Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #56, January 21, 2016, Parabola Imperial Stout by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Deep black mahogany, as black as soot, with a flavor that won’t quit, but makes you want to come back for more. Barrel aged in whiskey barrels, nothing has quite the same flavor as a whiskey barrel-aged imperial stout. Firestone Walker’s Parabola is not one to be missed if you get lucky enough to find one. I was at Brown Jug Liquor Store in Anchorage, Alaska and I saw the fancy FW box being handed over to a gentleman. I inquired where I might also find the special liquid from the back basement cellar storage room. He went and brought me up a special bottle and I was surprised to find that the FW barrel aged ales were only $15 a bottle! For 14% beer that has been barrel-aged, that’s a good deal! Especially when it tastes as good as this one does! I opened this bottle on New Year’s Eve, and I believe it was a good choice.

I painted it with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, because the landmark is between Firestone Walker’s two restaurants and tasting rooms. The Golden Gate Bridge is also the largest parabola that I have ever seen. The Eiffel Tower also has a sweet parabola at the base of it, but I figured it wasn’t Californian enough, and also much smaller. If you ever get a chance to buy a bottle of Parabola, I would highly recommend enjoying it as a picnic item on the rocks overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Cheers to Firestone Walker! An award winning, stellar brewery that distributes to Alaska!

The original oil painting sold. Limited-edition prints are available at my Etsy shop, RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #56 by Scott Clendaniel. January 21, 2016. Parabola Imperial Stout by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. 11″x14″, oil on panel.

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Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #49, December 3, 2015

Happy 49^th Thirsty Thursday from the 49^th State! I painted this week’s beer painting live at Anchorage Brewing Company last night. If I said I am a fan of Anchorage Brewing Company, it would be the understatement of the Millennium; I am absolutely gaga over its delicious libations. This was the 12^th brewery I have painted live at since I started doing it last year, when I was invited to paint at HooDoo Brewing in Fairbanks. I have also painted at Dogfish Head (Delaware), Hill Farmstead (Vermont), Allagash (Maine), Bell’s (Michigan), Ommegang (New York), Yards (Pennsylvania), Tired Hands (PA), Spring House (PA), Midnight Sun (Anchorage), and Resolution (Anchorage). Click on each brewery’s name to see the painting from it. I like this painting of Anchorage Brewing, because it shows so much of the brewery, and, of course, both the beer and bottle in the same frame. Gabe Fletcher, the owner/operator of ABC, should be known as the Brettanomyces King, since so many of his lovely ales and beers are fermented and aged in Oak barrels. ABC starts with a lovely product and then makes it extra special with the aging process! The Mosaic Saison is a beer that has improved with age in the last few months since it’s release, and buying a bottle to be consumed at the brewery was fortuitous indeed, as this beer looks pretty too! When I saw the design for the label I knew it was only a matter of time until I painted this one!

Cheers to Anchorage, my hometown and home to Gabe Fletcher’s Anchorage Brewing Company! A place that can only be described as World Class!

The original painting sold. You can purchase limited-edition prints, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #49 by Scott Clendaniel. December 3, 2015. Mosaic Saison by Anchorage Brewing Co. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #38, September 17, 2015

Short’s Brewing Company’s Huma Lupa Licious India Pale Ale is a noteworthy beer, one you cannot buy outside of Michigan.  Named for the hop plant Humulus Lupulus, this beer is for the hop head.  Fruity and piney, Short’s doesn’t hold back on the hops.  This beer comes in at 7.7% ABV, and 140 IBUs!  Most people would call it a double IPA.  Michigan has some great beer, and this one is a fine find when you are in MI!

Short’s is only 13 years old, starting out in a small vacated hardware store in Bellaire, Michigan. With a seven-barrel brew system, and five fermenters, Joe Short only produced 178 barrels in his first year.  However, this is not the case today.  The upgraded facility in Elk Rapids now produces 800 cases a day of the fine product.  What a great success story!  I hope you get to drink a little of this tasty brew if you get a chance!  As Short says, “Life is Short’s, drink it while you’re here!”

This original oil painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #38 by Scott Clendaniel. September 17, 2015. Huma Lupa Licious by Short’s Brewing. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #37, September 10, 2015

Paul Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) is most famous for his legendary drip paintings. Born in Wyoming, Pollock created his masterpieces in his studio in upstate New York. Jackson Pollock worked differently than traditional Western artists, stretching the boundaries of what people considered to be art. He used non-traditional mediums – paint that was more fluid-based, and engineered for building application. He would dance around an un-stretched canvas on the floor of his studio, applying paint with sticks, stiff brushes, and even used a turkey baster from time to time.

“I continue to get further away from the usual painter’s tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc.” – Jackson Pollock.

Notorious for his alcoholism, and known to drink a quart of whiskey a day, the artist died in November of 1956 in a drunken driving accident. A true shame, as he was only 44 years old. At least he really got to live for the short time he was productive on this planet. For this reason, I admit that a beer painting in his style could be considered inappropriate, but I couldn’t resist making a painting using Pollock’s technique.

I had fun channeling this artist, and really made a mess. Normally I work in oil paint, but had to buy acrylic and latex paint for this painting. I set the painting support on a larger piece of plywood outside in a large open area on my lot in McCarthy, and just started throwing paint with a big brush. No, I did not consume a quart of whiskey while working on this piece. I waited until evening before drinking a beer, although I feel it would not have hindered my ability to paint in this way. I just had to climb on ladders while working on my cabin during the afternoon. I should have done this painting in the evening so I could drink beer while applying the drips of paint. Well, hindsight is 20-20.

“It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.” – Jackson Pollock.

The original painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #37 by Scott Clendaniel. September 10, 2015. Inspired by Jackson Pollock. 18″x26″, mixed media on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #36, September 3, 2015

I recently traveled to the Midwest, and was lucky enough to make a visit to the Union at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I had a beer for lunch and a taste of the local ice cream. Whodathunkit, but ice cream and beer for lunch is a good idea! I also had a Union burger, which was okay, until I loaded it up with the huge amount of condiments and toppings available. It was very hot for this Alaskan’s blood, so the cold one and the extra cold one (ice cream) were a big hit. Windy on the lake, but my beer was guarded with my life. The iconic colorful metal chairs livened up the atmosphere.

My beer of choice was Hopaliscious, which is an American Pale Ale with a serious hop bite. A great beer, from a great place, in the middle of our great country. I knew that Wisconsin has great cheese, but since I live in Alaska, and getting beer from Wisconsin that isn’t brewed in a macro facility in Milwaukie is a bit tough, I was pleasantly surprised to discover delicious craft beer there. Luckily, I have a friend who was getting married there, and I decided it was time to make a trip to the lovely Midwestern State. The first beer I drank in Wisconsin was Hopaliscious from Ale Asylum, and I was immediately impressed. So much, I knew I was going to make a beer painting of it. Drinking this beer on the shore of a lake is a perfect match, just like the couple I watched getting married! Great job, Ale Asylum!

The original painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #36 by Scott Clendaniel. September 3, 2015. Hopalicious by Ale Asylum. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #35, August 27, 2015

Let’s revisit René Magritte. I already sampled his famous Ceci n’est pas une pipe (this is not a pipe) piece by painting a pint glass instead of a pipe, and changing the name to “Ceci n’est pas une pint.” This week’s Thirsty Thursday beer painting is a parody of his self-portrait The Son of Man. This painting leaves a lot up to the interpreter as the apple, or beer pint in this case, completely obscures the face of Magritte.  I call this one The Pint of Man.

Magritte says this about the painting, “At least it hides the face partly well, so you have the apparent face, the apple hiding the visible, but hidden, the face of the person. It’s something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present. (In a radio interview with Jean Neyens (1965), cited in Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, trans. Richard Millen (New York: Harry N. Abrams), p.172.)

Were you thinking about beer goggles while reading the last paragraph? Because that’s what came to my mind. I think the beer pint is a nice addition to Magritte’s concept, because alcohol hides a bit from any social interaction, yet it seems to be readily available at most social times. Entrenched drug cultures often eliminate the stigma of a drug so much that the drug becomes a normal day-to-day habit, and is no longer acknowledged for what it is. I think that the beer pint set in the stage of The Son of Man is accurate to the original concept by Magritte, because the beer interchanges so well with the apple, a symbol for the fruit of good and evil. Those of us who indulge in beer know that it is good, but too much can be evil, and sometimes can lead to harmful aftereffects. Whether beer is good, or evil is debatable, however it can definitely add, or subtract from a conversation. Alcohol can add when there is nothing to talk about, but subtract when too much clouds the mind.

Cheers, and remember, “Moderation in all things… including moderation.” – Oscar Wilde

The original oil painting sold. You can purchase limited-edition prints, or order a custom painting at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #35 by Scott Clendaniel. August 27, 2015. The Pint of Man. 11″x14″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #34, August 20, 2015

How often do I paint live in breweries? Not that often. I think there are still under ten paintings that I have managed to create in a tasting room. I recently made a trip to the Midwest of our lovely North American continent. I spent a few days in Chicago, enjoying the delicious beer there, as well as catching a Cubs game at Wrigley field. Maria enjoyed a Goose Island 312 during the game, I held out to sample a fresh IPA from the local GI taproom in Wrigleyville. After Chicago we left to Wisconsin for a wedding. I definitely enjoyed my share of Spotted Cow. Thanks Adam and Kara for getting two kegs of delicious New Glarus brew.

We figured that a trip to the Midwest wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Michigan. Actually, my grandmother was born in Michigan so I have some extended roots there, and I definitely have friends who live in Michigan. First, we went to Grand Haven and enjoyed some Odd Side Ales, swam in Lake Michigan and explored the dunes. We then drove to Grand Rapids, known as Beer City with big hitters like Founders, Brewery Vivant, and Perrin. Not to mention Harmony, Rockford, B.O.B., and Mitten. Grand Rapids is a very beer-forward town. On our way there from Grand Haven we detoured on a special trip to Kalamazoo, MI to go to the world famous Bell’s Brewery, where I painted live for an afternoon at the Eccentric Cafe. The beer I painted is the double black IPA, called Uranus, part of the planet series. Brewed in homage to Gustav Holst, the composer best known for his musical suites entitled the Planets. The food was also really good and the service was excellent. I hope I get a chance to return to the Eccentric Cafe, it seemed like my kind of place. Great art was everywhere adorning the interior, including some amazing stained glass windows with relief sculptures, as well as mosaics on the floor. I finished this painting, and then got to drink the beer. Two more days of beer enjoyment in Grand Rapids completed out the trip, and I had a very full ten days in the Midwest!

The original oil painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #34 by Scott Clendaniel. August 20, 2015. Uranus Double Black IPA by Bell’s Brewing. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #33, August 13, 2015

What is so special about the Cyprus Citrus IPA by Hula Hops Brewing that made me decide to immortalize this bottle in oil paint?  First, it was brewed in Cyprus!  Second, I drank it in Alaska!  Nothing like a special hand-delivery from the eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea.  Thanks Sergios!  More surprising was how delicious this bottle-conditioned IPA was, considering its long journey.  Obviously, dry-hopped with Citra hops, this beer would give an IPA such as Deschutes’ Fresh Squeezed a run for its money.  I think you can only get this beer in Nicosia.  It just warms my heart that IPA, an American-style beer, (really you can argue that IPA is from England, but just go there and try to find a good example of the brew) is being emulated in other countries.  I am glad that pilsners and American lager are taking a small hit in the world of what people are drinking.  Not just in the hip continental US, but in a country far from American cultural influences.  It was a pleasure to sip on this beer, and I am glad I had the chance.  Now Cyprus is on my radar, and when I looked at it on a map, I thought about the possibility of visiting the island.  If I ever make it there, I’ll bring my paint kit, as I do on every trip, so I can capture the beauty and culture of the Mediterranean.

The original oil painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #33 by Scott Clendaniel. August 13, 2015. Cyprus Citrus IPA by Hula Hops Brewing. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #32, August 6, 2015

Holy Grail of beer?  Dom Perignon?  Tom Dalldorf is a bit on the dramatic side when describing this unique Belgian Double IPA by Anchorage Brewing Company.  He wrote the verbiage on the bottle.  Don’t get me wrong, I dig the beer.  It’s great, and I don’t doubt the 96 rating on Beer Advocate.  Actually, I think it deserves a higher score, but calling it the Holy Grail may be a bit of a hyperbole.  This beer is unique, and not what you would expect from a regular 9% IPA.  First off, it has Brettanomyces added, and second, it was aged in Chardonnay barrels, imparting a unique flavor that very few breweries come close to.  There is a reason it is 10 bucks, or more for a bottle of this caliber.  It takes extra effort, and triple fermentation to brew something this special.  I can totally see an aging monk thinking about this beer continually, going to the cold storage room to check on the barrel, just making sure it is safe.  Why is this monk so bitter?  100 IBUs from Citra and Apollo hops would cause many people to make the bitter beer face, but not as bitter as if you were chaste as well.  Imagine a lifetime of chastity, at least certain monks can enjoy the fermented juice of the barley.  Think of the cold storage room and the entry by the special abbey key leading to a very special place where warmth is only provided by consuming the brew within.  Don’t be bitter, give this brew a try.  Its unique, delicious flavor will have you wishing you bought a case!

The original oil painting, and limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #32 by Scott Clendaniel. August 6, 2015. Bitter Monk IPA by Anchorage Brewing Co. 8″x10″, oil on panel.

 

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #29, July 16, 2015

The Skilak Lake is a popular destination on the Kenai Peninsula. If you go, don’t forget to bring the Skilak Scottish Ale from Kenai River Brewing Co. Skilak is one of the biggest lakes on the Kenai and is easily accessible from Soldotna and Anchorage. The fact that it’s a popular destination makes sense, because there are two campgrounds and square miles of beautiful crystal blue water to enjoy. The views are nice too.

Skilak Scottish Ale pours with a robust creamy head that is more than ample. The aroma is of licorice and smoke. This is a very malt-forward beer that finishes with a hint of piney hops. The taste is robust of licorice candy and caramel dark grain. It is sweet and satisfying. A nice dark amber beer with a hint of peat. The mouth feel is a bit boozy even at only 5.3% ABV, and this beer is creamy and smooth. Overall, highly recommended for drinking during out of town adventures, preferably by a lake.

Cheers to Kenai River Brewing, a great Alaska brewery producing unique brews! Keep up the good work!

The original oil painting sold.  You can purchase limited-edition prints, or order a custom painting at my Etsy shop.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #29 by Scott Clendaniel. July 16, 2015. Skilak Scottish Ale by Kenai River Brewing Co. 8″x10″, oil on panel.