American Beer Movie Review
All right, I’m a little late to the party, considering the DVD was released on July 12, 2005. However, it’s definitely better late than never with the movie American Beer
The documentary follows five guys from New York City who travel the country in a minivan for forty days, touring thirty-eight breweries ranging from small microbreweries like Boston Beer Works to larger craft breweries like Yuengling and Anchor Brewing. Throughout the movie, we learn not just about the breweries and their beers but also about the five guys’ drunken antics and random adventures. The movie splices in plenty of commentary from numerous brewers and shows the large variety of the 1400 companies all attempting to succeed in that tiny market segment that’s not dominated by Budweiser, Miller, and Coors.
Basically, if you have any passing interest in beer or documentaries in general, don’t miss this. Seriously, add it to your Netflix queue or, better yet, buy it from Amazon now. This one’s a keeper. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, the movie was so moving that I just had to crack open a beer during the middle of it and now can only think about becoming a craft brewer myself.
Spoiler warning! Stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happens during the documentary.
The documentary begins with the five guys (Jeremy, Paul, Jon, Rob, and Richard) drinking beer while riding in a minivan on day 36 in Wyoming. Don’t worry, MADD: the driver isn’t drinking. Near the end of the movie, this behavior is explained by Wyoming’s amended open container law: outside of city limits, passengers may drink beer in moving vehicles as long as the driver is sober. Well then, it sucks to be the driver!
The movie then speeds through several brief commentaries from various brewers and shows the group heading out from Brooklyn on day 1. Within minutes, all their luggage falls off the minivan on the highway. However, after a stop at Wal-Mart for a decent cargo carrier, they make it to their first destination, McNeill’s Brewery in Vermont, just fine. At least, I think it’s McNeill’s Brewery—the movie is a bit disorganized, which is probably its primary detraction. I would’ve preferred a more straightforward chronological movie without the commentary from numerous breweries spliced in all over the place.
Anyway, to make a long story short, this sort of thing continues for 39 more days. However, the movie cuts out numerous brewery tours (perhaps they were really boring? extra features do include a full list) and only shows maybe a dozen or so interspersed with long driving scenes (detraction #2). However, they don’t dwell on the road too long, so the roadtrip certainly doesn’t drag on like in some other movies.
Throughout the documentary, we see numerous interesting sights such as McNeill’s very gritty atmosphere, Yuengling’s ancient storage tunnels, and New Belgium’s crazy bicycle events. We also learn some interesting tidbits. For example, Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada started homebrewing at the age of 13, (not recommended for law-abiding citizens!) and one of the breweries was started with only $200. Oddly enough though, they leave out some really big things, e.g., they never mention that New Belgium is the most environmentally friendly brewery nor do they talk much about the ingredients in beer aside from hops. I can understand that there are time constraints in a movie, but come on, hops is only one small ingredient. You still have three others (water, malted barley, yeast), but the movie does cover some of the more extreme additions like squash and coffee beans.
Anyway, these guys consume an astounding amount of beer and definitely all put on some weight from the constant drinking, eating, and driving. A running counter would’ve been nice, though I doubt they could keep track of all that. It’s probably good that they stopped at 38 breweries rather than attempting a larger percentage of the 1400 in existence, and I applaud the movie for recognizing the pitfalls of so much beer drinking. There are also a number of hangover scenes with which anyone can empathize, and one question that’s asked of the brewers is hangover remedy recommendations.
Overall, the movie is not only educational but also entertaining. Plus, it’s inspiring. Not only do I want to go on my own roadtrip, but I also desperately want to start my own brewery now. In fact, one of the guys featured in the movie (Jeremy) decided to start Cape Ann Brewing Co. after going on this roadtrip. Where in the world he got the capital, I have no idea, but I need to find out!
November 3rd, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Thank for the recommendation, I will be adding this to my Netlix queue. Good luck on Election Day, I cannot believe you can’t buy booze in the supermarkets in MA. How backwards.