One of the crimes of modern cinematic history is the failure of Grindhouse at the box office and the subsequent lack of proper DVD/BD distribution (which was, in itself, a result of the bad box office). Grindhouse was one of my favorite movies of 2007, so this was most distressing to me. Sure, the two feature films that made up the total experience were available individually, but they were different cuts of the films and they were missing one of the key features of the Grindhouse experience: the trailers. Amazingly enough, this egregious oversight was recently corrected with the Blu-Ray release of Grindhouse (in it’s full cinematic glory). Tonight, I watched that movie, and took the opportunity to retry two of my favorite beers. As I write this post, I’m watching the movie with the Audience Reaction Track on. It’s kinda lame. Just a lot of hooting, cheering, and hollaring. But the movie is awesome, so there’s that.
Westmalle Abby Tripel: Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle is a Belgian Trappist Brewery, one of only 7 in the world. Yes, this beer is brewed by Monks, and as it turns out, they’re among the best brewers in the world (and have been for a long time). Some reading around on Wikipedia indicates that this brewery in particular is responsible for inventing (or at least popularizing) two key Belgian beer styles: the Dubbel and the Tripel (which I’m drinking tonight). Pours a hazy golden color with an impressively huge head. Lots of bubbly activity in the head, good retention and a smell of sweet malty goodness with a little bit of fruit and some spiciness added in for good effect. Taste of fruity malts and a yeasty kick, with a nice warming booziness. Good carbonation and medium body, a near perfect taste. It’s not hard to see why this beer is considered the standard for the style. A
Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (750 ml, caged and corked bottle). Drank from a goblet.
As Planet Terror ends and the glorious fake trailers begin, I pop the cork off what could be my all time favorite beer:
Unibroue La Fin Du Monde: The perfect beer. Pours that same hazy gold color, with that same large, active head. There’s a bit less retention here, and the smell is more spicy. Taste has a similar malty goodness, and the spiciness is more pronounced – lots of coriander and orange peel detectable here, and maybe a little clove (these spices are seemingly favored by Unibroue, as a lot of their paler ales have that sort of mixture). Spicy sweet, this beer is perfectly balanced. Medium body and good carbonation, with perfect taste and like the Westmalle, the strong alcohol content gives it a nice, warming, boozy kick. The name translates to “The End of the World”, and given that name and the high alcohol content, this makes for a great last beer of the night (or, you know, if you ever think the world is going to end)! A+
Beer Nerd Details: 9.0% ABV bottled (750 ml, caged and corked bottle). Drank from a goblet.
Whew, drinking two 750 ml tripels in one night is perhaps not entirely advisable, but if you ever cross paths with either of these, give them a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
I never got around to seeing Grindhouse, despite how heartily recommended it…one of these days.
And I’ve eyed the Westmalle many times, but never got around to trying it…Ihad no idea they invented the Dubbel and Trippel…I will add it to my queue!
Maybe “invented” isn’t quite the right term for this, as those types of beers were certainly being made long before the early 20th century, it’s just that they seem to have been the first modern brewery to popularize the styles. The tripel, in particular, seems to be the archetype for the modern style… (The dubbel is more unique, but that’s a topic for another post, I think)
Grindhouse is certainly not for everyone. If you’re a horror fanatic like myself, it’s great. But a lot of people found it too indulgent (particularly the dialogue heavy first half of Tarantino’s Death Proof) or needlessly gory. I love it though.