This Week’s Recommendations Lead Off With New Belgium’s Rampant Imperial IPA
College football’s offseason is about three months old already, but that means there’s still nearly five months until the 2013 season. It’s an eternity for any college football fan, and while many of us indulge in watching other sports, it just can’t compare to Fall Saturdays.
With that in mind, we bring you the latest installment of our weekly feature, “Build a Better Offseason.” Every seven days or so, we’ll provide recommendations on what to do with all your free time now that you’re not all-consumed by college football, specifically focusing on beers, books, movies and other, non-college football sporting events. There’s also “this week in shame,” which you can view at the bottom of each piece.
Beer
Rampant Imperial IPA, by New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO (Imperial/Double IPA, 8.5% ABV)
While watching the Syracuse-Michigan game at the Long Beach Yard House on Saturday, I was obviously disappointed. However, drinking this beer at least brightened my spirits a bit. It pours as a light IPA and drinks like one too, but you can surely taste quite a bit of hops with each gulp — plus that rewarding, stinging kick that stems from having a slightly higher alcohol content. Rampant is one of New Belgium’s most recent varieties, so it’s possible that its distribution area could grow over time. But right now, it’s mostly available in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming, with limited availability (draft or bottle) on the entire Pacific Coast, Midwest, plus parts of the Southeast.
Book
“Primary Colors,” by Joe Klein (1996)
This thinly-veiled commentary on the Clinton presidency was originally attributed to an anonymous author; no doubt adding to the intrigue. But what really hooked readers into Klein’s “Primary Colors” was how incredibly accurate his portrayals of our country’s key political figures were (while still maintaining the fun air of “fiction”). This, of course, in turn fueled speculation and accusations that an insider (such as Klein) was the author, which he eventually revealed later that year. Beyond the back story though, it’s a great (and easy) read that gives you a full view of the time period’s various policy-making parts, while supplying some laughs along the way, too.
Movie
Beerfest (2006)
Yes, it is a Broken Lizard film, so right off the bat, you’ll find all the usual suspects and tropes of such a product. But nonetheless, getting past all that, this movie is a love note to beer, drinking games and (perversely) the German culture. Without giving too much away, the Wolfhouse brothers (Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske) end up at a diehard’s alternative to the touristy Oktoberfest, called Beerfest. After being thoroughly embarrassed by the competition’s competitive drinkers, they create an American team to compete in the following year’s contest. Obviously, hilarity ensues all along the way, especially from the inappropriate Gam Gam (Cloris Leachman) and Barry Badrinath (Jay Chandrasekar). When I first saw this movie freshman year of college, my friends and I tried to make it a drinking game: a shot of beer for every time someone on-screen drank. I would not recommend this to anyone.
