An Armageddon IPA with ‘Don’t Look Up’
I didn’t actually want a beer going into Adam McKay’s bold new movie, but its nerve-racking (and accurate) satire sure made me want one by the end.
The Movie: Disaster Satire / 2021 / Hyperobject Industries – Netflix
The Beer: Imperial IPA / 9.2% ABV / DC Brau Brewing Co. – Washington, D.C.
*Mild spoilers*
I don’t think I’ve ever been more perpetually stressed out watching a movie than I was during Adam McKay’s new star-studded disaster film, Don’t Look Up.
Actually, “disaster film” is too simple of a classification. Don’t Look Up is a truly scathing satire of modern society’s tendency to give no f***s about truly important things that affect all of humanity — climate change, world hunger, science denial, billionaires and politicians collaborating to benefit each other, corrupt politicians distracting the lower classes by pitting them against each other, etc. — you know, the stuff that’s slowly but surely ripping the world apart while our ability to fix it dwindles by the day.
To make all the bleakness a touch more palatable, McKay wraps it all in a story Michigan University astronomers Kate (Jennifer Lawrence) and Randall (Leonardo DiCaprio) discovering a massive comet on a trajectory to destroy Earth within six and a half months.
Sharing the news with the public proves to be an uphill battle, of course. The president (Meryl Streep) and her advisor son (Jonah Hill) want to wait to take action until it’s politically advantageous, and the media’s only willing to pursue the story until it becomes overshadowed by pop star drama. Meanwhile, there’s a Musk-Bezos type who plans to capitalize on the situation by having NASA’s equipment swapped with his and mining the comet for precious minerals.
It’s Adam McKay, so there are a lot of genuinely funny moments peppered throughout, and it’s all bitingly smart. A lot of it is also more subtle than many of McKay’s previous films. From President Orlean’s questionable choices of White House decor to the steadily rising price of shovels seen on store shop signs, cruel irony is the most dominant tool here. Don’t Look Up also makes use of hasty scenes, often cutting off characters mid-sentence if the point has been made. It’s an interesting choice, and it helps maintain the stressful urgency that runs throughout.
But the real stress? As busy as the whole thing is, the satire hits way too close to home. As the heroes keep hitting various societal roadblocks in their quest to inform the masses, the reality of it all is just too damn frustrating.
That’s exactly the point, of course — Armageddon this is not. If anything, Don’t Look Up is a longing wish for reality to be as simple and stoic as the typical disaster movie’s see-a-problem, solve-the-problem plot. If only.
Since this wishful thinking does provide some semblance of stress relief though, I’m pairing this nail-biter of a movie with On the Wings of Armageddon IPA from DC Brau Brewing Co. These guys are based in Washington D.C. as the brewery name suggests, which feels extra appropriate given how much of the movie takes place within the chaos of modern U.S. politics. But don’t worry — DC Brau’s in a way chiller part of town, and they’re known for supporting a lot of local artists and non-profits. And if their stacks of international beer awards are any indicator, global relations are good.
As for the beer itself, On the Wings of Armageddon is an Imperial IPA that clocks in at 9.2%. Hopped solely with Falconer’s Flight and brewed with pale malt, Cara-60, Cara Pils and malted wheat in the base, the beer is full-bodied and delectably bitter. Notes of orange and grapefruit carry throughout, backed with nuances of freshly-baked biscuit and honey.
For those wondering about the name, DC Brau first crafted this beer for the predicted 2012 Armageddon. More specifically, they made the brew in honor of the Mayan and Hopi calendars foretelling a “transition from one world age to another” on December 21, 2012.
The beer proved to be very popular and has even won a few awards of its own, so the brewers bring it back in limited quantities every year. But the IPA’s theme of transitioning “from one world age to another” has me thinking back to the movie. Don’t Look Up shows that, yes, we’ve got some major problems to deal with as a planet, and our window for change is indeed running out. But for now that window is still there, and there’s still hope that the only “end of the world” will be the end of petty politics and greed — a transition into a newer, brighter age.
Now, will the people who really need to watch Don’t Look Up actually see it? Will politicians, billionaires and science-deniers even understand and act on the message? Who knows. But until then, I’m looking up. Even if I’m cracking open another beer while I’m at it.
