There are so many craft beers these days that coming up with a unique name is getting harder by the day.
Many years ago, I did a column about interesting beer names, but back then there weren't anywhere near the number of brews - or crazy names - as there are today. So I thought that this week we should look at some of the wackier ones. Keep in mind that some of these brews may no longer be around.
Starting with musical themes, Dunkel Breaking My Heart from Mission Brewery in San Diego is a great pun on the Elton John/Kiki Dee collaboration. Kent Falls Brewing in Connecticut gets a nod for its Air Guitar At Work While No One Is Watching Pale Ale. (Kent Falls also has some winners in the miscellaneous category with Some Vague Reassurance Everything's Going to Be Alright, and IPA, and Walking Away In Slow Motion While The Car Explodes Behind You, a gose.)
Three Floyds Brewing in Indiana cleverly mashed up its name with an '80s band to come up with FloyDivison, a single hop IPA. Oskar Blue's Bolivia Newton John, a stout, doesn't really make any sense, but is funny all the same. Another clever entry is Baby Got Bock from Horny Goat Brewing.
But my favorite of all the musical references is probably 2 Hop Shakur, a West Coast (of course) IPA from Fat Bottom Brewing.
As far as movie themes, Bruce Willis Was Dead The Whole Time from the Evil Genius Beer Co., is an IPA that should come with a spoiler alert. The folks over at Industrial Arts Brewing are clearly fans of "The Big Lebowski," with two beers references catch phrases from the film: Prefered Nomenclature and Zesty Enterprise.
The current volatile political climate is also inspiring some beer names. Hill Farmstead has Civil Disobedience, a farmhouse ale that Henry David Thoreau might have enjoyed in his small abode at Walden Pond.
The best sports reference in a beer name has to be Jaromir Lager by Brix City Brewing, a take on the name of sure future NHL Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr.
If you're looking for biblical references, you have to love the name 668, Neighbor of the Beast from New England Brewing Co.
Then there are just the out-and-out bizarre ones: our local heroes, Tree House Brewing, has Somewhere Something Incredible is Waiting to be Known.
Tired Hands Brewing came up with We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency and Daydreaming of Indiscriminate Human Extinction.
But sometimes simpler is better. In what I assume is a nod to the 1970 book, "Steal This Book" by Abbie Hoffman, Lord Hobo has Steal This Can (a tasty IPA, by the way).
But my overall favorite - and maybe this belongs in the biblical category - is a brew that serves as my battle cry in these troubled times: I give you Mispillion River Brewing's Not Today Satan.
What are your favorite beer names?
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