We’ve paired a pair of Iowa-made beers with each of this year’s Best Picture contenders so no matter who wins, you’re golden.
American Fiction
Bankrupt On Selling fruited sour
6.4% ABV
Lua Brewing, Des Moines
Mummer Saison-style mumme
6% ABV
Quarter Barrel Arcade & Brewery, Cedar Rapids
Lua’s Bankrupt on Selling is packed with blackberry, pineapple, cinnamon and nutmeg. “Bankrupt on Selling,” a 1997 Modest Mouse song condemning those who compromise morality for fortune and fame, could be on the soundtrack of Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction. The dramedy follows a Black writer and academic (Jeffrey Wright) stuck in a mummer’s farce: writing from the voice of a racial stereotype in order to woo the white liberal establishment. A tale as old as the German mumme beer style Quarter Barrel pays homage to.
Anatomy of a Fall
Take a Chill pilsner
5.2% ABV
NoCoast Beer Co., Oskaloosa
Hair of the Dog maple coffee breakfast stout
ABV: Unknown
Top Dog Brewing, Algona
This cerebral crime-and-court drama set in the French alps has a few loud scenes, but it’s the quieter moments that really get the blood pumping. NoCoast’s crisp Take a Chill pilsner will keep you braced through all the snowy suspense. This Palme d’Or winner also has a scene-stealing canine character: border collie Snoop (Messi), a seeing eye dog and eyewitness to a potential murder. Test your mettle at Top Dog, a nano-brewery inside hatchet-throwing bar/restaurant the Algona Axe House.
Barbie
Pervading Existence double New England IPA
8% ABV
Alluvial Brewing Company, Ames
Nice Shoes Scotch ale
9.6% ABV
Franklin Street Brewing, Manchester
Do you guys ever think about dying? Are you plagued by existential thoughts during your dry morning showers, invisible breakfasts and sandless walks on the beach? Alluvial may have the cure for you. Or perhaps you just need a new pair of kicks to get your groove back — Franklin Street’s caramel-colored Nice Shoes are so heavy, you’ll be tip-toeing around the taproom again in no time.
The Holdovers
Fifth Year Senior hoppy lager
5.7% ABV
Big Grove Brewery, Solon, Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids
Cure for Pessimism West Coast IPA
6.8% ABV
Contrary Brewing Company, Muscatine
One way to cope when work has you overnighting with a grieving coworker and five abandoned teenagers is alcohol. Jim Beam is the drink of choice for hard-grading, world-weary history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), stuck babysitting holdover prep school students during their 1970 holiday break. But it’s comradery that ultimately cures his pessimism. For the rest of us, there’s beer.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Forgotten Time 2024 barrel-aged barley wine
12% ABV
Lion Bridge Brewing Company x Clock House Brewing, Cedar Rapids
Realize Vienna lager
5.5% ABV
Dimensional Brewing Company, Dubuque
There are at least two Native American-owned craft breweries on Osage lands, Broken Arrow Brewing Company and Skydance Brewing Company (owned by Jake Keyes, a member of the Iowa tribe), though neither yet distribute outside of Oklahoma. Forgotten Time, a collaboration between two CR breweries, was aged for 28 months in Templeton Rye barrels, imbuing the barley wine with fruit, chocolate and sherry flavors as complex as the character of Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone). Realize, meanwhile, is as stark and dark as Mollie’s revelation in the film’s final act.
Maestro
Super Cooper SMaSH pale ale
5% ABV
Bremer Brewing Company, Waverly
Faithfully Yours Pastry kettle sour
7% ABV
Pulpit Rock, Decorah
The SMaSH (single malt and single hop) brew is an American classic, much like 12-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper. Whether or not the man gets his flowers this year, your Super Cooper will arrive golden and floral. If you’re looking for a more complex and wholesome brew, Pulpit Rock’s fully fall-flavored Faithfully Yours is as fascinating as Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan)’s legendary parties. Her husband, titular maestro Leonard Bernstein (Cooper), proves less than faithful in this romantic biopic.
Oppenheimer
Czech Pilsner Mlíko pours
Field Day Brewing Company, North Liberty
Three varieties: Premium (5.2% ABV), Amber (4.7% ABV) and Dark (4.6% ABV)
As darkly awe-inspiring as Christopher Nolan’s recreation of the Trinity test may be, his cinematic clouds pale in comparison to Field Day’s Mlíko pours — beers that are almost 100 percent creamy, fluffy Czech pilsner foam. So surprising and sweet, you’ll forget to bring the laundry in (or consider the irreversible, humanity-destroying ramifications of your actions).
Past Lives
Slightly Heightened Conversation American-style sour ale
SingleSpeed Brewing, Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Des Moines
Three varieties: Rosé (5.4% ABV), Dry-Hopped (5.25% ABV) and Mixed Berry (5.4% ABV)
The dialogue in Past Lives sparks and crackles with chemistry, whether spoken in Korean, English or meaningful stares. This sour from SingleSpeed comes in three mouthwatering varieties, so like Nora (Greta Lee), you’ll have to make a difficult choice. Unlike Nora, you can order another round in this lifetime.
Poor Things
Pants Off Dance Off pistachio cream ale
5% ABV
Millstream Brewing Company, Amana
Luftballon hefeweizen
5.5% ABV
House Divided Brewery, Ely
If there’s anything Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) takes to like a duck to water in her Frankensteined second life, it’s dancing and, uh, the horizontal tango. Millstream’s pistachio ale and House Divided’s hef are light enough to keep you light on your feet — or flying high in a steampunk zeppelin — with a bit of sweetness to spare.
The Zone of Interest
Clash With Reality West Coast IPA
7.4% ABV
Stompbox Brewing, Davenport
Cold Hearted Snake cold IPA
7.1% ABV
515 Brewing Company, Clive
The banality of evil haunts Jonathan Glazer’s historical drama, focused on a Nazi commander and his cognitive-dissonance-afflicted kin as they pursue a life of leisure in the shadow of Auschwitz. If the hoppiness of these aptly named IPAs don’t make you flinch, Zone’s disquieting sound design certainly will.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s March 2024 issue.
