Iron & Wine, the stage name of singer-songwriter Sam Beam, has had an interesting and ever-evolving career since 2002’s debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle. With his hushed vocals and spare instrumentation, his sound recalled artists such as Elliott Smith and Nick Drake. Given the accessible nature and beauty of many of his songs, Iron & Wine soon found their way onto movie soundtracks and became a household name in Indie circles.
With nine full-length albums, a slew of EPs and other recorded material, it’s only fitting that a career like this should be paired with six fine beers. Additionally, Beam has collaborated on a few albums with artists such as Jesca Hoop, Ben Bridwell, and Calexico. For this beer-pairing, they range from Iron (Iron Furnace and Iron City) and Wine (a barleywine) to a geographic location of Beam (North Carolina) and his collaborators (Seattle and California).
Tree House Brewing’s Tree of Life
Another shout out to Dave for this idea. Originally I thought that since Iron & Wine’s name includes wine then it should be some kind of wine-related post. Truthfully I’m not too much of a wine drinker, so barley wine is the stand-in. This barleywine is a rich beer with lots of flavors, as one would expect from Tree House. Even with such a high ABV, it is a smooth beer. In a recent Tree House on the Fly purchase (mixed pack curbside pickup) I was excited that it included this beer since I typically drift towards their IPAs (which are of course, delicious). Let’s listen to one of my favorite Iron & Wine tracks (with Calexico) “He Lays in the Reins.”
New Belgium’s Fat Tire
New Belgium is a brewery from Colorado, although they also have a brewery in North Carolina, home of Sam Beam. This beer in particular (it says so on the bottle), was brewed in North Carolina. To represent Beam’s current home of NC, let’s toast with a Fat Tire. Fat Tire is an amber ale and one of the most popular and widely consumed craft beers in the country. It has a taste that appeals to a broad range of beer drinkers, those who like the macros and those who like the micros. It doesn’t disappoint! Let’s listen to “The Trapeze Swinger.”
Sierra Nevada’s Summerfest
Sierra Nevada, another large craft brewery, represents Jesca Hoop’s home state of California. Hoop and Beam collaborated on the album Love Letter for Fire. Hoop and Beam’s vocal interplay work magically on this album on tracks including “Every Songbird Says.” Similar to having the Summerfest on a warm day in the warmest season of the year, the Summerfest is a refreshing lager that is perfect as a poolside libation. Sierra Nevada is a California beer that can be found here on the East Coast. It’s been around for a long time and always brews great beer.
Ghostfish’s Grapefruit IPA
What a difference a few years make! Trying to find a beer from Washington State in Massachusetts proved much more difficult than I thought. Five years ago, West Coast beers filled the craft shelves. Now with so many hyper-local beers on the shelves, they’ve been squeezed out. The Seattle beer is for Ben Bridwell who lived for a time in the city. Ben Bridwell is best known as the lead singer for Band of Horses. Bridwell and Iron & Wine collaborated on a covers album called Sing into My Mouth which includes tracks such as “No Way Out of Here” by David Gilmour. As far as the beer, it is actually gluten-free. As someone who has tried the gluten-free lifestyle for a brief moment in time, this is one of the best GF beers I’ve had. It has the gluten-free undertone, but the grapefruit taste comes through.
Iron Furnace’s Phool for Love
I love this brewery. Located in Franconia in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire, Iron Furnace combines superb beer, tasty food, and an enjoyable atmosphere for all ages. Recently, I was able to visit and enjoy an actual lunch outside at a brewery! I ordered a flight of beer, but one that stood out to me was the Phool for Love. It’s a sour beer, which to me was reminiscent of a gose since the sourness was subtle and not overpowering. The pairing here is quite obvious with the “iron” in the name. As much as I enjoy my IPAs, for me, warm days in the summer is when beers like this rule. Let’s listen to “The Sea and the Rhythm.”
Iron City Beer
This is THE beer of Pittsburgh. Brewed since the 1800s, this is a classic “dad beer,” in the same vein as Narragansett. It’s an old fashioned lager, nothin’ fancy! How could a post about Iron & Wine not include Iron City? It was certainly the most difficult to get. Although it’s the beer of Pittsburgh, I don’t live in Pittsburgh, which means this one would be difficult to get my hands on.
With family in Pennsylvania, I tried to get a case of this shipped to my aunt. The shipping would cost way more than the case itself, so that was out of the question. My cousins were going to vacation in Connecticut though. I scoured beer menus from Philadelphia’s (where they live) hipsterest and diviest bars to find Iron City to go. I finally did at The Garage in Philly. Emmi and Gabe trekked here just to buy me a few cans of IC, thanks guys!! The beer, well, it tastes like beer, but just had to be included in this six-pack! Even if it meant toiling tirelessly to figure out how to get this beer. Let’s listen to the cover of the Postal Service song, “Such Great Heights.”
Iron & Wine and a Six Pack
From geographic regions all over the US, to Iron beers and a barleywine, this six pack covers the spectrum of Sam Beam. The only region missing is an Arizona beer to represent Calexico. That was deemed more difficult than the Iron City. For more beers and a six pack, check out more pairings on www.backyardroadtrips.com.
