Today’s beer film is the first of Michael Jackson’s six-part series, The Beer Hunter, that he did for Channel 4 (UK) and the Discovery Channel here in 1989. Since today is the birthday of Michael Jackson, it seemed like a good time to pull out the classics. Episode 1 is California Pilgrimage.
Beer In Film #85: Elvis Is Not Dead, He’s On A Beach Drinking Beer
Today’s beer film is a commercial for a Dutch beer, Bavaria Beer, in this case for their Radler. The hilarious spot imagines that Elvis Presley is not dead, but today lives on a desert island along will fellow not dead celebrities Tupac Shakur, Kurt Cobain, Bruce Lee and Marilyn Monroe. When a ship wanders close, with practiced ease they sound they alarm and strike the set, so there’s (almost) nothing to see as the ship speeds by, training their binoculars on the now empty-looking beach. Luckily, you don’t really need to know Dutch to figure out what’s going on.
Beer In Film #84: Beer Wars
Today’s beer film is the documentary feature Beer Wars, written and directed by Anat Baron, who celebrates her birthday today. Beer Wars was released in 2009, making it nearly five years old. Whew, a lot has happened in that time. Enjoy.
Beer In Film #83: Microbrewers 1981-1996: A Photo History
Today’s beer film is really just a slideshow to music, but it’s such a great collection of photographs that it’s worthwhile anyway. The book, MICROBREWERS: 1981-1996: A Photo History, features a wealth of historic photographs of many of the pioneers of the craft beer industry taken by David Bjorkman, who co-founded New Brewer magazine in 1983 with Victoria Thomas and Charlie Papazian, and documented the nascent beer industry from 1981 to 1996 before moving to Mexico. The handmade book includes “over 300 photos of the first microbrewers in the United States” and can be purchased from Blurb. I bought it when it first came out in 2009, and despite its high price tag, it’s an awesome collection of photos. The song, by the way, is the traditional Irish song “Beer, Beer, Beer” performed by The Clancy Brothers.
Beer In Film #82: Brew Minions
Today’s beer film is a hilarious, gentle spoof of the Discovery series Brew Masters that Sam Calagione and the folks from Dogfish Head made in 2010. This one, Brew Minions, was made by Dave Thibodeau and his minions at Ska Brewing in Durango, Colorado. Besides making some funny swipes at he Brew Masters series, it’s also a good documentary on the brewery and their making a beer for the 30th anniversary of one of their favorite ska bands, The Toasters.
Beer In Film #81: People Under The Stairs’ “Beer”
Today’s beer film is a 2009 music video by the band People Under the Stairs, a hip hop duo from L.A. As an old white suburban dude, it’s not a style of music in heavy rotation on my iPod, but give it a listen and watch the video. Part of it was shot at the Odell brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. The song is pretty catchy, and while it starts out with the typical stuff about getting drunk and malt liquor, keep listening. They drop quite a few references to better beer. While they do name drop such hipster brands as OE and PBR, I heard several mentions of craft beer and Belgian imports. See if you can pick them out? I counted nine. Did I miss any?
Beer In Film #80: The Muppets Share A Beer With Sylvester Stallone
I’m off to see the new Muppets movie which opens today. I’ve been a huge fan of the Muppets since I was a kid, so today’s beer video is an odd one, from the original Muppet Show, which was a pun-filled variety extravaganza that ran for five seasons between 1976-1981. Each show featured a celebrity guest star, and this one come from Season 3, Episode 20, which aired in February of 1979. The guest star was none other than Sylvester Stallone, just a few months before the release of Rocky II. In one of the segments he sings (yes, sings, and his musical abilities are every bit the equal of his thespian prowess!) a rendition of “A Bird in a Gilded Cage,” while holding a mug of beer. Accompanied by Rowlf on piano, with Fozzie, Gonzo and some additional Muppets singing along, at least a couple of them also have mugs of beer. Sadly, no one takes a drink during the sad song, but I’m amazed they were even allowed to show beer at all on television in the late 1970s.
Beer In Film #79: Megafactories — Budweiser
Today’s beer video is from the National Geographic channel series Megafactories (a.k.a. Ultimate Factories). This show features one of the breweries making Budweiser, and aired in 2007. It was Season 1, Episode 4 in the series.
Beer In Film #78: Megafactories — Heineken
Today’s beer video is from the National Geographic channel series Megafactories (a.k.a. Ultimate Factories). This show features one of the breweries making Heineken, and aired in 2011. It was Season 5, Episode 10 in the series.
Beer In Film #77: Megafactories — Guinness
Today’s beer video is from the National Geographic channel series Megafactories (a.k.a. Ultimate Factories). This show features one of the breweries making Guinness, the one at St. James Gate, it appears, and aired in 2011. It was Season 6, Episode 4 in the series. Even though St. Patrick’s Day was yesterday, I figured even with a hangover, a brewery tour was in order.