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.// “Almost any liberal group can find something about Coors to gripe about,” said the Boston Globe in 1981. Indeed, historian Allyson Brantley has written a stunning new book, Brewing a Boycott: How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors and Remade American Consumer Activism, which explores how labor disputes, discriminatory workplace culture, and the Coors family’s politics generated a 30-plus-year boycott against the brand between the 1950s and the 1980s (and beyond). But as Brantley explains, the story isn’t just about how union workers, LGBTQ communities, Black and Chicano activists, and other groups each had reason to boycott Coors beer—but rather how they managed to work together in sustaining their boycott across time and space. This story is downright compelling and, frankly, should be required reading in the beer industry.
LOOK.// This week in particular has been filled with necessary looking, both inward and outward. Hopefully it leads to lasting changes for the better. And for anyone who’s doing the work but still needs just a smidgen more self-care in their life (and likes foxes), follow @hourlyfox on Twitter. Your feed will be peppered with adorable fox photos guaranteed to distract you for a gratifying moment.
DRINK.// New Glarus Brewing Co.’s Cabin Fever
If you’re like me, you’re vaccinated and more eager than ever to find safe ways to get back into the world. So a beer named Cabin Fever just felt right, somehow—hopefully this New Glarus seasonal is still lurking around a few Wisconsin stores. It’s a clean, stellar Honey Bock that doesn’t skimp on the honey. Two-row barley and European hops got me to start dreaming up travel plans again—just in time to learn Oktoberfest 2021 had been canceled. Two steps forward, six feet apart, but we’ll get there eventually.
READ.// “Personally, I don’t view myself as a thief. … I’m not a thief.” I first heard the remarkable tale of the American flautist who stole a bunch of rare-bird feathers from a branch of the British Museum of Natural History on a stunning episode of This American Life. After digging out my own collection of not-at-all-rare feathers to tie some flies for the spring trout season, I started reading Kirk Wallace Johnson’s engaging, full-length book about the case. Highly recommended.
LOOK.// There are a lot of reasons to like the silly Netflix movie “The Mitchells vs the Machines,” including plenty of dumb meme jokes and some great voice work from Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, and Beck Bennett. The artwork, however, in the form of the movie’s animation and design, is pretty original and enticing, especially for a family-friendly picture okayed for kids seven and up.
DRINK.// Pivovar Litovel’s Černý Citron
Lots of people love Czech Tmavý Ležák (Dark Lager), aka Black Beer (Černé Pivo), but I don’t often see it served as a Radler. I only discovered Pivovar Litovel’s pre-packaged, no-alcohol, Dark-Lager-and-lemonade Radler when I was buying groceries earlier this week. At this point, I don’t plan on ever not having it in my fridge.
READ.// “What does it feel like for a forensic anthropologist when a positive identification is made? Having spent so much time in mute communication with the dead, what is it like to share a moment with a living person who has had their worst fears confirmed?” Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid brings the realities, and the grim history, of forensic science into view, while acknowledging that our fascination with the macabre existed for centuries before podcasting.
LOOK.// Searching Google Maps for hiking trails while in Menomonie, Wisconsin—a college town with an outdoorsy bent—I couldn’t help but click on the words “Devil’s Punchbowl.” This is what I call a digital tourist trap: The ravine, with its lush, carved walls and rainforest-like microclimate, doesn’t offer hiking, or picnicking, and any attempts at safety measures are half-hearted at best. But I found myself silently staring at this marvel of nature tucked between swaths of farmland.
DRINK.// Hoegaarden White
I reacquainted myself with a style seldom brewed in my neighborhood—the Belgian Wit—and was reminded of just how satisfying a Hoegaarden White can be. Not only does it strike the balance between refreshing and satisfying, it works nearly all of the time: on an unseasonably warm day, at lunch, with barbecue. This beer does it all.
Curated by The GBH Collective
