modelo longnecks, while children chased the farm dogs around the hoop houses and blackberry patch. Rafael promised to trade an earthenware cazuela bean pot for one of my cast iron skillets, and we shook hands to say goodbye. That was then. Only a month ago.” Shane Mitchell takes us on a journey wrapped in nostalgia, history, and tension as he explores hospitality in the South, and what it means to grapple with its new meaning in a post-coronavirus world.
LOOK.// He sits alone on a red velvet chair, guitar in hand, occupying an abandoned house as the room echoes vocals of frustration, longing, and working class struggles. American Aquarium’s new music video for “Me + Mine (Lamentations)” captivates the viewer with seven minutes of scenes featuring frontman BJ Barham, footage of empty towns and farmland, and a video montage as haunting as the lyrics.
DRINK.// 3 Fonteinen’s Oude Geuze (season 16|17) Blend No. 24
The first warm March days in Atlanta had me dreaming of sun-soaked walks, porch hangouts, and endless afternoon beers. Two friends happened to be visiting the city at the time, and with the sun and serendipity on our sides, we planted ourselves at the Porter Beer Bar. Our afternoon ended with a beautiful, chilled 2017 vintage Gueuze from 3 Fonteinen. We raised our glasses to toast their recent engagement, enjoyed tart sips of a beer that reflected a distinct time and place, and felt happily buzzed.
Curated by The GBH Collective
