Netflix Instant: TV and Movie Picks - Drinking Edition!

It may still be hot and muggy outside, and nothing helps with that more than beer...delicious, delicious beer. We are big fans of said tasty beverage and regularly seek out rare and delicious beers in bars around town. To celebrate this amazing creation and to go along with THE WORLD'S END hitting theatres today, I have brought you an assortment of drinking movies. 

Cheers!

WITHNAIL AND I 

This black comedy follows two unemployed actors as they wait for their careers to take off. Of course it's easy to start drinking when you're faced with rejection over and over again. There's a drinking game that's not for the faint of liver that goes along with this film. It consists of keeping up drink for drink with each alcoholic substance Withnail drinks. I don't recommend that game unless you want to end up in the hospital.

KEN BURNS: PROHIBITION

There was a time when they took alcoholic drinks away from everyone!? Inconceivable. This highly acclaimed PBS series documents the passing of the 18th Amendment all the way to its appeal. And thank goodness for that. 

BEER
My cohort introduced this little gem of a film to me, and he's that much cooler for it. It's a funny satire film about the advertising industry. It stars David Allen Grier, Rip Torn, and Hot Lips herself, Loretta Swit. It's so fantastic we are able to stream this film. You won't regret it.

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A Week (Or So) At The Alamo Drafthouse Richardson

 

So, the day has come and gone; we had the grand opening of the new Alamo Drafthouse Richardson. This was a pretty busy week where Jonesy spent four days in a row, and I spent three days going to various movies and events. Let's go through some of the highlights including the grand opening and some of the special events.

High End Drinking: Sam Adams Utopias

If you follow us on the Twittersphere, you know that Jonesy and I love beer as much as we love movies. I truly believe that there's a great symbiotic relationship between movies and beer, or I'm just making excuses to make beer posts in a movie blog. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of being able to try out a 1oz. pour of the Sam Adams Utopias 2012 "strong ale" at our favorite bar, the Common Table. To call this a strong ale was an understatement. This beer is borderline a fine scotch or brandy that you can sip for hours while smoking a cigar. 

I wanted to showcase a few of our brief thoughts, but for those that aren't familiar with the Utopias, it is one of Sam Adam's most sought-after brews with the initial costs starting at $199, and then sky-rocketing on eBay. What makes this beer so special? It's so strong that it's recommended to be sipped in 2oz. pours. It's always released in very limited quantities. It's a uniquely non-carbonated beer, and to quote Sam Adams found Jim Koch, here's how they created this 29% ABV monstrosity:

"The traditional brewing techniques we use in all of our beers shines through in this extremebrew. We begin with a blend of malts that impart the rich, ruby-black color. Distinct hopcharacter from the Noble hops imparts complexity and balance. During fermentation, we alsouse a yeast strain normally reserved for champagne. The 2012 Utopias brew was aged in hand selected, single-use bourbon casks from the award winning Buffalo Trace Distillery to enhance the beer’s distinct vanilla and maple notes. Our 10th Anniversary batch also spent time in a variety of finishing casks: Tawny Port casks and Vintage Ruby Port casks from Portugal, which contribute slightly more elegant, dark fruit aromas, and Rum barrels from Nicaragua, which add flavors of fig, chocolate, raisin, vanilla, and a slight spice."

So what did we think? Hit the jump to find out:

Recap of the First Alamo Drafthouse DFW Event: Rolling Roadshow of THE BURBS

Even though the opening for the new DFW Alamo Drafthouse won't happen until May 2013, the owners are taking no time in building up the excitement. Located at the corner of Beltline and 75, a forgettable, mid-century modern strip mall is soon to be taken over by movie lovers. As its first official event, the guys brought a Rolling Roadshow event to the parking lot across from where the new theatre will be built. The Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow is an arm of the theatre that brings movies to the outdoors to famous locations. Here we were treated to a 35mm screening of THE BURBS.

Random yet Awesome: In Which A Non-Foodie Tries To Describe A Beer Dinner: The Mikkeller/Jester King Beer Dinner At The Common Table

The one of a kind snifter given to us at the dinner. Filled with Farmhouse Black Metal Stout.

Javi here. I know this is not at all a beer blog of any sorts, but this was such a cool event that I wanted to write up about it. Here's just a bit of background,  11/12/11-11/19/11 was the first inaugural Dallas Beer Week. There was a great variety of events including the first public showcasing of the Deep Ellum Brewery at The Common Table, a blind beer challenge over at The Holy Grail, and the event I'm talking about today, the Mikkeller/Jester King Beer Dinner with special guest Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, Thomas Schon and various Jester King employees. They were on hand to talk a little about their beers, their collaborations, and some of the history about their process of making some of their beers. Local bar, the aforementioned Common Table, hosted the event where they closed the restaurant down from 6:15 until about 9:15. Mad props to owner Corey Pond and his chefs for accommodating my request for a vegetarian alternative to the menu so I could also partake on fun. They went above and beyond and made everything vegan for me as well. 


Below is a description and (slightly hazy) thoughts about the pairings broken down by the courses. 


Please pardon my amateur language as I'm not much of a foodie.