What Beer Explains You?

My rock and roll romance, A CRUEL KIND OF BEAUTIFUL, is set in Portland, an area known for its hipsters, indie bands, and microbrew. I visited recently with a group of friends, and we had way too much fun beer tasting and trying to pick which beers matched which person’s quirks.

In honor of that, I thought I would choose the microbrew that best encapsulated the personality of each character of my Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll Series…

Jera: New Belgium’s Citradelic Tangerine IPA. On first glance, this is a fun, refreshing beer. Light, cute, and with enough sass to be perfect for summertime. But after your first sip, you realize there are WAY more complex flavors than you were expecting and a tang of almost-bitter hops underlying everything. Just like the beer, there’s a lot more darkness and depth to the girl than first meets the eye-or more likely, the ear, since Jera always shows up with witty quip at the ready.

Bonus points because her classic-rock roots and and secret love of puns means she’d love the play on words of citradelic/psychadelic.

Jacob: Jera’s yummy love interest is perfectly represented by an Oregon original: Deschutes Brewery’s Obsidian Stout. It’s smooth and chocolatey, almost sweet but more addictive than sugary. Strong. So beautifully, incredibly strong. You don’t get all its secrets in the first sip, but this is a drink you could trust with your affection for years to come, and it would never let you down.

Jera’s bandmates:

Danny: To find the right beer for Jera’s bassist, I had to make a black and tan with two of my Oregon-brewed favorites: Rogue Chocolate Stout and Rogue Chipotle Ale. It’s got a whip-sharp bite, soothed with the deep, trustworthy presence of the dark beer beneath. What you see is what you get, but it could take you months to sort out all the flavors, the twists and turns of exactly what it is that HE is. He’s got things he doesn’t tell his best friend Jera. Things he won’t tell you. And things about him that are true that he’s never spent a second’s thought on.

Jax: The lead singer and guitarist of Jera’s band is Payette Brewing’s Recoil IPA. It’s bright and attention grabbing right up front. Beautiful and charming. But it fades too quickly, before he’s ready for you to forget him. And so soon that you’re left wondering if you ever really knew him at all.

Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll Series: Follow a rock band from bar rooms to the big time as the secrets of their sex lives begin to mirror the battles of their music careers. From spit-out-your-coffee funny to so heart-wrenching you’ll be snatching up a napkin to dab at your eyes, this series will give you all the feels.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2BFmnTx
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2jcqoXP
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2iG7lbv
ITunes: http://apple.co/2BFAsAe

*Disclaimer: I’m not getting kickbacks from any of these beer companies, and I’m not trying to oversell or undersell any of them. Just one author’s opinion about taste, and the metaphor it brings to mind about character.