Left Hand Brewing Company & Ska Brewing Company
So you’ve had the legendary Milk Stout Nitro from Left Hand Brewing; the rich, drinkably delicious tar of a brew. You’ve had the True Blonde Dubbel from Ska Brewing; the light, crisp and clovey savior of hot summer days. These beers represent polar extremes on the beer spectrum, and in most cases shouldn’t be combined.
BUT THIS IS NOT MOST CASES.
This is the most epic, geekiest, virginiest parrot you’re likely to shake your Master Sword at. I suggest that this careful combination of beers be paired with The Legend of Zelda. All of it. Why? Because it’s the closest you’re going to get to having Lon Lon Milk with Zelda (a True Blonde… most of the time).
After picking up the pieces of your mind that just exploded, play the Song of Time on your handy ocarina, travel back to before the moon destroyed everything, and let me explain that first you gotta combine the beers right. I suggest using one of these cute lil’ turtles that kind of resemble the Giant Turtle from Majora’s Mask.
Now, open your True Blonde and fill up your Zelda stein of choice about halfway (pour hard to get a good head… the only good head you’re likely to get from a True Blonde because you’re always playing video games, you nerd).
And carefully pour your Milk Stout over your lil’ turtle so that it does not mix too much with the other beer (we recommend the Nitro version of the Milk Stout as it’s lighter and won’t mix as much).
Hey! Listen! You’ve got a Zelda beer!
*Note: It’s difficult to find craft beer combinations that will yield a definitive black and tan line. Most will eventually mix and give you the above result, but will also still taste great, so just get over it.
Here comes the hard part. Play every single Zelda game in chronological order and drink every time you hear this sound. Drunk? Good. You’re probably starting to realize why these beers pair so well with TLoZ. The concept of light vs dark is the common thread that links (eh?) each entry of the series. Think about it: the Light and Dark Worlds of A Link to the Past, the melancholy luminescence of Twilight Princess, whatever the hell happened in Wand of Gamelon, and the stark contrast between a good cuckoo and a bad cuckoo. Also, the Zelda rap (a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, after all).
Side pairings for your journey:
– Great Divide’s Yeti because you snowboard with a yeti in Twilight Princess.
– Victory’s Golden Monkey because of all the damn monkeys in Zelda games.
– Deep Ellum’s Four Swords because, well, Four Swords.
– Jester King’s Black Metal Stout because the dude on the label sort of looks like Ganondorf.
Any pairings that we missed? Let us know in the comments!