If Books Were Beer: Unsounded by Ashley Cope

Bittersweet.

We hear that word thrown around a lot in literature and for good reason. Many of the greats, the classics, the leviathans of story, revolve around this word, bittersweet. Because that’s the human experience, yeah? We have ups and we have downs, triumphs and failures, joy and sorrow.

Bitter and sweet.

If Books Were Beer today looks at the webcomic Unsounded by Ashley Cope. (You can find my review of the whole series to date here at The Ranting Dragon, and an interview with Madame Cope at the same place, here.)

Unsounded tells the tale of young Sette Frummagem, the daughter of the Lord of Thieves in Sharteshane, as she is given the task of bringing her cousin, Stockyard, to heel out in the Western countries. Not one to send his twelve-year-old daughter across the continent alone, the Lord of Thieves has sent along an undead wright by the name of Duane Adelier, whose tongue is silver and whose magic is gold, to be Sette’s companion. However, what starts as a simple journey west soon becomes something much larger and more harrowing than either expected.

The beauty of this comic is in its bittersweet narrative. From page to page, Cope creates moments of gut-busting laughter and beautiful artwork and touching moments, but just as deftly, she’ll offer sadness and tragedy, sorrow and heartbreak. Its a story with joyous highs and painful lows, that ache and celebrate all the more because of how much we care about these characters and their lives.

The Unsounded beer needs to encapsulate these two opposite but equal qualities, at once letting the sweetness show, but also bringing the bitter into play. They need to play off of one another, while highlighting each.

Say hello to the Falco IPA by Evil Twin Brewing:

Golden-orange like a summer sunrise, bitter and sweet in equal measure, the Falco IPA is my Unsounded beer cause boy, does it bring the bittersweet. The citrus mixes perfectly with the earthy hops, making a smooth brew. Coming in at 7.0% ABV, it’s delicious without being overpowering, sweet without being cloying and bitter without drowning your palette.

 

 

Both will make you weep. The Falco from the flavor, Unsounded from the everything.

Enjoy, friends.

 

If Books Were Beer: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for being so kind to me in my absence. I had to go away for a bit and perform some Shakespeare. I tell you, nothing is more fun than reciting the Bard in 95 degree weather under a wig and four layers of clothing. I’ve only just now woken from my heat coma, and I’m back to blogging!

This week in If Books Were Beer, I’m talking about one of my favorite series and how it matches one of my favorite beers!

If you haven’t been reading The Iron Druid Chronicles by DJ Master McMarvelous Kevin Hearne, than you should, y’know . . . probably go do that. Following the exploits of a 2,100 year old Irish druid who goes by the name Atticus, his talking Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and newest recruit to the druidic cause, the lovely/ass-kicking Granuaile, The Iron Druid Chronicles are my go-to for fun, energetic fantasy. Bursting at the seams with mythology, magic and ever growing stakes from page one, Hearne has crafted one of the best urban fantasy books on the shelves today.

When thinking of the beer for this series, I had to find one with a good balance: something that was sweet and delicious while at the same time respecting the dark places the book can go. Even though the books have an enjoyable and fun feel, they still deal with death, murder, and darkness; these things cannot be forgotten. The beer also needed to have shades of the earth as well, since nature is so important to the titular Iron Druid and friends.

So, let’s say hello to the Iron Druid brew, Anderson Valley’s Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout:

A rich, dark and creamy brew with notes of bitter chocolate and coffee, sweet caramel and earthy oats, Barney Flats is the perfect beer for the Iron Druid Chronicles. Pouring smooth, it has a wonderfully dark color, like freshly tilled soil. With its potent roasty coffee and chocolate working with the deep malt, against the sweet touch of caramel, cherries and oats, it is the perfect combination of bitter and sweet.

Barney Flats is also brewed with organic ingredients, at an ecologically committed brewery, doing its best to reduce its footprint on planet Earth, taking care of the environment while brewing delicious beer (which I know Atticus would appreciate).

Anderson Valley’s Barney Flats is a wonderful beer that encapsulates the Iron Druid Chronicles. Equal parts bitter and sweet, light and dark, it goes hand in hand with the continuing adventures of Atticus, Granuaile and Oberon, as they try to keep their heads attached to their necks while messing with every god this side of Olympus and Hel.

If Books Were Beer: The Shadow Ops Series

Part of the fun of this column is that great moment when a beer and a book finally click and I raise my hands in triumph, shouting “SUCCESS.

The book series in question today, is the Shadow Ops series by Myke Cole, with Books one and two, Control Point and Fortress Frontier respectively, already gracing the shelves. Book Three, Breach Zone, is due out next year.

There are many things I love about this series: the strong, flawed characters, the intricate magic and its effects on the world/politics at large, its high-octane, beautifully choreographed action scenes, and it’s unflinching look at military life.

But what I’ve praised most about these books is their killer sense of pace. Cole doesn’t let up and he doesn’t slow down. He takes twists and turns at 90mph, laughing madly into the wind. And just when you think things can’t get any more intense, any faster, he kicks the Delorean into high gear and he’s all, “we don’t need roads!”

It’s this killer sense of pace, this literary burning rubber that leads me to the Scorcher #366 from Brooklyn Brewery.

The Scorcher is a very delicious pale ale, coming in at 4.5% ABV, making it a very accessible and light summer beer. This is the Shadow Ops beer for two reasons, and it’s all thanks to the new type of hop strain used in the beer, #366.

The first is that, due to the new hop presence, the Scorcher possesses a bitter hoppy taste that actually reminds me of a smoky, spinning-wheels-burning-rubber taste that pairs very well with Cole’s breakneck pacing and passionate characters. The second is that while this hop strain’s burning rubber taste is different, it is still recognizable as a pale ale, and therefore puts a new twist on a classic taste, much the same way Cole has done for the fantasy genre. As a military fantasy series, Shadow Ops has breathed new life into a very familiar genre and it’s all thanks to Cole’s appreciation and extension of what the genre is capable of.

Both are new twists on classic tastes. Both have a fiery, smoking flavor to it with qualities that are both familiar but done well. Both succeed wildly in their fields.

I hope you pick up one of the Scorcher’s or at least try it down at Brooklyn Brewery. And when you do, I hope you have a good book in your hands, maybe even one of the Shadow Ops books. You can’t go wrong with either.

 

If Books Were Beer: The Iliad & The Odyssey

Gods. Monsters. Heroes. Poetry. Tricks. Songs. Blades. Love.

If you were looking for anything more Classic than the ancient Greek epics of The Iliad and The Odyssey, I’m not certain you’re going to find it. These two epics are some of the most beloved, studied and well read in the whole canon of Classic Literature. And as such, these ancient stories must be treated with care and reverence and some, how you say . . . deliciousness.

Now in thinking about this brew, I knew it would have to be something that seems ancient beyond its years, but also modern, with enough qualities to last the ages. Luckily, I remembered just the one: Midas Touch by Dogfish Head Brewing.

Using a recipe recovered from drinking vessels 2,700 years old in the tomb of King Midas, Dogfish Head set to brewing a beer in that ancient vein of drinking. Using that same recipe, Dogfish Head produced a beer that has more in common with wine or mead, with its light, dry taste than with most beers.

It’s a sweet, dry beer with many fruit notes to it, including honey, saffron, white grapes, and more. It pours with a golden hue and is a strong enough (at an ABV of 9%), and delicious enough brew for any hero far from home.

Pour plentiful ye heroes and heroines and drink this delicious, ancient brew while reading the epics beneath a blazing sun.

If Books Were Beer: American Gods

In honor of the launch of his newest book, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, today’s, “If Books Were Beer,” transforms one of my favorites novels into one of my favorite drinks.

Today, American Gods meets Abraxas.

 

This is the book that brought me into the world of adult fantasy, grabbing me by the collar and throwing me headfirst into a world of myth, murder, and secrets,  written with an intelligence and intensity I had yet to experience.

Considered one of Gaiman’s signature works, American Gods is an exploration of what happens to the gods and goddesses when their followers abandon them, and to what ends they will go to reclaim their power when assaulted on all sides. Told from the perspective of the enigmatic Shadow Moon, Gaiman deftly brings to life a complex web of old gods, gods of the new age, and those trapped between them.

I knew that whatever beer was to be paired with this book needed to be worth it. This is a big, difficult book with many secrets and characters that are larger than life, larger than thought even. The beer with this book needed to be shadowy but sophisticated, complex but enjoyable, exotic but familiar. After much thought, I knew that beer had to be Perennial’s Abraxas. 

Classified as an Imperial Stout, and coming in at a dizzying 10.0 ABV, Abraxas is a behemoth of a beer, and one that can certainly stand next to American Gods.

A dessert stout, Abraxas is a complex concoction of parts both familiar and exotic, combining vanilla beans, cacao nibs, cinnamon sticks and ancho-chiles, to give it a sweet, smokey, and hot flavor, that will remind you every bit of Mr. Wednesday’s lurching merry-go-round magic*. All those flavors, much like American Gods, may seem heady at first, mixing and swirling and confusing, as your palette tries to recognize everything that’s going on. But give it time, and all the threads will start to pull themselves together into one big, delicious beer.

American Gods is one of my favorite novels, and it’s rich, complex web of myth and mystery is a perfect pairing to the exotic and rich flavor of Abraxas. They both may take some time to pick apart, and you may need to try them more than once to appreciate the many ingredients.

But give them both time, and you’ll be amazed.

*Note: Please don’t drink this while on a merry-go-round. It will not open up a magical portal into the headspace of ancient, mythical figures, and you will scare many a child. If it does, please contact me right away.

Also, Neil Gaiman’s newest novel, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is out now. I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but I think it’d be wise to drop most everything, save a child (and even then, go with your heart), and go get yourself a copy right this moment.

Or maybe this moment.

But no longer than that.  

 

If Books Were Beer: The Great Gatsby

Welcome to If Books Were Beer!

Today, we look at the great classic, the wonderful blue and gold and oh-my-god-what-sad-eyes-you-have covered, dreaded Summer Reading, birthed from the brain of Fitz and reshaped by Luhrman, novel: The Great Gatsby!

Here we have a staple of American literature, exploring the decadence, depression and social class structure of Jazz Age America. Cynics, party-goers, millionaires and more abound in these pages, as Fitzgerald tells a cautionary tale of love, hope and empathy between people.

I know that The Great Gatsby, while sad, wouldn’t be a dark beer, and while flashy, wouldn’t be light. It would not be sweet, despite the love between Jay and Daisy, and it would not be refreshing, despite the earnestness, if sketchy, narration of Nick.

No, only one type of beer comes to mind and even then, one brand in particular marked this as the beer this book would be.

Lagunitas Sucks IPA

Known for their earthy, sharp qualities and golden hue, Lagunitas Sucks IPA is the beer The Great Gatsby would be, (and will be, one my Literature To Liquid Transmorgification machine is back from the shop).

Golden without being bright, dark without being night, Lagunitas Sucks deftly captures that Jazz Age color. And when it comes to Flavortown, here is where Lagunitas and Jay Gatsby pair beautifully. Lagunitas Sucks IPA is in fact a double IPA, meaning there are twice the hops equalling twice the bitterness. This bitter, earthy taste pairs just so with the hardened, cynical points of views of our characters in The Great Gatsby.

Both are not easy to get through. Both must be sipped and savored and enjoyed. Both must be appreciated for their taste, their elegance and respected for their sheer flavor.

And hopefully, if you get your hands on either, I hope you treat them responsibly.