‘Arrested Development’ and There’s Always Money in the Smoothie Stand Tart Ale

May 9, 2021 Brianna Gunter

Don’t burn this beer can down. There might be money in it.

I’ll meet you down by the big yellow joint… which is at Sig Brewing in Tacoma, WA. // Sig Brewing – Facebook

The Show: The story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It’s Arrested Development. / 2003-2006, 2013-2019 / FOX, Netflix

The Beer: “Smoothie-style” Tart Ale with fruit and lactose / 6.4% ABV / Sig Brewing Co. – Tacoma, WA

The thing I’m most proud of from my high school days had nothing to do with academics or extracurricular activities. It was the time I introduced several classmates to Arrested Development, to the point that I had a waitlist going for who got to borrow my DVDs. This was my senior year, and after three short seasons the critically acclaimed series had been cancelled just two years earlier due to poor viewership.

Looking back, it’s easy to see that Arrested Development was simply ahead of its time. Done in the style of a reality TV show / mockumentary (with Ron Howard as a very hands-on narrator, no less), the primetime scripted comedy broke new ground in both format and its style of humor. There was no laugh track, no dependency on family-friendly “ha ha” tameness. Right from the very first episode, Arrested Development stuffed every moment with witty, playful, often gleefully offensive humor.

“Take it back! If I wanted something your thumb touched, I’d eat the inside of your ear!” // 20th Century Studios – Netflix

Best of all, the show only gets funnier with repeated viewings. It’s literally so crammed full of visual gags and clever callbacks, you tend to notice more every time.

If my high school waitlist was any indicator, the show developed a cult following after its cancellation. But the real kicker is that it ended up being the catalyst for a massive shift in sitcom humor. Without Arrested Development, The Office may never have reached the level of popularity that it did. Without the self-centered antics of the Bluth family, It’s Always Sunny‘s gang may have ended their schemes long ago. Heck, “smart and irreverent” might not be the hugely successful genre it is today; we might all still be waiting for canned laughter to tell us when something is considered truly funny.

Of course, the fact that AD did leave such a legacy resulted in a push for its resurrection years later. The later two seasons on Netflix (released in 2013 and 2019) certainly have their comedic charms, but who are we kidding, the groundbreaking stuff was in seasons 1-3. Also missing from the later seasons? The Bluth family banana stand.

(Cue Ron Howard voice) You know, this one:

“Give me a GOB.” // 20th Century Studios – Netflix

Diehard fans may note that the banana stand does show up in a mural as Michael (Jason Bateman) makes his way through the airport in season 4. But Bluth’s ‘Original’ Frozen Banana lived out most of its life in the show’s initial run being destroyed multiple times and subsequently rebuilt.

The most notable incident, of course, took place in the very second episode of the entire series, when the Bluths purposely burn the thing down. Only to find out the walls were lined with cash the whole time. There’s always money in the banana stand!

Ah, the cathartic burning of the banana stand. // 20th Century Studios – Netflix

Which is where my beer pairing of choice comes in. This isn’t the first Arrested Development-themed craft beer I’ve seen, but it’s certainly the most recent. Besides, Washington’s Sig Brewing crafted it with real bananas!

That, plus doses of raspberry, mango, vanilla and milk sugar (lactose). This thing’s practically like a real fruit smoothie, made fresh by Mr. Manager and his cousin-crush, Maeby. The brewers offer a pretty fun description too (keep in mind that one of them is named Jeff):

“I mean it’s one banana Jeff….what could it possibly cost? Ten dollars? WRONG! It wasn’t only one banana, it was FREAKING GALLONS (and much more than ten dollars). Oh….and some raspberries, some mangos, and some vanilla made it in too. Life’s about variety right?!”

The beer technically qualifies as a Fruited Sour, but Sig calls it a “Smoothie Style Tart Ale,” which is also pretty fitting. It’s thick and creamy, with a nice fruit-forward tartness that never gets totally into sour territory. Banana notes can be kind of weird in beer, but it really works with the additional fruit here.

In the words of Tobias Funke, “huzzah!”