Popination Cooperation
a series of unhinged personal essays disguised as pub reviews. Today: Fiction Beer Co.
I know, I know; I did promise you I’d go to another crunchy neighborhood local bar more near my new house this week, but when it came down to it, I felt like doing something else. I wanted something a little less rough around the edges; a different vibe, one with a literary flavor.
I’d heard about Fiction Beer’s premise and I was intrigued. so I packed my last remaining book from my previous author events and went down there in the afternoon. What’s the premise? Beer and books. I mean, we all know that beer lovers (and crafters) are total geeks. And bookworms are of course classic nerds as well. And so why not combine the two nerddoms into one?
Remember when I went on that select tour of Metal and/or horror themed breweries, and Mused about how one of them had Lord of the Rings playing on a big screen above the Gothy taps, and how the others seem to include nerd stuff with the horror? That was about Incantation Brewery (RIP), and it was where I discovered the deep connection, at least in Colorado, of beer and nerds and Heavy Metal and Fantasy.
Turns out that Fiction Beer Company wasn’t located in that much less rough a neighborhood than my own, but the bookishness of it heartened me. Though as I got dropped off by the uber, I saw one desolate and put-upon looking man sitting slumped under the pub sign (which is why I didn’t get a picture of that part of the exterior). I passed a skeletal, sweaty, twitchy man muttering to himself as he crossed the street in order to get around to the back to the main door. So much for my less-crunchy neighborhood mood. But when I stepped inside, the geek chorus (that’s geek chorus, without the r, kids) started singing dulcet tones in my head.
On the menu, I saw that each beer on offer was a pun on a phrase from a book. The bar was made from a vast stack of books, with elaborate book nerd themed decor and merch to purchase strewn on every surface and wall. The aesthetic was also very much that of a brewery: big steel vats, exposed ducting and piping along with the exposed brick, and steel chairs. How lovely.
Like I mentioned, all Fiction’s beers are themed and named after books (or sometimes, other nerdy media). I began my visit by sipping on a West Coast IPA called ‘Sneaky Little Hopses,’ named from Tolkien’s The Two Towers. I don’t usually go for the West Coast IPAs, as they tend to be too citrusy for my taste. But this time, it was refreshing and welcome to taste as I gazed at my surroundings and chatted with the bartender about author events and book clubs that they often host there. I gave her my last copy of my book (ahem), and ordered my second pint of the afternoon, a Black IPA called ‘Maltering the Deal’ from Empire Strikes Back.1
*Mosaic of Spines is the name of my Goth band…
I had been wanting to figure out how I could shill this book of mine more after the wonderful time I had doing the author event for Boulder Bookstore, and so far I’ve: been ghosted by Tattered Cover’s consignment program, applied to do a signing at Bookies, handed in a pitch for Barnes & Noble’s consignment program, and now learned about Fiction Beer’s author events and how they work. From all of these, I should be able to have a few more successful events (and maybe even more sales). We shall see. At any rate, it’s so fun to do these things regardless, so it’s an exciting process. Not easy, being my one and only PR firm, manager, and agent my own self, but ehhh. What can you do. Small time author in the big city.
What a lovely time I had at Fiction! I was reminded, being surrounded by books and bookish things there, my pleasure at my college job of a branch of the library, and later, my stint as a bookseller and especially used book buyer at Boulder bookstore, in my relative youth. And I’m attempting a version of that very thing as I develop the environment of my little study in my house. Being surrounded by literature (and book themed art, and, yes, beer) is a comfort zone for me, and Fiction helped me to see those echoing patterns.
So will I go back? Oh heck yes—if only just for my next reading event. But even beyond that: it’s a lovely place, a comfort space, has good beer and good cheer, and it’s not a long uber ride away, at all.
(P.S. Spoiler Alert:)
To be fair to Fiction, it does seem as though they’re basing this name on the novelisation of the movie. So. Books.