The movie Beer Wars comes out this Thursday. It's an underdog story about two independent brewers, Sam and Rhonda, trying to make great beer in the face of the Goliath beer industry titans. Director Anat Baron follows these two to show you the truth behind the beer industry.
In celebration of beer movies, check out our run down of some of the greatest beer movies of all time. The criteria for this list is that the movie either features great beer games or that the movie would have no story without beer. The list does not discriminate between good or bad movies.
Strange Brew may be the greatest beer movie of all time. Max Von Sydow plans on taking over the world with a beer additive that allows him to control those who drink it. In one scene, Rick Moranis saves himself from drowning in vat of beer by drinking it. Their how-to on how to get a free beer: putting a mouse inside. It's timeless because it works.
Artie Lange's Beer League stars Artie Lange and the great Joe Lo Truglio. This film has the ingredients of a great party film in the spirit of Porky's: boobs, booze and dirty one-liners. If you're in junior high, its a great movie to quote ("If you're gonna ask if you can suck my left nut, the answer's maybe.") If you're in college, its a great drinking game. If you're an adult, you'll watch it all the way through.
Beerfest is brought to you by Broken Lizard, the same guys who brought you Super Troopers. In this movie, taking on Germans in a drinking contest is like arm wrestling Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984. You'd still lose today but it would have been cooler then. It's also a great movie to quote If you're in junior high ("Why don't we get you out those wet clothes, and into a dry martini." or "If you can drink ram's piss, you can drink almost anything.")
Revenge of the Nerds is the movie about two nerds who want to be accepted and get laid. The scene where Takashi beats the Alpha Betas in a tricycle race that requires chugging beer on every lap qualifies this film as a beer classic. And Curtis Armstrong will always be known as Booger, who trumps other contestants in a beer belching contest.
The Saddest Music in the World is completely different from other beer movies. There is an international contest to compose the saddest music in the world in hopes that it will cause Americans to drink more beer before Prohibition begins. There is a lot of beer pool diving and Isabella Rosellini has prosthetic legs made of glass and full of beer. There is nothing for 8th graders to quote from in this movie.
