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I think we all need at least one really nice positive thing about the entertainment business every single day of the year, including weekends. Sometimes it may be something simple, like a video that showcases something fun and sometimes it may be a movie poster that embraces the aesthetic we all want Hollywood to aspire to. Sometimes it may be a long-winded diatribe. Sometimes it’ll be from the staff and extended family of CHUD.com. Maybe even you readers can get in on it. So, take this to the bank. Every day, you will get a little bit of positivity from one column a day here. Take it with you. Maybe it’ll help you through a bad day or give folks some fun things to hunt down in their busy celluloid digesting day.
3.17.11
By Damon Houx: Twitter
Racer 5 IPA
Today is St. Patrick’s Day – or as alcoholics like to call it “amateur hour” – and I am of two minds of my thankfulness. One mind says “hey fucko, why are you celebrating a beer on Drunk day?” and the other is like “Hey fucko, of course celebrate beer!” These two minds of mine are assholes, or somewhat rude to say the least. Homer Simpson once said “To alcohol! The cause of – and solution to – all of life’s problems!” and he’s right but he’s also a cartoon, so… there’s that.
But if I was a man to name his favorite alcohol companion, it would easily be Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA. Though I’ve found myself making due with Stone’s IPA or their Arogant Bastard (which have made their way into supermarkets around my neighborhood), or mixed it up by getting an Alesmith, the 60 or 90 minute Dogfish IPA’s or Dale’s Pale Ale – all of which are top shelf beers – there’s no getting around that the Racer 5 is my favorite of the IPA’s, and my favorite beer period.
And that’s not just because it’s a seven-per-center. No sir.
It starts with a citrus-y pine-y smell, and it’s a amber-looking beer. Of course it helps if you like your beer a bit hoppy, with this one, but it’s a pleasant beer to watch movies with. And after about two or three, you’re no longer entirely sober.
I tend to be a beer drinker at home because I feel it’s easier to moderate your drinking that way. I like hard alcohol okay, but beer tends to hit a natural stopping point, where if I’m in the wrong mood, I can keep going with the hard stuff, though every once in a while I like to have a margarita, mojito, or Bloody Mary weekend – perhaps that’s the prep work factor too, and I’ve never been one who’s liked owning liqueurs – I’m a dude. I used to live in Portland, and there I would dig into my breweries, with a personal favorite the local guys Hair of the Dog, but my old favorite was Fat Tire. When it started making its way into Portland it was kick-ass, and after a year or two in LA I missed it so that when I would go home I would have some waiting. Eventually the beer went everywhere, and once it was mass produced it lost a lot of what made it great.
But – and maybe it’s just me – the L.A. beer-snob culture has been growing, and so even my local dance club The Short Stop now has Racer 5 on tap. IPA’s tend to not be a good dancing beer. It’s the heavy middle choice between the lighter, less alcohol-heavy beers and the shot. But still, that they have it on tap makes me buy a glass from time to time. And I have a good beer store near me, and there are now a number of Bevmo’s in town, which also stock great beers.
As people prepare to drink heavily and act accordingly, let me recommend my favorite. But please don’t drink so much of it that it gets mass produced. But also, if my Box office column is a little loose, it’s because writing this made me go buy some Racer 5.